Watkins Glen International’s mix of high-speed corners and dramatic elevation changes remind Scott Dixon most of the 12-turn Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Victoria, Australia.
“As long as you get a line on the corners perfectly, you’re going to get a fast lap, ” the New Zealander said, referencing both facilities. “The reward out of those places—because they are 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. ”
The Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver put together close to 60 such trips on the 3.37-mile, 11-turn circuit to win the Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix, joining Graham Hill as winners of three consecutive major open-wheel races at The Glen.
Dixon took the lead after polesitter Helio Castroneves crashed on Lap 20 while leading, lost it after he pitted and was slowed by mid-field traffic, then regained it after a fast pit stop on Lap 45. He held off Sam H ornish Jr., Dario Franchitti, Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti over the final 14 laps.
“Things just seemed to play our way, ” said Dixon, who led Hornish across the line by 6.2591 seconds. “The last 10 laps I was waiting for something to break. ”
This victory could be the break Dixon’s been waiting and hoping for in the championship race. Three of the remaining seven races are on road courses, and the next event – at the 1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway – Dixon is the defending champion. Dixon’s been consistent (some would call it unlucky) with four runner-up finishes, just as he was during the ’03 title run. Dixon’s first victory of the season and seventh of his IndyCar Series career shaved 18 points off of Franchitti’s advantage in the standings (to 47).
“I like to keep it quiet and just get on with my job and let the results speak for themselves, ” Dixon said. “This year we’ve had situations where we’ve come close. When you have four second-place finishes so far this season, it’s tough. You can’t keep doing that so often. But it’s definitely good that now we’ve come up with the win, especially in the second half of the season. We’ve got to step up and keep the pressure on AGR and Dario. ”
Franchitti’s No. 27 Canadian Club Honda-powered Dallara posted the ninth top-five finish in the 10 races.
“Second was what we were really hoping for, ” said the Andretti Green Racing driver, the 2005 race winner at Nashville. “We lost a little bit of time in the pits and that was the difference between second and third. I’m not unhappy with the finish. This was a very, very tough race, maybe the toughest. I’m just going to keep battling Dixon week in and week out. He’s the strongest guy in the points right now. ”
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