Runner-up Dixon left ‘super gutted’
Scott Dixon was all smiles as he embraced victorious team-mate Dario Franchitti but he admits to being ‘‘super gutted’’ at missing out on a second career win at the Indianapolis 500.
The New Zealander was a close second to Target Chip Ganassi teammate Franchitti at a drama-filled 96th Indy 500 yesterday, the Scotsman fending off Dixon’s strong and persistent challenge, and a late run by Japan’s Takuma Sato, to claim his third victory in the great race with a stunning drive from 16th on the grid.
Dixon, the 2008 champion, was also in superb nick, quickly moving into the mix from 15th on the grid. He held the lead on several occasions, including once with about two laps of the 200 remaining, but could not hold on in the frenetic final fling.
‘‘He did a hell of a job, to come from where he did,’’ Dixon said of Franchitti, who dropped to 28th early in the race after he was hit in pit lane.
‘‘I’m super happy for him, but I’m super gutted. It’s tough when you spend all this time out here, you try to get so close to it and it gets ripped away.
‘‘But the team did a fantastic job, congratulations to Target. It was a pretty good way to celebrate our 50th year with a 1-2 finish.’’
Franchitti paid tribute to his late mate Dan Wheldon, who died after a crash in last year’s season-ending Las Vegas race, as well as Dixon. The Target teammates, both good friends of Wheldon’s, shared a long embrace at the end of the race.
A frantic final stanza saw the Kiwi and the Scotsman exchange the lead multiple times as it looked as though the Target Chip Ganassi cars would fight it out for the title.
But Sato and Tony Kanaan also got into the mix and it was difficult to keep up with all the lead changes and cautions, with race records set for both.
When a seventh caution was lifted with five laps remaining, ensuring a mad scramble at the end, Dixon bolted into the lead.
But he couldn’t hang on and Franchitti crossed in first place after yet another caution when Sato challenged his lead in the final stages and crashed out. That left Dixon in second place and Kanaan third.
Franchitti was one of 10 drivers to lead the incident-packed race, which featured a record 35 lead changes, and Dixon would have been involved in close to half of those as onlookers struggled to keep up.
The Kiwi started from the fifth row on the grid after a head-scratching qualifying session a week ago but his performance in other practice sessions pointed to yet another good showing at the great race, and so it was.
His fuel mileage was excellent and his tyres performed well as he consistently posted quick lap times. The other New Zealander in the field, Wade Cunningham, had a miserable Indy500 debut, suffering electrical problems and retiring early in the race.
Cunningham was credited with 31st place in the 33-strong field.