Dixon hopeful of making up ground at The Glen: Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon is hoping this weekend trip to Watkins Glen International is one for the record books.
Dixon will seek to set one record (26 consecutive races running at the finish) and tie another (three consecutive victories at the same venue) in the Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix this weekend. If successful, Dixon could gain some ground on points leader Dario Franchitti (he’s 65 behind in second place after nine of 17 rounds).
“I think there are always circuits that you like more, ” said Dixon, who has won from the fourth starting position both years. “I’ve always had my preferences of road courses No. 1 and then short tracks over big circuits. All the road courses we go to are very technical and enjoyable. Circuits that we go to, when you put the car together setup-wise well it rewards you. “
Stringing together quality laps on the 11-turn natural terrain racing ribbon of Watkins Glen is reward in itself.
“At Watkins, the Bus Stop (Inner Loop) itself is very fast but then when you go into the Carousel it’s pretty cool, too, ” Dixon said. “Circuits like that remind me of Phillip Island in Australia. They have corners that our cars are so on the edge. The reward out of those places—because they are a technical track and so long—is putting a whole lap together. You can go around there all day long, getting one corner right and two or three others wrong and you never get a (competitive) time. I think it’s combining it where you get the joy out of it.
“Getting that is experience and when you work together closely with the engineer on your team you overcome those things fairly quickly. “
Dixon will be challenged by the usual cast of strong road racers. In particular, Buddy Rice in the No. 15 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing car could create some fireworks on the circuit. He’s had two top-five finishes in a row on short tracks (Iowa and Richmond) and is coming off a strong Open Test at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Rice also finished fourth at The Glen last year in a Rahal Letterman Racing car.
“I like coming to Watkins Glen, ” Rice said. “Hopefully the weather holds out and it’s a dry race so that we can continue our top-five progress and try to get on the podium this weekend. I think we have an extremely strong car right now for the road courses. We were pretty fast at St. Pete with the exception of our suspension issue, and we were fast at the Open Test at Mid-Ohio.
“I am definitely looking forward to a strong weekend. Hopefully we can try to get a little further up and keep making some progress in the points. ”
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