Dixon wins in Toronto; ties Andretti with 52nd career IndyCar win

TORONTO (AP) — Scott Dixon snapped a 22-race winless streak Sunday and moved into a tie with Mario Andretti for second on IndyCar's career wins list when he held off pole-sitter Colton Herta and Felix Rosenqvist in the series' return to Canada.

Dixon qualified second and spent the day running up front, despite creative fuel and tire strategies as teams jockeyed for track position early in the race. And the six-time series champ was still out front when Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Kirkwood tangled to bring out the final caution and force a restart with 18 laps to go.

Dixon quickly opened a 2-second gap over Herta and the rest of the field and never relinquished it in cruising to his fourth win at Toronto, where IndyCar returned for the first time since 2019, and his 52nd win overall.

Not a bad early birthday present for the New Zealander, who turns 42 on Friday.

His first win since May 2021 at Texas extends Dixon's streak of winning at least one race in a record 17 consecutive years, and it leaves him trailing only A.J. Foyt's 67 wins on the career list. It also shoves Dixon into the thick of the points race as he chases a seventh title, which would match Foyt for the most in the history of the open-wheel series.

The win was also a breath of fresh air for Chip Ganassi Racing, which was thrown into turmoil this week over the contract status of reigning series champ Alex Palou. Ganassi issued a news release Tuesday that said it exercised its option on Palou for next season, only for Palou to refute it and rival team McLaren to announced he'd be driving for it.

Palou recovered from a wreck in practice to finish sixth on Sunday.

Herta, who tested for McLaren in Formula 1 earlier in the week, finished second for Andretti