If Ron Dixon was distracted while watching the Indianapolis 500, it was hard to tell. Dixon, the father of race winner Scott Dixon, was the spotter for John Andretti, who finished 16th.
“At times, I wish I wasn’t there, but it was great,” Ron Dixon said after the Indianapolis 500 Victory Celebration where Scott Dixon received a record $2,988,065 from a record purse of $14,406,580.
Dixon became the first native of New Zealand to win the Indianapolis 500. After starting from the pole position, he led seven times for a race-high 115 laps and beat Panther Racing’s Vitor Meira to the finish line by 1.7498 seconds. The race featured 18 lead changes among nine drivers, and each of the eight times the yellow caution flag flew Ron Dixon scanned the venue to determine if the red and white No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car was involved.
“Up until the last 10 laps, I sort of listened to what was happening but I was concentrating 100 percent on John,” he said. “I have to be honest that each time John disappeared down that front straight I started looking for Scott and it was sort of starting to happen at just the right time - Scott was coming into Turn 3 and John was in Turn 1. “
“But it was hard. I called John until the bitter end; you have to because it’s a job.”
Ron eventually made his way through the throngs of spectators to Victory Circle to join the celebration, and it continued during the Victory Celebration that honored all 33 drivers and the Hulman-George family.
“When we first came up here about eight years ago it was always a dream that one day Scott would win the 500,” he said. “Those emotions just burst out; it was incredible. People ask, ‘How do you feel?’ I don’t really know. You go numb, and then you start yahooing and yelling.”
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