Scott Dixon enters this weekend’s IndyCar double-header at Iowa Speedway, seeking his first victory on the circuit in a bid to reduce the gap to runaway championship-leading teammate Alex Palou.
Despite not having recorded a win on the circuit, Dixon has completed a record 4,478 laps of the 1.4km tri-oval, finishing in the top five 11 times. He also holds the two-lap average qualifying speed record of 34.5588 seconds, at an average of 299.75km/h.
The two races at the venue will be supported by a blockbuster entertainment schedule, with the likes of Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, the Zac Brown Band, and Ed Sheeran set to perform.
“I think what everybody has done for this event with the entertainment is a cool aspect of it,” said Dixon. “The weather actually looks quite cool and mild, which is also fantastic for day racing. It’s always a fun race, but a difficult one with people always coming and going. It makes it a lot of fun to drive and for everybody to watch.
“It’s not been super spectacular for us, but we had a fourth and a fifth there last year for some decent results. I think we could have had a podium in that last race there, but just couldn’t find the pace on that last restart. We had a test there that was quite good for areas we’ve been trying to improve. Hopefully, that plays true for all of us.”
The Kiwi currently sits in second place in the IndyCar standings, 117 points behind Palou, who has won four of the past six races and finished second in Toronto last time out.
“I’m really excited for Iowa and to have back-to-back races, especially because we are coming off a good race in Toronto that could have been a lot worse,” said Palou.
“We’ve tested at Iowa and we’re now hoping to take another step forward from last year. We also have a great opportunity to win $1 million dollars for the team, The American Legion and myself. We need to win one of those for that bonus and to continue going after this championship.”
Victory will see Dixon atop the podium in at least one race of the past 19 seasons, with his last win-less campaign coming in 2004. It would also be the 27th track where he has won a race.
Scott McLaughlin will be the other Kiwi in the field and sits sixth in the standings, whilst Marcus Armstrong takes the weekend off for the oval tracks and is replaced by Takuma Sato.
To see how and when you can watch this weekend’s races, check out our Motorsport Diary.
Header Image: Chip Ganassi Racing
