Live coverage has finished, please click here for the full wrap.
Lap 248 of 248
Standings:
Scott Dixon - 4th
Scott McLaughlin - 8th
11:23am
Not the result Dixon would have wanted after starting on pole, but he's done enough to keep hold of the championship lead.
McLaughlin meanwhile didn't match his heroics of yesterday's podium, but he's still come away from the weekend with two top-ten finishes.
11:21am
There it is! O'Ward takes victory in Texas - his first as an IndyCar driver.
Dixon crosses the line in fourth, McLaughlin finishes eighth.
11:20am
If O'Ward can close this out, he'll be the fourth different winner from the first four races of the season.
Palou, Herta and Dixon have all taken victories so far this season. Two laps to go.
11:17am
Into the final 10 laps! O'Ward is more than a second in front of Newgarden and should see this home.
Dixon is still fourth, McLaughlin is eighth. Eight laps to go.
11:12am
O'Ward overtakes Newgarden, and he's now out in front and closing in on his first IndyCar victory.
11:10am
Less than 30 laps to go, it looks like it's going to be between Newgarden and O'Ward for the win.
11:06am
Dixon's overtaken Sato to move to outright fourth. The Kiwi's less than half a second back on third placed Rahal, but he's got a fight to get back to first.
McLaughlin moves eighth as Sato pits.
11:03am
Newgarden's overtaken Sato and leads the race! Colton Herta is now making moves on Dixon, one spot behind the Kiwi.
Just 43 laps left.
11:01am
Green flag and we're racing again! Dixon is effectively fourth behind Rahal, O'Ward and Newgarden.
10:58am
The leading cars are now debating amongst themselves whether or not they should pit behind the safety car.
Sato is staying out though. Dixon moves up to fifth as a result, Rahal is fourth. Josef Newgarden is effectively leading after a very clever pit stop.
10:54am
Yellow flag after Rosenqvist loses a wheel - this could change everything.
Rahal is ahead of Dixon after the chaos, while Takuma Sato holds the outright lead.
10:52am
Dixon and Rahal pit - and the Kiwi comes out in front! Great move for Dixon, he can now go as hard as he wants with his fuel and tires to the end of the race.
He comes out in eighth, but the rest of the field will have to pit.
10:50am
McLaughlin pits. Smart move. He'll have fresher tires on to make up ground on the cars in front of him while they pit.
He comes out of the pit in 15th, but he'll certainly make up some ground when the rest of the field pit.
10:48am
This is all going to come down to that last stop. Dixon's lead is less than 0.5s, but Rahal has less fuel.
Meanwhile, McLaughlin is still down in 11th, sandwiched between Ed Carpenter and VeeKay.
10:41am
Rahal is staying hot on Dixon's tail. There's about 80 laps remaining. We should see the drivers pit for the last time at around the 60 lap remaining mark.
10:38am
And Dixon takes the lead again, Rahal has to concede defeat if he wants his fuel to last.
10:36am
Rahal's race engineer is now telling him to conserve fuel. That overtake on Dixon is going to cost him here.
The gap is less than half a second.
10:32am
And Rahal goes past Dixon! But how much fuel as he used up to do it? Dixon doesn't appear to be too fazed by it, but he's no longer in front.
10:30am
Graham Rahal has passed O'Ward and Power to move into second, and he's less than half a second back from Dixon.
Dixon defends well again, but this might not be as clear cut of a win as it looked...
10:27am
The safety car is back in, and we're racing again! Palou is taken by Rosenqvist, as Power has a go at Dixon! Power can't get there, and loses a spot to O'Ward.
Dixon keeps his lead, but McLaughlin is overtaken by Marcus Ericsson.
10:20am
Everyone's coming into the pits now - who'll come out in the lead? Dixon's kept the lead, and McLaughlin's moved down to ninth.
More importantly though, Palou's moved down to sixth. He's been Dixon's only real challenger today, but can he cut through the field to keep the fight going?
Will Power is now second.
10:16am
Jack Harvey has smoke out coming out of the back of his car and he's going to have to retire! That'll mean McLaughlin moves up into eighth.
That'll be a yellow flag. Hinchcliffe has also retired with mechanical issues.
10:14am
Dixon and Palou are now more than six seconds ahead of third placed Josef Newgarden.
10:11am
Dixon's lead is cut back to half a second by Palou, but McLaughlin is keeping pace with Rosenqvist lower down.
We're through more than 100 laps.
10:06am
Dixon leads Palou by more than a second. McLaughlin is slipping back behind Rosenqvist, as Pagenaud eyes the overtake.
10:02am
VeeKay pits, Dixon regains the lead. McLaughlin is now ninth behind Felix Rosenqvist, but he's passed Pagenaud.
9:59am
Dixon pits. A safe move considering his closest challenger is his teammate.
He emerges from the pit lane in P11. McLaughlin pits as well, he comes out in 11th as Dixon flies past.
