There was a hint of a new IndyCar driver rivalry in Long Beach as Scott Dixon declared “all gloves are off from this point” after Pato O’Ward shoved him off at Turn 8 and O’Ward refused to apologise for it after the race.
That and another incident soon afterwards meant O’Ward lost his championship lead and were a stark contrast to the composure with which he’s started his 2023 title bid.
But this wasn’t as simple as O’Ward reverting to bad habits and being too rash.
The pair crashed on lap 20 of 85, with O’Ward surprising Dixon by diving down the inside at Turn 8 while both were in the lead group.
Dixon limped back to the pits after smashing into the tyre barrier and being restarted by safety crews but then stopped shortly after with a suspected loss of oil pressure.
O’Ward finished 17th after another crash at Turn 8 – this time mostly involving only himself – which set up a tough end to the race.
“I haven’t seen proper replays of it yet but that seemed extremely late,” Dixon told NBC TV of the lap 20 incident with O’Ward.
“[Watching a video of the contact] it starts way before that, we’re already committed to the corner. I understand there’s tyre deg and all that sort of stuff going on but I wouldn’t have chosen to do that.
“But if that’s how the series wants us to race then I guess it’s all gloves off from this point. That’s how it would be.”
Scott Dixon goes into the tires!
He had help from Pato O'Ward.