Scott Dixon prepares for challenging weekend ahead at Texas Motor Speedway. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
No question, Scott Dixon has a knack for navigating around Texas Motor Speedway, leading the pack with five wins.
However, entering Sunday’s PPG 375, the six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion knows that in any race, no matter the venue or track layout, a win must be earned.
In terms of his key to success in Fort Worth, Dixon commented that it comes down to team effort and working with some of the sport’s greats. All of that simply clicked for Dixon from the very beginning of his American Open Wheel Racing career.
“I remember even the early year of ’03 for me, I guess I did kind of run the practice, almost qualifying maybe in the CART era where it was super fast. (Tomas) Scheckter was a big guy around that place, super fast. Obviously, Dan Wheldon later on, learned a lot off of those guys,” Dixon said.
“That combo and even Dario (Franchitti) was super fast around that place, which when he came back through that period after 2009 and onwards.
“I think always great teamwork, but we’ve had cars and configurations that have always been exceptionally good at Texas. I think the last few years we’ve had that as well. Last year, I think as a team, we kind of missed on-the-go time, turning into a bit of a fuel race, then there was a bit of a shift late in the race. I think we kind of got caught not keeping up at that point. It’s been a great track and a place I love to race at.”
April kicks off a three-race stretch that showcases all styles of racing with Texas (oval), Long Beach (street course) and Barber Motorsports Park (road course). All of that leads to the month of May in Indianapolis with the GMR Grand Prix, Indy 500 qualifying, in which Dixon has won the last two straight, and finally, the 107th Indianapolis 500 where Dixon hopes to capture his second Borg-Warner Trophy.
For now, all eyes concentrate on the 1.5-mile oval that saw a rekindled spark last year in terms of the quality of racing. The track got reconfigured in 2017 and NASCAR altered its rules package, which led to the addition of PJ1 on the surface.
Due to this, INDYCAR implemented an additional practice session after qualifying to build rubber on the upper groove. As a result, last year’s action improved. While Dixon finished fifth, Josef Newgarden made a last-lap pass on teammate Scott McLaughlin to win the 248-lap race.
“I think every weekend’s now, just with the competition level, how tough it is, I think for us, it kicks off a pretty heavy stretch of a lot of weekends on the road, which is extremely tough for the teams as well,” said Dixon.
“I think especially when you’re shifting configurations from ovals to road courses, then the lead-up to the month of May, there’s a lot of emphases that goes into the car builds, for the race, for the pole [and] then obviously for the biggest race in the world.
“I’m looking forward to it. Love Texas. Even it’s different configurations that we’ve had throughout the years … I think this year INDYCAR has done a good job I think of bringing some updated aero pieces which I think will definitely tighten the pack and allow for some side-by-side racing with the addition of a full-field high-line practice, which I think will help as well as we sort of did definitely in St. Louis.”
Despite rave reviews on the extra session a year ago, the unknown lingers on Dixon’s mind. Time will tell how the race weekend will unfold and how the product will look due to the track compound having its wild characteristics. Unlike last year, INDYCAR won’t be the only show in town. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will race on Saturday, mostly sandwiched in between INDYCAR events.
The much publicized and scrutinized PJ1 at the 1.5-mile oval. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
Saturday’s Schedule (All Times Eastern)
- INDYCAR Practice No. 1 (9:00 a.m.)
- NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Practice Session (10:35 a.m.)
- NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Qualifying (11:05 a.m.)
- INDYCAR Qualifying (12:15 p.m.)
- INDYCAR High Line Session (1:15 p.m.)
- INDYCAR Final Practice (2:30 p.m.)
- NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series: SpeedyCash.com 250 (4:30 p.m.)
“Half the time we don’t realize some of the stuff until we actually turn up. So I’m not actually sure they have applied some of that texture to the high lane,” Dixon said on the unknowns of the track compound.
“It’s kind of weird. I actually haven’t heard if they’ve been trying to. Typically, at this point, they would actually be trying to scrub it off or remove it. But I think last year, it was maybe closer timing or maybe they ran just before us, so there was a different shift in how that applied. Maybe this year — I don’t think they would have had anything until their fall race. There was nothing earlier in the season, so we’ll see how that definitely applies.
“I think with the addition of the high line practice that will give everybody at least some idea of what that grip level is like.
With only a single race under his belt, Dixon sits third in the championship pursuit following an unexpected podium result at St. Petersburg earlier this month. Dixon explained that it was an overall positive weekend for the entire Chip Ganassi Racing organization with all cars finishing inside the top-12, led by a Marcus Ericsson victory.
“It was definitely big [for CGR] to get a win. I think we got a little bit lucky there with what happened to Pato (O’Ward) there. Obviously, I think we would have inherited the lead with that caution if we didn’t get the yellow, then getting kind of crushed,” said Dixon.
“I think there were definitely many ups and downs in what was a wild weekend at St. Pete from Practice 1 all the way through with many crashes. The track was definitely very challenging to what we saw in the race as well. We got a good insight of what the season is going to entail for sure.
“Very good weekend for us, very fast cars, which is slightly different than what we typically have at St. Pete. Great to see that. Good, solid finishes.”
Dixon vies to improve on his fifth-place finish last year. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
Sunday’s 250-lap contest will also feature the largest field at TMS since 2011 as 28 cars have accepted the courageous challenge. Only one part-time entry will compete as Ed Carpenter will make his season debut in the third Ed Carpenter Racing entry. Dixon’s teammate, Takuma Sato, takes over the No. 11 Honda, primarily driven by Marcus Armstrong on road and street courses.
Having the two-time Indy 500 champion has made Dixon excited to have him at Ganassi, which could be a lethal combination on ovals this season.
“Obviously, raced [Takuma] for many years, but never been on the same team,” Dixon said. “We’ve also had our comings together. In Texas, it’s happened a few times (smiling). Hopefully, the first rule of Chip’s is don’t hit your teammate. Hopefully, that plays strong.
“I’m looking forward to it. He’s a super-talented guy. He’s super intense. I think his knowledge and what he does, just his approach, too, from what I’ve already seen, he’s pretty full on. I think that attention to detail, the experience that he has I think from other teams, but also at this circuit I think is going to be really good. I’d like to think that he’s going to do extremely well.”
As good as Dixon has been in “The Lone Star State,” there’s always room for improvement, citing quick footwork, not being complacent and finding the maximum potential of his No. 9 Honda as his biggest hurdles.
“I think each year something can be a little bit different, whether the tire is a little bit different or the car setup or weather conditions,” Dixon said. “The biggest thing for me and for our team is not becoming complacent. I think when you think you understand what the situation is going to bring.
“Always trying to extract the most you can out of each session that you run, then also trying to be annoying to your teammates and asking them lots of questions, asking them what they would do a little bit different or a little bit better, even extending that into the field of running into Will Power and asking him how his session went.
“There’s lots of things that are always in your mind and things that you think you can do better. But I would say never becoming complacent is probably the biggest thing.”
Live coverage of the PPG 375 begins Sunday at 12 p.m. ET on NBC as Dixon will look to win at Texas for the third time this decade.
