Robbery ‘shocking, disbelief for the most part’

CHARLOTTE: The whole plan had been to celebrate Scott Dixon’s polewinning run for the Indianapolis 500 at a downtown Italian restaurant.

But the restaurant was closed by the time Dixon had completed his media obligations on Monday.

‘‘Really, only the next choice was to get fast food,’’ Dixon said yesterday.

So Dixon and friend Dario Franchitti headed to Taco Bell, where Dixon planned to order his usual Cheesy Gordita Crunch, subbing beans for the meat. Just 1.6km down the road from hallowed Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the two were robbed at gunpoint while waiting in the drivethrough lane.

‘‘It was definitely shocking, disbelief for the most part,’’ said Dixon, who acknowledged the ‘‘bizarre contrast’’ of being robbed a few hours after the high of winning the pole for the prestigious race on Monday.

‘‘It will make you feel really small again,’’ Dixon said.

Dixon has been advised not to discuss details of the robbery, in which police arrested two boys,

ages 15 and 14, a short time later.

Tony Kannan, a teammate of Dixon’s with Chip Ganassi Racing, said Dixon and Franchitti had their windows down when they were approached at gunpoint.

‘‘They held a gun at Dixon’s head and asked him for his wallet and his phone,’’ Kanaan said.

Dixon, who is nicknamed ‘‘The Iceman’’ because nothing seems to rattle him, said he felt he and Franchitti remained

calm throughout the incident.

Both he and Franchitti are avid watch collectors; Dixon said the vintage Rolex he was wearing and ‘‘a Daytona edition that Dario has been wearing as his lucky watch’’ were the two most valuable things in the car.

Neither watch was taken.

Dixon won the pole using a whiteknuckle setup from engineer Chris Simmons. His fourlap average was 232.164mph (373.631kmh), the best qualifying run in 21 years at Indy.

It is the third pole at Indy for Dixon, the 2008 race winner and a fourtime series champion, and he understands the significance of the achievement.

‘‘Winning the pole really means a lot for the drivers,’’ Dixon said. ‘‘You are trying to keep the car on its limits, so there’s kind of respect among yourselves, in this community. Although the race is the important part, there’s a great sense of pride in what we did Sunday.’’

Two days removed from the rollercoaster of emotions, Dixon seemed intent on putting the robbery behind him and focusing on winning his second Indianapolis 500 as he made the annual offday media tour, this time to Toronto.

The New Zealander did have some reflection about his experience at Taco Bell, the choice only because McDonald’s, a Ganassi team sponsor that had a location next door was closed for renovations.

‘‘I think the biggest thing is you are just hoping that everything is OK, grateful that nothing silly happened,’’ Dixon said.

‘‘That’s the world of difference. That aside, personally, it maybe brings you to think about choices you make.’’

Like going to Taco Bell at 10 pm after winning the pole?

‘‘I’d still go,’’ he said, laughing.