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Q: The first question is for all of you. What is your confidence level heading into this weekend? It’s a winner‑take‑all event. Do you approach this race any differently from the previous 16? Scott, you’re the points leader, so we’ll start with you.
Scott Dixon: I don’t know. For most of us, you almost treat it just as a normal race weekend. I think if you try to change your strategy or the way you approach the race, it might affect how quick you go over the outcome of the race, and ultimately the outcome of the championship.
So I think you try to keep it simple. Not put too much pressure on yourself and let it all play out. It’s pretty much whoever beats who is going to walk away with the championship. So it’s definitely good for all the fans and one of the toughest days for the drivers.
But I’m definitely looking forward to it. It should be a great show, and (a) happy (occasion) for one of us. It’s been a great shootout so far as far as the whole championship’s gone, and I think everybody’s definitely put in a lot of hard work this season, teams and drivers and everybody else. We’ll all find out probably 7:00 o’clock Saturday night
Q. Dario, what about you? Taking a different approach to the race?
Dario Franchitti: No, I can echo what Scott said. It’s the same as any other race. Points from the first race are the same as the points from the last race. You just go out there, do your best. The team that does the best (will win). Everybody’s prepared, seemingly as they prepared for every race. We just go out there and do our best and see what we can do. Confidence‑level wise, I think all three of us are fairly confident. We’ve had a good season. And it’s just whoever does the best on Saturday night who gets a little bit of luck as well. Yeah. It’s what we race for.
Q. Ryan, the championship fight is new to you. But do you approach it any differently?
Ryan Briscoe: I think the only difference is as we get down to the final stages of the race, it’s you can’t just feel, at least from my position, feel comfortable coming in if it’s Dario (or Scott) in front of me. It won’t make a difference coming second or 10th if they’re in front of me. So the main difference is that we’re going to have to put a lot on the line and do what I can to finish in front of them to finish in the final stages of the race.
Otherwise the approach going into the race is the same. We’ve all been doing a great job at all of these races this year. And there is no reason to change up what we’ve been doing. It’s just, you know, there’s a bit more on the line there as you come down to the final stages of the race
Q. With a three driver battle you can’t focus on any one driver. So this falls into you basically concentrate on what you do best. But how do you keep from having the little things start to bother you? I know a lot of times when a driver is leading the Indianapolis 500 in the closing laps, he starts hearing noises coming from the car that he hadn’t heard all race. Is it kind of a similar situation when you’re battling for a championship?
Scott Dixon: You know, I think Indy is because the bad thing with Indy ‑‑ well, not the bad thing ‑‑ but the tough part is you have such long straights and a little bit of time to actually think about issues like that.
I think Saturday night’s definitely going to be very tough. And I suspect that all three of us will be neck and neck for the race win at the end, and you’re not really going to have time to think about that. You’re constantly going to be looking on the corner ahead and trying to do the best that you can. And probably think how you can maybe make the car better and things like that.
So I think in that aspect it’s definitely different to Indy. I don’t think you’ll see anything like Indy. I don’t think you’ll have a runaway race in this league. When you start thinking, it’s when you don’t have so much on your plate, and I really don’t see that this weekend.
It’s probably to feel like it’s going to be over quite quickly, because it’s going to go with a rush.
Dario Franchitti: I think Scott has hit the nail on the head there. It is going to be a very intense night. I think that’s part of the job, isn’t it? Doing the same thing you do when you’re out there testing on or whatever, whatever’s on the line, driving the same as you normally do.
I think just getting the best out of yourself. That’s the same for the guys in the pits too. Whether it’s the Target team or the Penske, when the pressure’s on, they have to do the same job they do in practice.
Ryan Briscoe: Yeah, same again. I think the ideal situation is getting in a position where you can find the time to start thinking about maybe what can go wrong. Not who is around you. I think it’s going to be a very intense race. Probably not just between the three of us, but I’m sure there are going to be lots of other guys up there as well. All of our ovals this year have been extremely close. And with other competition as well.
I’m sure it’s going to be very action packed, and doesn’t leave you a lot of time for your mind to go wandering off into other areas aside from just being focused on your line, on your car setup, and who is around you. I think as Scott said, it’s probably all going to be over pretty quickly
Q. With the push to passes, are you going to be using that rather judiciously in the early part of the race? Because I’m sure you want to have as much of an arsenal of that left in the end as possible?
Ryan Briscoe: Well, I think you’ve got to use it when you need to use it during the race, and obviously, if you’re out in front and maintaining a lead and maybe saving a bit of fuel, you don’t need to use it. You might end up with more than enough in the end.
You look at me at Kentucky, and I found myself falling back mid pack, and I really felt like I needed to use it throughout the middle of the race just to get myself out of trouble. I think you’ve just got to use it as you need it, as the race goes on.
Q. What can you do to minimize mistakes or can you do anything for the race? And the other thing is you guys are taking incredible risks out there at incredible speeds. How much confidence have you got in the three of you? Have you spoken about what you might do and what you might not do at the start of the race on restarts?
Ryan Briscoe: Well, I think the three of us have raced very closely throughout the whole season. We have a bit of confidence and faith in each other’s abilities at this point. I think that’s got to continue. I don’t really see anything different happening in the race. We’ve got to be smart, aggressive, but safe as well. And certainly take it to the line. I think we’ve sort of worked up a certain amount of respect between the three of us, which we’re going to need going into this race.
Q. Anyone want to address the question I had about minimizing any mistakes in the pits, in particular?
Dario Franchitti: I think it comes down to everybody just doing that job. This is what I think can separate you sometimes is closing the deal and doing the job right when there is a lot of pressure on them. That goes for the drivers as well as the guys in the pits and the guys calling the strategy. I think on Saturday a mistake will be very, very costly either from the drivers or the crews.
Q. Ryan, do you feel outmanned there, two against one? The two teammates against you? And also, I think Scott was the one who said that we’ll know quickly, we’ll know as far as the outcome? Why will we know so quickly?
Ryan Briscoe: As far as feeling outnumbered, I really feel as though all three of us are going into this last race really in the same boat. It’s either one of us win the race, it should be the championship.
Obviously, between myself and Scott, get a couple of bonus points in between. I might need more than that. But really, I think we’re all feeling the same pressure going in. I’m sure Scott and Dario will still be working together to try to get the best performance out of their car. But the same way I’ll be working with Helio (Castroneves) moving into the race, trying to get the best setup as well.
I think we’re all in the same boat, still feeling the same pressure.
