After taking a victory at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday night, Scott Dixon has praised the efforts of his team, Chip Ganassi Racing. The New Zealander now sits atop of the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series points table, but Scott assured the media that it would not be easy to hold onto his championship lead.
After taking his first win of 2018 at the Duel in Detroit a week beforehand, Scott Dixon entered the DXC Technology 600 race weekend with plenty of momentum. Dixon would qualify his #9 PNC Bank Honda in seventh place for the race, with the former Texas winner hoping to move up the order on Saturday night.
Back in Detroit, Dixon and Chip Ganassi Racing were in perfect form, with both parties playing their roles perfectly to execute a perfect race and victory. Fast forward to Texas, it was a similar story. After a strong start to the race, with superb pit-stops and great fuel management, Dixon worked his way into the lead of the race by lap 130 and would lead every lap after that, taking the chequered flag to win the race on lap 248.
After the race, Dixon would thank his team, his sponsors and even the staff at Texas Motor Speedway for running the event. Scott would go on say that his team had, once again, given him a fantastic car to work with.
“I love winning at Texas,” Dixon said, “This place is awesome. Always a big thank you to Eddie Gossage [Texas Motor Speedway president] and his team. They do a fabulous job. The PNC Bank car is back in victory lane. It’s fantastic. The car was just stuck. Whatever we did, the car was just nailed. It was a bit loose at times, but I can’t thank the team enough. The pit stops were fantastic.”
Credit: Chris Jones / Courtesy of IndyCar
Dixon went on to detail how his patience early on in the race, where he had saved his tyres and fuel, had paid off in the end:
“I think we bided our time a little bit,” Dixon added, “We wanted to make sure the Firestone tires were looked after as much as possible. They did a really good job. We went all the way to the end of the fuel stint and we haven’t done that in a long time. We conserved a little bit at the start, then put the hammer down.”
Dixon’s win on Saturday night now puts him in third place on the all-time IndyCar wins list with forty-three victories to his name. He now only sits behind A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti. In victory circle, Dixon would once again thank his team at Chip Ganassi Racing, who have been with him throughout his career in the Verizon IndyCar Series.
“It means a lot, but more so for the team.” said Scott post-race, “We celebrate together and we win and lose together. Forty-two of those wins have come with this team. I can’t thank them enough. Chip [Ganassi], Mike [Hull], [Scott] Harner, Barry [Wanser] and all the No. 9 car crew.”
The 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series is now beyond its halfway stage. With eight races left to run, Dixon now has the championship lead, boasting a twenty-three point advantage over second-placed Alexander Rossi. Whilst the gap is quite sizable compared to the last few races, Scott would go on to state that the competitiveness of the series is so great, it will be a tall order for him to hold onto the lead.
“It’s not bad, but it’s going to be hard to hold onto. We’ll see how the next races go. The car has had good speed all season and we’ll try to keep it going.”
The next round of the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series, the KOHLER Grand Prix at Road America, will take place on Sunday, June 24.
