Scott Dixon's IndyCar boss laid 2 rules to avoid "carnivorous" battle with Alex Palou for Mid-Ohio race win

Scott Dixon won the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio on Sunday, July 6, by capitalizing on teammate Alex Palou's costly error with six laps to go in the 90-lap race. In the post-race press conference, Chip Ganassi Racing managing director Mike Hull revealed that team boss Chip Ganassi had two rules for his drivers regarding intra-team battles on the track.

On lap 84, Palou went off the track in the right-hander Turn 9 while leading the race. It was his second big error of the race and highly uncharacteristic. Dixon, in P2, overtook him on the exit of Turn 9.

The six-time IndyCar champion then shared an intense battle with the reigning champion, who wanted the lead back to register his seventh win of the season. However, Scott Dixon defended well to fend off Alex Palou in what was a respectful battle until the end.

Mike Hull spoke about how well the two drivers and the team operated to ensure not squandering the 1-2 by being too aggressive.

"I would just simply say this one more thing about how teams work on the professional level, especially in motor racing. Most teammates are so carnivorous with each other; they don't really give an inch to their teammate. I think that's what we didn't see today," Hull said, via ASAP Sports.

Elaborating on team boss Chip Ganassi's two rules, the longtime managing director of the IndyCar team added:

"What we saw were two people at the end of the race that knew what they were doing, and they followed Chip's rules. He has only two rules: Number one, don't hit your teammate because you don't... or hit him hard enough to where you helicopter out of the place; and number two, remember rule No. 1. That's what we saw today, and it was spectacular to finish first and second."

Scott Dixon and Alex Palou recorded Chip Ganassi Racing's second 1-2 of the season at Mid-Ohio on Sunday. The first one came at the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, where Palou won over Dixon.

Scott Dixon makes a surprising revelation about Alex Palou going off in Turn 9 at Mid-Ohio

Scott Dixon at the NTT IndyCar Series Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio - Source: Getty

Scott Dixon was over four seconds behind Alex Palou before the latter went off the track on lap 84. After the race, the six-time IndyCar champion revealed that he wasn't aware that it was his teammate who had made such an error.

All Dixon saw from afar on the straight before Turn 9 was dust flung in the air, which he assumed was from a lapped car. In the post-race press conference, he explained, via ASAP Sports:

"On the approach to 9, I saw the dust and I was like, oh, maybe that's a lap car or something because there's been some times in these sessions where the dust has actually been lingering in the air. You come through 1, there's a load of dust, and then you don't even see the car that's in front.

"I didn't know if it was him (Palou), and then obviously I see it's a black car. He's had multiple colors this year, so it's always hard to figure out, and I saw that he was kind of struggling to get going. Hate to say it, but pleasantly surprised when I saw that he was rejoining the track."

With the win at Mid-Ohio, Scott Dixon extended his 21-year streak in IndyCar of winning a race each season. It was his 59th career victory, taking him one step closer to AJ Foyt (67 race wins) on the all-time wins list.