Q. Scott, I think you know everyone is kind of wondering were there any team orders when you went out there with Dario on the pole?
SCOTT DIXON: I don’t know what you’re talking about (laughing). I think, obviously, today Team Target wanted the front row, and more importantly for Dario to get the pole and gained a little bit with that extra point. As it turned out, it worked out perfectly.
But Dario was definitely extremely quick. He found more speed than what he had in practice, and we kind of just plateaued, so all in all it was what we needed to achieve.
Q. I know you want to win all the time. But with Dario racing for the championship, what are you racing for tomorrow night?
SCOTT DIXON: Third. You know, just slipped back, obviously, in the points. Helio jumped up there, so my main goal is to try to get back up to third in the points. You know, still going to go out there and run my race. If I can win the race, that’s going to be the main goal. You know, it’s one of those things until you see how the race goes, see how quick and competitive both Dario and Will are, whether that changes the strategy if we do something off the wall to try to win the race from another direction, there’s not anybody else doing that, as well. It’s kind of one of those things that you know we’re going to know.
I think it’s going to be a fierce race at the front between five or six cars. And even in practice, you can tell that some cars are definitely better earlier on in the run and some are better later on.
So, you know, last year was a totally different race for the green flag all the way through to the checkered, which has never been done before. So nobody really expected that. I think this year it could probably be a little bit different.
Q. Having been in Dario’s shoes before, how important is it having a teammate starting on that front row with you when you’re going for a championship and a win like that?
SCOTT DIXON: I think it’s, you know, whenever you race your teammate, you definitely give them a little more room. You race with them maybe a little more cleanly. With you the other factor is we have two Penskes right behind us, and they’ll be trying to stir it up as much as possible right off the bat.
So we always race clean, and we’ll definitely do that tomorrow. And if I can push Dario along, obviously there are two more points that will definitely make it a lot more interesting if you gain three points on Will. So that will be the main goal if we can do something like that.
Q. You guys have come on, obviously, really strong on a lot of the ovals. Clearly, you guys have the same, I like to think, skill set as the Penske guys. Has it been frustrating this season knowing that there have been some racetracks that Target just hasn’t had the lockdown on where you guys haven’t been able to put the package together and stay up with Will and everyone else?
SCOTT DIXON: I think this year we definitely 2009 and 2008 had dominant cars on the mile and a halves. And I think this year we definitely lost our way a little bit, mostly on the air side of things, I think. It’s night‑and‑day difference.
Kansas was probably the only race where the cars were typically what they were like or used to be. Then after that we haven’t really had the speed or consistency throughout the car. Dario won Chicago, but I think that was a pure strategy win right there, otherwise we were kind of top six or seven, at best. It’s nice to know that the team is definitely refocused. And we made up a lot of gains, I think, at the test here on Monday, which has been a big advantage.
But obviously, all the Penske cars were here, as well. So it’s nice to see that we have some of our speed back for qualifying, although the race is a totally different story.
Q. Is it a different feeling coming into this race with the points lead as opposed to the guy that’s being the one that’s hunted or doing the hunting? Is there a different feeling? Last year you came in here, I think you were first. Is it a different feeling than when you were trying to chase somebody down?
SCOTT DIXON: Well, this year for me is a totally different feeling, because I’m not even in it. It’s more relaxing for sure. You can focus on different areas.
I don’t know, you know, a lot of times you just have to treat each race as a different race. If you overemphasize on silly areas, it only causes you to make mistakes. I think everybody that comes into a championship battle tries to keep a clear mind and obviously let it go. As long as you do your best and you come out after the race feeling you gave it your all, that’s what you can really do.
Look at last year with the strategy, you never would have thought it went from green to checker on one go. You just can’t help that. So, it may be some advantage with Dario, obviously, being through this scenario many times throughout his career. You know, I’m sure Will has been through this scenario in junior categories. So there’s a bit more of a spotlight on it. When it comes down to it, it’s just another mile‑and‑a‑half, 300-mile race.
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