By Dave Lewandowski
With nine races in the next three months, Scott Dixon figures there are plenty of opportunities for him to recapture the IndyCar Series championship.
The Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver put himself in an advantageous position with a repeat victory June 4 in the Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix presented by Tissot. Dixon, the 2003 series champion, beat Panther Racing's Vitor Meira to the finish line by 2.3311 seconds in the timed event. He moved to second in the standings behind Marlboro Team Penske's Helio Castroneves (182-170), heading into the Bombardier 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 10.
Dixon, runner-up to Castroneves on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., in early April, posted his fifth consecutive top-10 finish. He is the fourth different winner in the five IndyCar Series road/street races in two seasons.
'You put so much time and concentration on winning Indy, it's so anti-climactic when you don't walk away with a win,' said Dixon, who started fourth and finished sixth in the May 28 race. 'I think after that race is over, all you want to do is win the championship.'
Indianapolis 500 winner Sam Hornish Jr., who finished 12th at The Glen, is third in the standings. Dixon's teammate, reigning IndyCar Series champion Dan Wheldon, is fourth. Danica Patrick, with three consecutive eight-place finishes, is a career-high seventh.
'We've definitely put ourselves back in it. I think it's both teams pretty much at the moment to fight for that championship.'
The undulating 3.37-mile, 11-turn Watkins Glen International circuit was a challenge after three weeks preparing and racing on the flat 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval. The inclement weather made it more challenging.
'The cars were tough to drive,' said Dixon, who took the lead for good after a restart by passing Rahal Letterman Racing's Buddy Rice exiting Turn 1. 'You knew there was going to be a lot of yellows just because of the conditions.'
Conditions vacillated between a wet and drying racing surface, necessitating teams to decide when and if to switch between rain tires and slicks. Both Dixon and Meira kept the slicks on, though the final five laps were competed under a mist in the South end of the circuit and a drying surface in the North.
'With the slicks, as soon as they cool off when you drive through a little bit of a puddle, they lose so much grip,' Dixon said. 'I think it was hard for all of us to know how hard you can go into that next corner because you're not really sure if the car is going to do it.'
