David Turner gives us his insights on the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series….
As May 29th and the 100th running of the Indy 500 gets closer I thought it was a good time to look at the numbers and even more so those of kiwi Scott Dixon. Some may say it was just another IndyCar Series victory for Scott Dixon recently but this simple fact its another win each and every year he nails a win and the season is only just underway.
The four-time series champion quietly reigned in the return to Phoenix International Raceway, scoring a victory in a race that yes ended under caution but well in his pocket at that stage and pretty much all the race.
The win was the 39th of Dixon’s career, tying Al Unser Sr. for fourth place on the sport’s all-time list. It’s early in the season, of course, but Dixon also moved into second place in the points standings, five ahead of Juan Montoya, the driver he edged out for last year’s title. Montoya finished ninth.
Simon Pagenaud who finished second now leads the championship in points with four more than Dixon.
Dixon gave Ganassi Racing its first win at this mile oval track and made team owner Chip Ganassi smile with the win. He has now won for the 20th time in IndyCar Series Racing on an oval and coming from New Zealand and the traditional road course venues this in itself say how well rounded he is when it comes to tacking pretty much any kind of race track. Post race again he quietly summed it up “Definitely one of the toughest races,” he said.
But this is where the numbers really start to stack as we head towards May have a look at these numbers.
Scott Dixon holds the Indianapolis 500 record for consecutive miles run in race competition. After being sidelined by accidents in two of his first three 500s, he stayed on the track for the next eight years. That’s 200 laps seven times, 166 laps in the rain-shortened 2007 race and most of the 2014 event for a total of 3,415 miles.
It’s probably no coincidence that he finished in the top 10 seven times during that stretch, including his win in 2008. He also finished second twice in that period (2007, ’12). The streak continued for 167 laps into the 2014 race until an accident left him in 29th place.
The month of May and the 100th 500 seem very exciting should all the Dixon stars align that’s for sure.
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