Ilott struck the Turn 1 wall on lap 6 of the race, and had to limp around a whole lap, to get his punctured right-front tyre replaced. That put him a lap down, so when the full-course caution came out for Scott Dixon being in a tyre wall on lap 20, his team delayed his first scheduled stop to allow him to get his lap back on the pack that was cruising behind the safety car.
However, a delay in the pits and the fact that Dixon got going again promptly, meant that Ilott was released only just in front of the pack that had just got the green flag. With Canapino having been left out when all others pitted, he was now leading so Ilott emerged from the pits on cold tyres, into Canapino’s path.
