Scott Dixon blazed the field to win Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and surpass Sam Hornish, Jr. for most career victories in the IndyCar Series with 20.
Dixon passed Justin Wilson during the mid-stages of the race and then benefited from a quick pit stop to dominate late in the race. Wilson trailed Dixon by six seconds but ran out of fuel, as he coasted onto pit road for his final stop. His car then stalled while exiting his pit area.
Wilson’s mishap helped Dixon to finish nearly 30 seconds ahead of pole sitter Ryan Briscoe for his series-leading fourth victory of the season. He also won on a road course for the first time since July, 2008 at Edmonton.
“Obviously it’s a fantastic milestone for myself and obviously for the team,” Dixon said regarding his record 20th win. “I’ve achieved all of those wins with Target. Without them, it wouldn’t have been possible.” MiamiHerald.com
Scott Dixon has earned many nicknames during his highly-successful racing career such as “The Iceman” for his cool demeanor as well as 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner and two-time IndyCar Series champion.
On Sunday, he earned a new moniker—“Mr. IRL.”
Tony George may not have had a driver such as Dixon in mind when he created the Indy Racing League but Dixon has grown into the role of “Mr. IRL” and can now boast the accomplishment of being the all-time victory leader in the series and has replaced Hornish as “Mr. IRL.”
“Unfortunately, Sam is not still here to defend that,” Dixon said. “That’s the sad side of it. It’s a fantastic milestone for me and for the team. I’ve achieved all of my wins with Target and without them it wouldn’t be possible. To finally be labeled that in this series is a big deal to me and a big deal to the team.
“It’s going to be tough to hang on to that. Helio is pretty close and to keep that going I’m going to have to race for a lot more years. If I can get that up to 25, 30 or 35, I think that would be pretty cool.”
Franchitti, who had many great battles with Hornish on the ovals before both drivers left for NASCAR after the 2007 IndyCar Series season, is able to compare both drivers and assess their strengths and weaknesses.
“Dixie, he’s been on it,” Franchitti said. “Today was a great performance by him. It’s really, really impressive. They are very different drivers. For me, I’ve watched Scott get better in all the different disciplines. He can win on any type of track. And Sam is a fantastic oval driver but really struggled on the road courses. He was getting better before he left for NASCAR but he really struggled.
“I think that’s the big difference between the two. They are both great drivers.” SI.com
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