New Zealand's Scott Dixon climbed out of his race car and donned a white protective face mask after seizing the checkered flag in the delayed IndyCar season-opening race in Texas on Saturday. Dixon crossed the finish line first ahead of runner-up Simon Pagenaud in the Genesys 300, the first IndyCar race in eight months because of the coronavirus pandemic. "Such strange times right now," said Dixon immediately after the race. "It was awesome. The power out there. We could just go for it." After the COVID-19 pandemic led to a postponement of the 2020 IndyCar campaign, the series finally got underway with no spectators in the grandstands at the 1.5 mile (2.4 kilometer) Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. Former Indianapolis 500 winner Pagenaud was second and reigning series champion Josef Newgarden placed third. Organizers decided to run the practice, qualifying and 200-lap race all on the same day to minimize the amount of time the participants would be at the venue. "I am bummed that the fans aren't here," Dixon said. "I wish everybody was here to celebrate." Dixon earned his 47th career win to move within just five victories of Italian-born American Mario Andretti, who is second all-time with 52. There will be nearly a month break before the next race July 4 on a road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The road course race will be the first of five IndyCar races in a 15-day period in July, including a doubleheader weekend at Wisconsin's Road America. gph/st/