Dixon claims Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio victory after late Palou blunder

Written by Morgan Holiday and Dan Jones

Credit: Dominic Loyer

Scott Dixon claimed victory at the Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio in dramatic fashion after long-time race leader and championship leader, Álex Palou went off-track all by himself with five laps to go, with Dixon taking advantage to become just the third driver to claim a race victory in 2025.

How it happened

It was Palou who led the field to green for the Honda Indy 200, and Palou who maintained the lead at the start of the race.

The drama for Team Penske that saw all three of their drivers out in the first part of qualifying continued as Josef Newgarden spun on the first lap and went off into the gravel.

Among those affected was Graham Rahal, who also went off into the gravel as a result of Newgarden's crash but was able to continue, albeit down in 26th.

Before the caution, Chip Ganassi Racing driver Kyffin Simpson was able to improve from third to second, overtaking Christian Lundgaard to sit behind his teammate.

The racing continued on Lap 6, and Lundgaard was on the hunt to regain second place. Later in the lap he managed to get past Simpson and began the process of cutting down Palou's lead.

Further down the field, Pato O'Ward was making up ground after his poor qualifying result on Saturday. He made his way up from 15th to 13th in the opening laps, battling with former teammate Alex Rossi before dropping back down to 14th.

O'Ward pitted on Lap 12 along with Scott McLaughlin and Will Power, the latter coming into pit lane with the rear of his car on fire and retiring the car. And the weekend went from bad to worse for Team Penske, with two drivers out within the first 12 laps of the race.

By Lap 19, Palou had built more than a 2.5s gap to Lundgaard behind. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Louis Foster was the first of the top ten to pit, coming in from sixth to switch from hard tyres to the softer compound.

Lundgaard came in on Lap 25 to put on a set of hard tyres, promoting Simpson and Nolan Siegel to second and third respectively. When Palou came in two laps later, he came out in sixth behind Christian Rasmussen and ahead of Lundgaard.

When Colton Herta pit for a set of soft tyres, he came out ahead of Siegel before the second caution of the day came back out for Rasmussen, who was stopped on track with a fuel issue. Coming in to take advantage and pit during yellow conditions were Foster, Kyle Kirkwood, O'Ward, McLaughlin, Santino Ferrucci, David Malukas, Marcus Ericsson, Conor Daly and Graham Rahal.

Palou, Lundgaard and Simpson cycled back into the lead of the race as a result, and Herta, Siegel and Scott Dixon made up the rest of the top six.

The flag went green again on Lap 36, and everyone kept it clean at the restart. Herta began chasing down Simpson on faster tyres, and an issue for Simpson allowed not just Herta but also Siegel, Dixon and Marcus Armstrong to all pass him as well.

Daly and Ferrucci came to blows, resulting in Daly going off the track and into the grass. Ferrucci was quickly given a penalty to drop three places for unnecessary contact.

Up at the front, Palou was over four seconds ahead of Lundgaard, attempting to put an end to any chance at the McLaren driver leading the race. Lundgaard made a pit stop on Lap 52, putting on a set of used soft tyres and he came out in 14th.

Palou's perfect run came to an end on Lap 54, when he went off the track briefly. His little incident allowed Herta in second to cut into his lead, but the Spaniard retained the lead of the race.

Both of the top two came in for another pit stop a few laps later. Palou came back out on the hard tyres in fourth, Herta also putting on the hards but coming out in 11th and immediately having to defend from Kirkwood.

Dixon and Simpson were the next to pit from the lead, the pair coming in on Lap 62. Simpson stalled after his pit stop which cost him a precious chunk of time. Palou, Lundgaard and Herta took back the top three spots.

Palou made his final stop on Lap 72 and maintained the lead in front of Dixon after his No.10 performed the money stop perfectly. Palou reclaimed the lead on-track after Herta made his final stop on Lap 75, holding a two second lead ahead of Dixon.

Armstrong, who was running in third, made his final stop with just eight laps to go, which elevated Lundgaard back onto the provisional final step on the rostrum.

With just five laps to go, the race turned on its head. The most uncharacteristic of mistakes from Palou meant he went off-road at Turn 9 and relinquished his lead to Dixon in a stunning turn of events just as it had seemed certain that Palou would claim a seventh win of the season. However, Palou was not out of contention considering that Dixon still had to save fuel until the chequered flag.

Palou would make an attempt into the Keyhole on the penultimate lap for the lead, but Dixon would fend the Spaniard off. There would be no further opportunities for Palou.

As he has done throughout his career, Dixon pulled the rabbit out of the hat when it came to strategy, and became the first driver not named Álex Palou or Kyle Kirkwood to be victorious in 2025, just when it seemed like Palou had sealed victory once again.

Palou finished second ahead of Lundgaard, with Herta overtaking O'Ward late on to finish fourth. Rosenqvist finished sixth ahead of his teammate, Marcus Armstrong, with Kirkwood, VeeKay and Simpson rounding out the top 10.

But for the first time in 2025, and the seventh time in his career at Mid-Ohio, Dixon found victory lane once again.