Palou pits and gives the, effective, lead back to Dixon. Rinus VeeKay holds the race lead, but he's yet to pit.
9:55am
There's a fantastic duel between Will Power and Pato O'Ward in the race for fourth place, with the Australian just keeping his nose in front for now.
Dixon's lead at the front is nearing 0.9 seconds before Palou pulls it back to around 0.7s.
McLaughlin is around 0.7 seconds back from Pagenaud in seventh.
9:47am
The two Chip Ganassi cars are pulling ahead at a rate of knots now. There's about half a second between Dixon and Palou in first and second, but then nearly four seconds to Jack Harvey in third.
McLaughlin is over six seconds off the lead down in eighth.
9:43pm
Dixon seems to be slowly drawing away from Palou at the head of the field, with his lead stretching as far as 0.7s.
9:36am
We're back underway and racing again! Dixon keeps hold of first place, about half a second ahead of teammate Alex Palou in P2.
McLaughlin has dropped down to eighth.
9:34am
Still racing behind the safety car. This is great for Scott Dixon, it gives the other drivers less laps to try and get past him on a notoriously difficult track to overtake on.
9:26am
We're waiting on the crews to remove the retired cars before we can start racing again. Naturally, there's been no change to the leaders.
9:21am
Ok, it looks like Sebastien Bourdais, Alexander Rossi and Pietro Fittipaldi are definitely out. Ed Jones and Dalton Kellett also appear to be out of the running. And now Conor Daly is as well.
Six drivers taken out after that first lap - and there's still more than 200 to go!
9:16am
Scratch that, more than three cars have been taken out. Dixon is still first, McLaughlin is still seventh.
9:14am
And straight away we've got a crash on the opening lap! It looks like three drivers have been taken out - but it was at the back, so Dixon and McLaughlin are fine for now.
Naturally though, we've got a safety car.
9:11am
The drivers are away on their formation lap. We've got 248 laps on the cards this morning.
9:10am
Start your engines is the call to the drivers - we're so close to getting started!
9:07am
Today's race is taking place on the same track as yesterday - Fort Worth's Texas Motor Speedway. Because it's a short, oval track, pit strategy will be vital for drivers to gain any positions.
McLaughlin and Team Penske had it mastered yesterday, moving from 15th to finish second, it'll be interesting to see what he can do today, starting from seventh.
9:00am
Good morning! The drivers are out on the grid for the start of the race. How can the Kiwi boys get on, a day after their historic one-two finish.
*****
Kia ora, welcome to Newshub's live updates of IndyCar's Xpel 375 from Fort Worth, Texas.
What a 24 hours it's been in IndyCar.
After rain wiped away any chance of qualifying for Sunday and Monday's races, Kiwi driver Scott Dixon finds himself on pole for the final event.
No qualifying means both race grids are decided by championship standings, with Dixon currently leading the pack, ahead of teammate Alex Palou.
Fellow Kiwi Scott McLaughlin is also riding a high after Sunday's result, finishing second to idol and compatriot Dixon, and taking his maiden IndyCar podium in just his fourth race.
McLaughlin's second-placed finish on Sunday moved him from 15th up to seventh in the championship standings and that's exactly where he'll start today.
Kiwi rookie Scott McLaughlin ahead of expectations with IndyCar podium finish
At the end of Sunday's latest round of IndyCar racing, it was hard to tell who was happier - Scott Dixon with his 51st career win or Scott McLaughlin with his maiden Indycar podium.
"I've never been this bloody happy second," declared the reigning Aussie Supercars champion, after his first-ever oval-track race.
McLaughlin was quick to thank his No.1 fans straight after the race.
"Great job everybody, awesome day," he told his team. "Mum and Dad listening on the radio at home, love you guys."
Both Wayne and Diane McLaughlin certainly were listening in from Cambridge, and quick to celebrate their son's success.
"We thought top 15 for the year, maybe top 12, but to see him with the pace that he's got and end up on the podium today was unbelievable," says Wayne. "Mindblowing."
While Dixon led for 210 of the 212-lap race, McLaughlin had to work his way up through the field. Starting in 15th, he found himself second with 44 laps remaining and suddenly pushing his Kiwi compatriot for the win.
"Very tense there at the end and it was kind of cool to be racing a countryman those last final laps," reflected Dixon.
Said McLaughlin: "It was bloody cool battling with my all-time hero Scotty Dixon, and Kiwis one and two is bloody fantastic."
Back home, the champagne and tears flowed.
"The emotions are running extremely high," says Wayne McLaughlin.
The podium lifts McLaughlin to sixth in the championship standings, with Dixon first.
The reigning champion will start on pole for Monday's second race at Fort Worth, Texas, and if he wins that, he'll be second equal with Mario Andretti for most race wins in IndyCar history.
"I never dreamed of that," Dixon said. "Man, I feel so lucky and so privileged to do what I do."
After a historic day for Kiwi motorsport, both drivers are now gunning for follow-up success.
