Dixon aims to jumpstart season at Indy 500
Scott Dixon won't sugarcoat the start he has had this season: “It's been pretty horrendous,” the six-time IndyCar champion admitted.
There's no race like the Indianapolis 500 to turn a season around, and Dixon got off to a strong start in pursuit of his second win at “The Greatest Spectacle of Racing.”
He spent hours atop the scoring pylon on the opening day of Indy 500 preparations until a late run by Takuma Sato bumped Dixon to second on the speed chart. Dixon put little stock in Tuesday's showing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“Let's see what the rest of the week brings,” he said.
Wednesday brought rain to the speedway and hours of idle time for drivers.
Dixon wanted to be in his car working with Chip Ganassi Racing to figure out how to jumpstart his season. The 41-year-old New Zealander has high expectations for himself and simply hasn't been meeting them since he wrapped up his sixth title in 2020 — a championship that moved him within one of A.J. Foyt's record seven titles.
He was overshadowed much of last season by new teammate Alex Palou, who won the season-opening race to launch his own championship-winning campaign. Dixon won only once last season and failed to win multiple IndyCar races in a season for just the sixth time in 21 full years with Ganassi.
That 51st victory last year did move Dixon within one win of tying Mario Andretti for second on the alltime wins list, but that's where he's sat for the last 18 starts. It is Dixon's longest winless streak since 2003 through 2005 when he went 40 races between wins.
He's called “The Iceman” because Dixon is typically so calm and collected. This challenging stretch has tested his temperament.
“I definitely get frustrated. I swear a lot,” he said. “But that's just because we're all competitive. It's always tough, been in this position before, it's nothing new. We'll turn it around and we'll get on with it.”
He is fifth in the IndyCar standings headed into the May 29 race, but only because Dixon has salvaged all five race weekends. His problems have come in qualifying — Dixon has started 16th, 13th and 21st in the last three races — and he made up 10 spots at Long Beach, eight spots at Barber and 11 spots last Saturday on Indy's road course.
NFL EAGLES, CORNERBACK BRADBERRY AGREE ON 1-YEAR DEAL >>
The Philadelphia Eagles strengthened their secondary, agreeing on a one-year contract with veteran cornerback James Bradberry.
Bradberry, who made the Pro Bowl in 2020, was released by the New York Giants on May 9 for salary reasons. He would have been a $21.9 million cap hit.
Bradberry's deal with Philadelphia reportedly is worth $7.5 million, including $7.25 guaranteed. He'll start opposite four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay in defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon's zone-heavy scheme.
A second-round pick by Carolina in 2016, Bradberry spent four seasons with the Panthers and two with the Giants. He has 15 interceptions in 92 career starts.
College football OHIO STATE'S DAY NOW AMONG HIGHEST-PAID COACHES >>
Ohio State is hiking Ryan Day's annual salary to $9.5 million as part of a two-year contract extension that will put him among the nation's highest-paid college football coaches.
Day's raise makes him the latest coach to crack $9 million per year, making him one of the highest-paid coaches along with Alabama's Nick Saban and Clemson's Dabo Swinney and putting his contract in line with recent deals given to Michigan State's Mel Tucker and LSU's Brian Kelly.
The extension, which was to get formal approval by university trustees, bumps up the 43-year-old Day's total salary package about $2 million annually and would keep him in Columbus at least through the 2028 season.
Day was appointed as the successor to Urban Meyer when Meyer retired after the 2018 season. In three seasons, Day has led the Buckeyes to a 34-4 record, including 23-1 in the Big Ten. His teams have won two Big Ten championships and made two appearances in the College Football Playoff.
Tennis DEFENDING CHAMP RUUD WINS AT GENEVA OPEN >>
Defending champion Casper Ruud eased into the quarterfinals of the Geneva Open, while three seeded players went out in the second round.
The second-seeded Ruud won 6-3, 6-1 against Benoit Paire to confirm his status as the favorite to retain his title after second-ranked Daniil Medvedev was beaten Tuesday by Richard Gasquet.
Third-seeded Denis Shapovalov also lost his opening match, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-3 against Ilya Ivashka.
In a match with few break points, Ivashka saved the only one he faced against Shapovalov and converted one chance in each of the two sets he won.
Ivashka will next face unseeded Joao Sousa who won 6-4, 6-3 against fifth-seeded Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Seventh-seeded Federico Delbonis fell to a 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 loss against Thanasi Kokkinakis, who will face Ruud in the quarterfinals today.
Track and field OLYMPIC CHAMP NOT SHARP IN RETURN TO 100 RACE >>
Italian sprinter Marcell Jacobs competed in his first 100-meter race since becoming Olympic champion at the Tokyo Games, winning a meeting in Savona, Italy, despite a sub-par performance as he returns from an illness.
Jacobs impressed in the heats to win his seminal in 9.99 seconds but didn't seem his usual powerful self in the final, despite finishing first with a time of 10.05.
The world championships start on July 15 in Eugene, Ore.