ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Scott Dixon won the final road-course race of 2005 and almost won the first this year. The fuel strategy was spot on, but he needed a wing and a prayer (leave it up to the reader which was needed more) and a few more laps.
The 2003 IndyCar Series champion, who started next to pole sitter Dario Franchitti in the second Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, was runner-up to Helio Castroneves. Dixon’s Target Chip Ganassi Racing team decided to pit later than most other cars (Lap 36 instead of 32-34 for others on the first round), which helped him accrue race leader laps. When the No. 9 Honda-powered Panoz pitted for the final time on Lap 94 (2-6 laps later than everyone else), Dixon held a 15.0376-second lead on Castroneves.
After a splash of methanol/ethanol, Dixon emerged in Turn 1 sandwiched between Castroneves and third-place Tony Kanaan and ready to challenge for the victory. But a full-course caution for a two-car collision three laps later blunted his plans.
A damaged left-front end fence, which was rubbing against the Firestone Firehawk tire, also conspired to prevent Dixon from a potential victory. Still, it was his fourth consecutive top-10 finish, including a victory at Watkins Glen International last September.
“The first stint we were consistently quicker, I think,” Dixon said. “We were running fairly lean. The car was doing good lap times. Once we got to the second set of tires, and about the fourth, fifth lap, it just started to fall off. It got worse and worse over that run. That’s when (Castroneves) started to catch me; I got traffic.
“I think with a good front wing, we would have been pretty solid. I just couldn’t turn right.”
And about the final fuel stop? Dixon said it couldn’t have been any cleaner or quicker.
“I kind of was hoping that we would come out of ahead of Helio,” he said. “We just didn't have the speed. I think everybody is saying, ‘Oh, it's sad that it ends on a yellow. I don't think the positions would have changed. Tony and I might have had a bit of a fight there, just because I couldn't turn the car on the full-speed corners.”
