Scott Dixon’s victory in his ninth start at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach checked off a longstanding personal box.
“I think it’s a big breakthrough for myself,” the three-time Verizon IndyCar Series champion said. “I love Long Beach, but as a track and one that you want to come and do well at it hasn’t been on the top of my list. Now, it’s obviously changed. I think we found some things that have enabled me to adapt to the circuit. It’s just a shame it’s taken nine years.”
The driver of the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet will seek another first this weekend in the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, in which he’s been the runner-up four years (2010-13) and finished third in 2014.
“The majority (of preseason team testing) was at Barber and NOLA, so I think the road courses are kind of our strong suit right now,” he said. “We have to see how that plays out obviously with Barber and Indy coming up.”
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At the March 16-17 Promoter Test on the 2.3-mile, 17-turn Barber Motorsports Park layout – the first all-team track sessions with the Chevrolet and Honda road/street and short oval aerodynamic package – Dixon was second quick overall with a lap of 1 minute, 07.3996 seconds (162 total laps).
Reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion Will Power, driving the No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, had the quickest lap of 1:07.3118 seconds (123.010 mph), which was a full second quicker than his 2014 pole-winning lap time on Firestone alternate tires. Twenty-one drivers bettered Power’s 2014 pole lap time over the four sessions.
Dixon holds the track record with a lap of 1:06.7750 in Round 1 of qualifying in 2013, also on Firestone alternate tires that offer more grip. Ryan Hunter-Reay, driving the No. 28 DHL Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, has won the past two races at the track in Birmingham, Ala.
Dixon’s victory at Long Beach was the 36th of his career, which broke a tie with Bobby Unser for fifth on the all-time Indy car list. Al Unser is fourth with 39 victories, and A.J. Foyt tops everyone with 67.
Dixon also tied Bobby Unser, Emerson Fittipaldi and Helio Castroneves atop the all-time list with an Indy car victory in 11 consecutive seasons, and he tied Rick Mears and Gordon Johncock with at least one victory in 13 seasons. A.J. Foyt with 18 is the leader and Mario Andretti with 16 is second.
“It feels amazing to even be on a list with a lot of those names. It’s a real privilege,” said Dixon, who turns 35 on July 22. “But I think stats are something that you look back on when you’re done with your career, and hopefully you’re happy with them.
“Right now we’re fifth. I think we’d definitely like to build on it, and the only way we’re going to do that is to win races. I’m very lucky to be with a team like Team Target. All but one win (2001 at Nazareth with PacWest Racing) has been with this team, so a huge amount of credit goes to them as a team for enabling me to take it to the winner’s circle a lot of the time.”
