Scott Dixon couldn’t have picked a better place for his 300th career Verizon IndyCar Series start if he had written the script himself.
Dixon will make his 300th start in Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
Mid-Ohio is Dixon’s most successful IndyCar track. In 13 starts (including two in CART and 11 in IndyCar), he has a career-high five wins (also the most there of any driver in IndyCar history), six podium finishes and two poles.
“Mid-Ohio is just one of those tracks where we have a feeling that if we get things right with the PNC Bank car, we always have a decent shot at winning,” Dixon said. “The track has been very special to not only myself, but to the team over the years.”
Dixon, who turned 38 this past Sunday, comes into this weekend’s race on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn permanent road course as the IndyCar points leader, holding a 62-point edge over defending series champion Josef Newgarden and a 70-point margin over third-ranked Alexander Rossi.
“It’s funny, I haven’t really thought too much about the 300 starts,” Dixon said. “But it’s kind of cool it happens to land at Mid-Ohio where we’ve had some success. Does that mean I’m getting old? I’m not sure. Hopefully we can celebrate it by getting the PNC Bank car into victory lane on Sunday.”
Dixon is coming off a big win two weeks ago at Toronto, his third of the season, tying him with Josef Newgarden for most triumphs thus far in 2018.
It also was Dixon’s 44th career IndyCar victory, leaving him eight away from tying Mario Andretti for second on the IndyCar all-time wins list (A.J. Foyt is No. 1 with 67 wins).
With five races remaining, Dixon hopes to build on his past Mid-Ohio success to put additional room between himself, Newgarden, Rossi, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Will Power heading into Pocono, Gateway, Portland and the season finale at Sonoma.
“(Mid-Ohio is) one of those rhythm tracks where if you get in a good groove, then things just take off if everything is working right,” Dixon said. “You can come from about anywhere to win here as we’ve seen in the past, but it’s a lot easier when you do it from the front, so a good qualifying run is always important on this style of track.”