Dixon hopeful heading to first 2018 oval race

Scott Dixon is hopeful his Chip Ganassi Racing Team has the right package heading to the second round of the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series at the ISM Raceway, in Avondale, Arizona this weekend.

The Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix is the first of six oval races this season with drivers competing over 250 laps of the 1.022 mile speedway.

“I think the race in Phoenix this year will be a bit of an unknown with the new package we have,” commented Dixon. “We did get to test here in the No. 9 PNC Bank car for spring training, but obviously, that will be different running with other cars together in race conditions. We were able to dig deep and come from the back a few times in St. Petersburg to get a decent result, and we’re hoping we make life a bit easier for ourselves for this weekend’s race.”

Dixon hopes to add to his record-setting resume in 2018. Dixon’s four season championships tie him with Indy car greats Mario Andretti, Sebastien Bourdais and Dario Franchitti, trailing only the seven titles collected by A.J. Foyt. Dixon is fourth on the all-time Indy car victory list with 41 and won at ISM Raceway in 2016.

Sebastien Bourdais claimed the season-opening race of the Verizon IndyCar Series for the second year in a row as he won the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 11. Bourdais is hoping to claim back-to-back wins to start the season for the first time since 2006 as he pursues a fifth Indy car championship.

“”Obviously, winning at St. Petersburg to open the season was big, comented Bourdais. “It is always great to start a season with a good result. I am not a big believer in momentum, but the Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan SealMaster team knows that if we keep digging and working hard as a group we can achieve the results we want.”

Josef Newgarden of Team Penske continues defence of his 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Newgarden captured his first series title in his first season with Team Penske, winning four times. Now he aims to be Team Penske’s first repeat champion since Gil de Ferran collected back-to-back CART championships in 2000 and 2001.

“We had a decent start to the season at St. Petersburg with a top-10 finish but we’re hungry for more,” said Newgarden. “We tested recently at ISM Raceway with the new aero kit and learned a lot that we can apply to our oval program for the season.”

Racing in the Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix gets underway at 6:35pm local time on Saturday 7 April.