Good news for INDYCAR teams. Scott Dixon has never won at the Iowa Speedway before. He’s 0-for-13.
Bad news?
He never won on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course before either and he won by almost 20 seconds a few weeks ago.
Can Dixon net his fourth win of the season already in only five tries?
“We want to keep doing what we’re doing,” Dixon said. “You really need to stay focused and maximize these opportunities.
“Winning the first four races (as a team) was nice, but now our focus turns to winning this weekend at Iowa.”
You would think that Chip Ganassi Racing would be among the teams to beat in Iowa. They’re 4-for-4 on this young season already.
Instead, they’re typically far from it. I can make a case to where Iowa is CGR’s worst track. They’ve won just two times in 13 years. The first came with Dan Wheldon in 2008 and the second a year later with Dario Franchitti.
Since 2010, they’ve been shut out of victory lane.
Felix Rosenqvist is obviously just a second year driver, but he’s made it clear that ovals are not his favorite tracks to race on. He emphasized improving on them this offseason and it showed last month at Texas, but what about a short oval?
Dixon has just two top five finishes in his last five Iowa starts. He was 12th in 2018 and has led only four laps since 2015. Furthermore, Dixon has three finishes of 12th or worse in his last seven Iowa starts overall. Yes, he was runner-up last year but that was purely luck with pit strategy and a good timed caution.
With how this season has gone, I’d never count Dixon out. He’s got two chances.
“You need to be prepared, unload fast and work quick because everything is happening so quickly with two races in two days,” Dixon continued. “There is no room for mistakes. We were able to get the results in last week’s doubleheader, but that was last week, and Iowa presents a new challenge. I know the PNC Bank No. 9 team will be up for it.”
Plus, Ganassi is undefeated (4-0) this season. Can they sweep another weekend?
