Motorsport
Associated Press

Kiwi driver Scott Dixon finishes 17th at Indy 500 after horror start; McLaughlin 20th

May 31, 2021

Scott Dixon, Alexander Rossi and Simon Pagenaud were the victims of bad timing and bad luck at the Indianapolis 500 this morning.

The May struggles continued for Will Power while Juan Pablo Montoya, Tony Kanaan and Josef Newgarden were never really in contention for the win.

It was that kind of day for some of IndyCar's biggest, best-known and most successful drivers - largely through no fault of their own.

The woes began when Stefan Wilson's car hit the wall as he was making his first stop, closing pit row to other drivers trying to stretch their fuel. As a result, three of the nine Indy winners on the starting grid - Dixon, Rossi and Pagenaud - were sent to the back of the field for making emergency stops.

All three spent the rest of the day catching up and only Pagenaud made it back near the top, finishing third.

“I was pedal to the metal the rest of the way, I didn't really care," Pagenaud said.

Rossi finished 29th, while Dixon was 17th and he lost the points lead to 500 runner-up Alex Palou. Dixon, who can tie AJ Foyt's series record with a seventh IndyCar title this season, now trails Palou by 36 points.

Dixon’s fellow Kiwi Scott McLaughlin, an IndyCar rookie, finished in 20 th .

Power, who barely qualified for the race last weekend, drove the No. 12 Chevrolet from 32nd to sixth but spun the car on pit row on Lap 153 when he lost brake pressure. It knocked him out of contention and he finished a career-worst 29th.

Montoya and Newgarden had better days after a rugged qualifying weekend. Montoya finished ninth after starting 24th and Newgarden moved from 21st to 12th but neither led a lap or was challenging late.

Kanaan gave up five spots, finishing 10th after starting fifth and like Montoya, Newgarden, Power or Rossi never led a lap.

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