Q. You won the pole and you led the most laps so now you get the first win of the year, talk about your race.
SCOTT DIXON: It was definitely nice for a change have a smooth weekend. I think throughout even practice and qualifying and things like that, the car was pretty close. We only had to make minor changes throughout.
I think a lot of us chased the track this weekend. It was very slippery, maybe the tire I think was a little harder this year, too, so it was very loose trying to get into the corner and a lot of people struggled with that. We worked that out on the test so had a made the transition a little bit better.
But I’m just excited for the team. Dario has obviously been doing a hell of a job this year, four wins and leading by too many points. So you know for us to have a nice, smooth weekend with the pole and obviously going on to win the race was good for the 9 car side, and hopefully we can carry on a bit of a trend and try to get back into the points chase, even though it’s a long ways away, but just excited for the team.
THE MODERATOR: And I apologize, I believe this is your third win here at Mid‑Ohio, so sorry about that. We’ll continue with that questions.
Q. Somewhere in the middle of race around Lap 40 or 50 James Hinchcliffe was front of you. You closed the gap but seems that you had no real possibility to overtake; did you try to find a chance to go around him? I think the problem solved itself when he came to the pits later on.
SCOTT DIXON: Yeah, I asked the team to see how many laps earlier James was going to have to pit. They said, “You’ve got the option to either try and pass him or just save fuel.” And in that situation, Dario was trying to save fuel, as well. So we didn’t have a whole lot of pressure, so there was no point in trying to push the fact that we needed to get past James.
He was running a great pace for me to save fuel. It was on older tires and things like that so the pace was not as quick once we got back out front into clean air. I can’t say I really attempted to pass him. A lot of guys definitely work on making sure their exit out of Turn 2 is very good, and James, actually that was probably the best part of the track that he was all day. So if I had to push and try and pass him, it was going to be very tough.
Q. This may be a moot point with the new car coming next year, but this is a great track for all you guys, you all love racing here, it’s a real driver’s track but just not a lot of opportunity to overtake. Is there anything that any of you feel could be done to help a little bit more passing going on during the event without changing the character of the track?
SCOTT DIXON: You know I think one of the best races of recent past for me was actually Sonoma last year, and that’s where the Red tire just degraded rapidly. It was done within ten laps and there were chunks fall off. I think that’s a good way. Obviously you see it in Formula 1, too, where they are having to do four or five pit stops, a ton of pit stops where they have to mandatorily get through those. And they are a chunk quicker, as well, for the period you do have them on. I think that’s a great way to create time management. People can do a better job looking after their tires and move towards the front and vice versa.
So I think there’s a number of ways. I think with the new car, obviously with the push‑to‑pass will probably get bigger with the boost and things like that, as well.
But for me I think the tires would be a good addition.
Q. Could you talk about that pass, and is that a pass you’ve done a lot in your career? Or when was last time and how good was it feeling?
SCOTT DIXON: Well, actually in my mind‑set going to the green, I was trying to get a good jump with Dario and stay on the outside through four. And he took off like a bloody cannon. Yeah, it was a nice jump. (Smiling).
So then the only option I had to do was to slip back inside. And you know, Dario obviously moved back to the typical line, which is what you have to do, which left the inside open. So it was a perfect scenario for me; with the way the rules are, Dario can’t really defend. So I was going to try slipping the car in there. He gave me plenty of room. That was that.
So as far as previous times, I don’t even know to be honest. But you know, it felt nice and it felt fun (chuckling).
Q. Did you wave?
SCOTT DIXON: I didn’t wave. (Smiling).
| 
|