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VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES: HONDA INDY TORONTO RACE 1July 18, 2014Scott DixonTORONTO, ONTARIO THE MODERATOR: We're pleased to be joined by Scott Dixon of Target Chip Ganassi Racing. Scott is driving the No.9 entry on the streets of Toronto this weekend. Swept the races here last year to swing the points en route to his championship run. Scott, how does it feel to be back here in Toronto, a great memory for you last year? SCOTT DIXON: It was good until this morning, I think. The first practice was pretty rough. We had some major brake issues. So it was nice to get the car sorted out. It feels a little bit better. We're still struggling with balance a little bit. The concrete patches seem to be our biggest problem right now in turns 1, 3, and sort of 9. All in all, it's always great to be back here. The fans are fantastic. It's one of the best events we come to each year. I'm always excited for the doubleheaders. THE MODERATOR: You just got done with standing start practice here which will be featured in race one tomorrow. Tell us a little bit about that and how the experience is for you and the challenge it adds to the weekend. SCOTT DIXON: Yeah, definitely, I think with the car system we have here, it's not really built for standing starts. I think everybody has found a good compromise, and the standing starts of racing have been really good. Both‑‑ I think Chevy has definitely done a great job with tuning them on the standing start stuff. Credit to the series for having these practice sessions after practice to work on that with the different problems that we face on some of these circuits. Indianapolis was a lot different to what we find in most street circuits, but obviously, it's a nice gain to be able to run through that scenario. So I think it can still go bad. Just try to bring the safest kind of way that you can make sure you have a fairly decent start and keep yourself out of trouble. As always, it will be pretty interesting to see how it comes off. Q. Scott, obviously, your pit box is at pit out. How do you kind of gauge what's‑‑ how the pit exit will be and how you're planning to merge then when your guys' stops happen? SCOTT DIXON: It's hard to tell. Hopefully, tonight, I think, IndyCar are going to move the wall over a little bit more to make the merge a little easier and be able to fit two cars a little bit better. Unfortunately, you don't get the line so close to the first pit box, like it used to be, up until this year where you'd get a big gain coming out of the pit on your competitors. So that's definitely a change. But I think hopefully there's no situations because I think, if there is a crash on pit lane, you're going to block it, and that's going to be pretty bad for the race. So I think they're going to do their best to obviously make that lane wider. But for us, we've just got to go when we can go. Hopefully, it works well. Q. Scott, six races, one of them's double points, but you're 140 back. Is it possible? SCOTT DIXON: It's always possible.  We're definitely in a bit of a deep hole right now, but I think for us it's‑‑ you know, it simplifies things. You don't have to race for points. You don't have to race for any scenario apart from going out there and winning. So we've got a lot of work to do. I think we started the season a bit soft, and obviously I've made some mistakes and the team have made some as well. We're working hard. Chevy, especially this weekend, have done a great job with trying to work on the drivability of the engine and make some advances there. Everything that we do now, obviously, will help us to try to win races but also carry over for next year. Q. Is the biggest issue more the drivers‑‑ the number of drivers ahead of you as opposed to the actual number of points that you are behind? SCOTT DIXON: I don't know. I don't really look at it that way. I know out there sits 140 points, and the best we can do is try to narrow that gap. It's been a little strange, I think. In some ways, I think the first three could have had a lot more points at this stage. Hunter‑Reay's had a lot of mechanical failures and some issues. Will's had quite a few penalties. Helio's has kind of had some strong races but just been finishing. I think Houston would have been the time for him to open up that gap but had the problem in race two. It's a funny kind of Championship this year, as it normally is. It works out that it comes down to the wire, so I expect it to be exciting. For us, we've just got to try and win races. Q. Scott, last year you, for lack of a better word, you dominated the doubleheaders, and this year so far, you had one good result in Detroit and struggled a little bit in the others. Can you determine what the difference is this year between this year and last year? SCOTT DIXON: I think the racing has changed quite a bit. One, I think, Detroit we didn't do a great job in qualifying. I think the races have been a bit bizarro this year because of pits closed yellows. At this point, you kind of gamble to be the first car to pit last. You look at Huertas, Hinchcliffe dominated race one at Houston and winds up sixth or seventh. These pits close yellows, yes, they're safe, and we've got to look at the safety of the sport. But if you're a leader, you're a sitting duck, and it can be anybody's race. So that definitely is the biggest difference we've seen throughout the races. This year, I think race one in Detroit, we strategy‑wise messed up a little bit. Race two, we started from the back and still got to fourth after having a brake problem there as well. It is what it is, same for everybody. This year, I think, on the cautions, one has been not great consistency, Houston race two. And I think the 67 was in the fence, and they ended up leaving it green for two laps to allow everybody to pit. So it just depends on how they pick it and who they pick to open the door for. THE MODERATOR: Scott, thank you. Good luck tomorrow. SCOTT DIXON: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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