Saving tires was the only mission that mattered in pursuit of the checkered flag.
It moved out to 3.7s on Lap 120 as Dixon turned a 209mph lap—faster than all but the few like O’Ward who were on new Firestones.
Palou was 6.9s back to Dixon on Lap 124 and the leader pitted on Lap 126 with a handy advantage to the rest of the field. Once the rest of the drivers cycled through pit lane, the decision to leave Palou out for a few more laps allowed Rosenqvist and McLaughlin, who came in early, to take P2 and P3 as the CGR driver emerged in P4.
By Lap 140, Dixon’s lead over Rosenqvist was 2.8s, while being 5.2s up on McLaughlin and 5.9s to Palou. Stuck behind Hinchcliffe in P21, Dixon’s lead was cut down to 0.2s on Lap 154, but once he got by the following lap, it grew to 1.3s by Lap 157 as Rosenqvist and McLaughlin were left to try and find a way by the Andretti driver.
Hinchcliffe was in the wall on Lap 160 as the second caution was required to a car from Turn 2. A pass by Rosenqvist into Turn 1 happened without crowding the Andretti driver. Hinchcliffe’s car appeared to have an inadequate amount of air reaching the front wings at a crucial cornering phase and as a result, the car slid up the track, spun, and hit the wall with the left-rear corner.
The Lap 176 restart was identical to the last as Dixon charged away. McLaughlin was 0.6s back by Lap 181, O’Ward was 1.1s arrears in P3, Palou was in P4 with a 1.4 separation and Herta was 1.5s behind in P5. Newgarden, having overcome the Bourdais penalty, was P7 as the field had more than enough fuel to go full speed to the finish.
Saving tires was the only mission that mattered in pursuit of the checkered flag.