Dixon won on his record 319th consecutive start in the series, despite spinning to the tail of the field on the opening lap in a multi-car collision at Turn 7 that involved two of his team-mates.
After pitting on lap five, to get rid of his primary compound tyres, he was able to charge through the field on an alternate-tyred strategy – while saving enough fuel to make the finish without an extra pitstop.
Although Rahal chased him down in the final stint, Dixon held on to win by 0.4s to ensure his streak of winning at least one IndyCar race in 19 seasons continues.
“He certainly is great at what he does,” said Rahal. “This is the second one he's stolen from me. July 2020 race, it was the same finishing order. Nineteen straight years with a win doesn't happen by luck.
“There's nobody else that's anywhere close to that.”
Rahal paid tribute to his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team for running a “perfect” strategy that was only undone by Dixon’s brilliance and copious fresh alternate tyre availability after a poor qualifying for the Chip Ganassi Racing star.
“We played it perfect,” said Rahal. “On an ordinary day around here, we would have won the race.
“Obviously, the way that Dixon was able to get the mileage, the speed at which he was, having all the reds [alternates], had probably two new sets of reds and a used, so a lot of tyres to use. We weren't quite there.”
Source: Autosport