Dixon leaves winless season in rearview mirror
When he woke up yesterday morning, Scott Dixon didn’t think he could win the Pocono IndyCar 400.
Given how his season has panned out, he was well within his rights to have some doubt.
But everything came together nicely for the New Zealander as he snared his first victory of the season, lifting him from seventh to fourth in the championship series.
‘‘I was not thinking we could win but the team definitely hasn’t given up,’’ said Dixon.
Back where he belongs:
Photo: Getty Images
‘‘I’m just so happy, I love this place and it’s great to be back.
‘‘It’s been a long drought, almost a year [since the last win], so it’s fantastic to be back in the winner’s circle.
‘‘You’ve got to hand it to Honda as well, fuel mileage was a big key today and we still had speed up front without having to save all the time.’’
A big weight was lifted off Dixon’s shoulders, so much so his wife, Emma, likened the win to an Indianapolis 500 victory.
Until yesterday he had led one lap in the entire 2013 IndyCar series.
The two-time series champion had logged four top-fives from the first 10 races but he had not threatened top spot on the podium, with his Honda often letting him down.
Chip Ganassi’s Honda drivers had led 22 per cent of laps in the series this year; at the same stage last season, they had led 74 per cent of laps.
‘‘There’s no doubt the Honda teams have been the underdogs recently,’’ Dixon said in reference to Chevrolet’s recent dominance.
‘‘At the start of the year we had some good runs but we’ve been struggling.
‘‘We had our own problems as a team so to be 1-2-3, it was a fantastic day.’’
Starting from seventh on the grid, Dixon showed good pace throughout the race and his fuel usage was excellent.
He crossed ahead of Charlie Kimball and team-mate Dario Franchitti.
Dixon was the eighth different winner from 11 races this season. It is the 30th race victory of his career and means he has now stepped into the winner’s circle every year for the past nine years. He is now 67 points behind overall series leader Helio Castroneves.