Keeping fast company
Dixon’s continuing climb among elite drivers reflects strength of Ganassi’s team
Scott Dixon isn’t done making history for Fox Chapel native Chip Ganassi’s race team.
Dixon, 39 of New Zealand, has dominated the start of the COVID-19 pandemic-delayed 2020 NTT IndyCar Series season, winning each of the first three races and establishing himself as the favorite not just for the championship, but the crown-jewel Indianapolis 500, which was postponed in May until next month.
And the more he wins, the rarer the company the five-time series champion joins. Now with 49 career victories (1 in CART, 48 in IndyCar) under his belt, he has pulled to within three of the legendary Mario Andretti (33 in USAC, 19 in
CART) for second on the all-time list for American open wheel’s top series. Only A.J. Foyt, with 67 (all in USAC), has more.
Not bad for a guy who’s often competing with drivers half his age these days.
Dixon thinks it’s hard to attribute the early season surge to any one thing but
did feel encouraged entering the campaign by some moves CGR made to bolster its depth in areas including engineering.
He also didn’t mind the extended break caused by the pandemic, as his busy schedule over the winter included some sports car races and the birth of his son, Kit, in December. The delay helped him refresh and come out of the gates strong with victories June 6 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, July 4 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and the Road America course Saturday in Plymouth, Wis.
“It’s great for the team’s confidence, but you also have to be very careful to let off the gas,” Dixon told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette of the winning streak. “You’ve got to stay on it, and I think Sunday kind of proved a little bit of that. You can’t get complacent.”
In fact, Dixon’s No. 9 PNC Bank-sponsored Honda team made a few mistakes at Road America that cost them a weekend sweep in the second race of IndyCar’s doubleheader there. Pit strategy, mechanical failures and an empty gas tank at one point contributed to a solid, but frustrating 10thplace finish.
Fortunately for Dixon, he still is way ahead in the series standings. His 173 points put him 54 ahead of secondplace Colton Herta and at least 63 clear of everyone else with 10 races remaining on the tour.
He also got to see his teammate head to Victory Lane for the first time Sunday,
preserving CGR’s winning streak, if not the No. 9 team’s. Felix Rosenqvist, a 27-year-old Swede in his second season, chased down Patricio O’Ward and passed him on the penultimate lap in a thrilling duel.
Dixon has known
Rosenqvist, an experienced driver on some international tours, for years and was glad to see him take the next step in an IndyCar career that has potential.
“He was definitely, I think, a huge addition to the team and a fresh look at what other teams do and how they do it,” Dixon said. “I’ve been saying for just over a year that his win is going to come any day, and it was good to see it finally come. I think it’s going to be good for his confidence, and he’s going to be tough to beat.”
The win vaulted Rosenqvist to eighth in the standings, and Ganassi counterpart Marcus Ericsson is sixth, demonstrating the strength in the team’s garage with the Indy 500 looming Aug. 23, after a second doubleheader weekend at Iowa Speedway Friday and Saturday in Newton and a stop at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Aug. 9 in Lexington.
Dixon’s first and only win in the big race came in 2008. Ganassi’s team has won it twice since with Dario Franchitti behind the wheel, but the most recent win came in 2012. Dixon hopes he can end that slump, and, no, he won’t be worried about the championship standings in trying.
“Indy’s really it’s own thing, man,” he said. “How you practice for it, how you qualify for it, how you race it. It’s totally different, and that race — it’s all about that race on that one day, and you’re not really thinking about points. You’re just thinking about winning.”
Hard to think of better preparation than the start he has had.