Last year when Scott Dixon headed into the Honda Indy Toronto, he was set at trying to get himself back into the championship picture. The New Zealand native did just that, as he was able to claim the victory in both races as part of the double header weekend.
“Last year, we were having a bit of an average season to this point and then right before this race, we won the Pocono 400 and then came here to Toronto. We didn’t qualify too well, but managed to pass the other cars and come away with the victory,” Dixon recalled. “It’s kind of strange with a double header to dominate both days with how competitive it is, and how you a figure a wreck or strategy will take you out of one of them. But the next day, we grabbed the pole and went on to win the second race. It was pretty cool and it gave us an interesting distinction of winning three races in seven days. That definitely built up towards the championship in beating Helio. It was definitely a crazy season with highs and lows in the road to the championship.”
After pulling together some more wins and strong finishes for the rest of the year, Scott Dixon called himself champion at the end of the 2013 season, scoring his third career championship. While it was huge in the way of the comeback, it doesn’t mark the biggest title of his career.
“The first championship I was really young, 23 years old, naive and my life was pretty crazy in getting married, winning the 500 in May and then the championship,” Dixon said. “Now, I don’t think I can top that because my wife (Emma) wouldn’t be happy if I said otherwise.”
The beginning of this year didn’t start out how Dixon would’ve hoped as Chip Ganassi Racing seemed to off compared to their competition. However, a recent string of success has Dixon heading into Toronto with momentum on his side as he looks for another victory.
“It’s a great race for us,” Dixon commented on Toronto. “The fan support is huge. It’s great for our sponsors as it helped our sponsor, Target, kick off their launch into Canada (last year) as well. I think the circuit layout is perhaps one of the best street courses that we go to, and creates some of the craziest and best racing that we have all season because of the layout of the track. I think making it a double header for the fans is totally a great idea and makes for a great city. It’s a big city, part of the common wealth and I think that’s nice. I think the people here help make it great as they love our racing.”
Of course, one of the unique items about the event is the fact that it is a double header, which IndyCar implemented last year to add dates for the schedule – without adding more travel time for the teams. While it may seem simple in theory, Dixon notes that it makes for a lot of work for the crew guys between the two events.
“With expanding to a four-car team now, we travel with probably close to a 100, 120 people. They work through the night, especially with the double headers,” he explained. “The engine stays in the car, but everything else changes. The gear box, the uprights, the suspension down to everything. The race ends about 5 pm and mechanics work till 2 in the morning so we can qualify on the track the next day early in the morning. So it’s a lot of work to make it work.”
As Dixon continues to add to his accomplishments on the track, he also knows that he has his family behind him to support him, in the form of his wife Emma and their two daughters. Traveling right now is easy with them both being young, however Dixon notes that may change shortly with his oldest daughter Poppy turning five recently and starting school next month.
Though even with the tough days that he may have on the track and the stresses that may come in the future with traveling and a family, there’s one thing that remains true – Dixon is thankful to be in his current position.
“Even if I have a bad day, I still wake up and feel that I am very lucky to do what I do,” he commented. “It’s a very short list of people that are able to do this in their lifetime and I wake up thinking about racing, I think about racing when I’m training – racing is always on my mind. I’m thankful for being able to do it, and have my wife and kids with me along the way.”
