Scott Dixon has ‘to race for wins’ starting at Toronto

By Jul 9, 2019, 11:59 AM EDT
INDYCAR Photo by Chris Owen
INDYCAR Photo by John Cote
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TORONTO – Scott Dixon’s mission is clear in regard to the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series championship.

Although the five-time IndyCar Series champion is fourth in points, Dixon is 106 points behind championship points leader Josef Newgarden of Team Penske. With just seven races remaining in the season, Dixon is taking a “Win or else” attitude when it comes to the battle for the championship.

“I think the effect for us is we have to race for wins now,” Dixon told NBC Sports.com. “There is no other way to try and rebound on this championship, especially when the likes of Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi have been running so well at every configuration, too.

“We definitely have to step it up.”

Dixon heads into this weekend’s Honda Indy Toronto as the defending winner after he started second and led 49 laps in the 85-lap street race in 2018. It was this third win in Toronto in 14 IndyCar Series starts, including two seasons in CART in 2001 and 2002.

Watch the Honda Indy Toronto on NBCSN July 14 at 3 p.m. Eastern Time.

Dixon is arriving at Toronto at full speed after his brilliant display of racing at Road America on June 23. He was involved in a first-lap incident that saw him spin off course. When he returned to the track, he was 10 seconds behind the entire field.

In a contest that ran green flag for the entire distance, Dixon was able to race his way to a fifth-place finish.

Imagine what Dixon could have done without the first-lap spin-out.

“Could have, should have, would have, right?” Dixon said. “Visually, it could have been an easy podium. Honestly, it’s hard to get into a full-on battle at the front.

“It was a good day for us considering what happened. But it doesn’t mean much to talk about what could have been a possibility. It was frustrating for what happened. For us generally it was a decent points day.”

Toronto is one of Dixon’s best street courses. The five-time NTT IndyCar Series champion has a great knack for that track.

“I think our track record has been pretty good there,” Dixon admitted. “The series has moved on a lot from last season. The competition is definitely tighter and more difficult. We need to get more speed in the car, nicer to drive.

“We had good cars at Road America, but it was hard to piece a good lap together for me. Felix (Rosenqvist, his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate) was able to do it a little bit more often in some of the sessions. The split times were decent, but I really couldn’t get it together in qualifying.

“There’s a lot of things in the works that hopefully help us. But really, as usual, it’s the results that really talk. We’ll leave it to that.”

It’s the results that are going to get Dixon back into contention for a potential sixth NTT IndyCar Series championship. The 45-time IndyCar Series race winner knows that racing for points, won’t get him back to the front.

From this point forward, he has to “win or else.”

After New York whirlwind, Josef Newgarden makes special trip to simulator before Detroit

By Jun 2, 2023, 10:00 AM EDT
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DETROIT – There’s no rest for the weary as an Indy 500 winner, but Josef Newgarden discovered there are plenty of extra laps.

The reigning Indy 500 champion added an extra trip Wednesday night back to Concord, N.C., for one last session on the GM Racing simulator before Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.

After a 30-year run on the Belle Isle course, the race has been moved to a nine-turn, 1.7-mile layout downtown, so two extra hours on the simulator were worth it for Newgarden.

INDYCAR IN DETROIT: Entry list, schedule, TV info for this weekend

JOSEF’S FAMILY TIES: Newgarden wins Indy 500 with wisdom of father, wife

“I really wanted to do it,” he told NBC Sports at a Thursday media luncheon. “If there’s any time that the sim is most useful, it’s in this situation when no one has ever been on a track, and we’re able to simulate it as best as we can. We want to get some seat time.

“It’s extra important coming off the Indy 500 because you’ve been out of rhythm for a road or street course-type environment, so I really wanted some laps. I was really appreciative to Chevy. There was a few guys that just came in and stayed late for me so I could get those laps before coming up here. I don’t know if it’s going to make a difference, but I feel like it’s going to help for me.”

After a whirlwind tour of New York for two days, Newgarden arrived at the simulator (which is at the GM Racing Technical Center adjacent to Hendrick Motorsports) in time for a two hour session that started at 6 p.m. Wednesday. He stayed overnight in Charlotte and then was up for an early commercial flight to Detroit, where he had more media obligations.

Newgarden joked that if he had a jet, he would have made a quick stop in Nashville, Tennessee, but a few more days away from home (where he has yet to return in weeks) is a worthy tradeoff for winning the Greatest Spectacle in Racing – though the nonstop interviews can take a toll.

“It’s the hardest part of the gig for me is all this fanfare and celebration,” Newgarden said. “I love doing it because I’m so passionate about the Indy 500 and that racetrack and what that race represents. I feel honored to be able to speak about it. It’s been really natural and easy for me to enjoy it because I’ve been there for so many years.

“Speaking about this win has been almost the easiest job I’ve ever had for postrace celebrations. But it’s still for me a lot of work. I get worn out pretty easily. I’m very introverted. So to do this for three days straight, it’s been a lot.”

Though he is terrified of heights, touring the top of the Empire State Building for the first time was a major highlight (and produced the tour’s most viral moment).

“I was scared to get to the very top level,” Newgarden said. “That thing was swaying. No one else thought it was swaying. I’m pretty sure it was. I really impressed by the facility. I’d never seen it before. It’s one of those bucket list things. If you go to New York, it’s really special to do that. So to be there with the wreath and the whole setup, it just felt like an honor to be in that moment.”

Now the attention shifts to Detroit and an inaugural circuit that’s expected to be challenging. Along with a Jefferson Avenue straightaway that’s 0.9 miles long, the track has several low-speed corners and a “split” pit lane (teams will stop on both sides of a rectangular area) with a narrow exit that blends just before a 90-degree lefthand turn into Turn 1.

Newgarden thinks the track is most similar to the Music City Grand Prix in Nashville.

“It’s really hard to predict with this stuff until we actually run,” he said. “Maybe we go super smooth and have no issues. Typically when you have a new event, you’re going to have some teething issues. That’s understandable. We’ve always got to massage the event to get it where we want it, but this team has worked pretty hard. They’ve tried to get feedback constantly on what are we doing right, what do we need to look out for. They’ve done a ton of grinding to make sure this surface is in as good of shape as possible.

“There’s been no expense spared, but you can’t foresee everything. I have no idea how it’s going to race. I think typically when you look at a circuit that seems simple on paper, people tend to think it’s not going to be an exciting race, or challenging. I find the opposite always happens when we think that way. Watch it be the most exciting, chaotic, entertaining race.

Newgarden won the last two pole positions at Belle Isle’s 2.35-mile layout and hopes to continue the momentum while avoiding any post-Brickyard letdown.

“I love this is an opportunity for us to get something right quicker than anyone else,” he said. “A new track is always exciting from that standpoint. I feel I’m in a different spot. I’m pretty run down. I’m really trying to refocus and gain some energy back for tomorrow. Which I’ll have time to today, which is great.

“I don’t want that Indy 500 hangover. People always talk about it. They’ve always observed it. That doesn’t mean we have to win this weekend, but I’d like to leave here feeling like we had a really complete event, did a good job and had a solid finish leading into the summer. I want to win everywhere I go, but if we come out of here with a solid result and no mistakes, then probably everyone will be happy with it.”