Scott Dixon admits nothing was left on the table in this morning’s 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500, where he took third place with a last-lap pass on McLaren’s Alexander Rossi.
Having started 21st, the 2008 Indy 500 winner worked through the field and into the lead bunch, entering the final round of stops. However, he was ultimately unable to match the late pace of winner Josef Newgarden and runner-up Pato O’Ward on the run to the flag.
“It’s kind of, honestly, all we had,” he said after the race. “When I made that final restart from first position, before the start-finish, two of them had passed me already, so I knew it was going to be tough. Kudos to them for having the pace.
“We had some weird restarts in the middle. We went to the back and got off sequence but had some great restarts at the end to jump up to the lead portion of that group.
“We were pretty much flat, just staying in their tow and their wake,” he added, discussing the battle over the final laps with Newgarden, O’Ward and Rossi.
“We knew we could run 218s (mph) out front, and they could run 220s, and once they started cycling, they were 222s, and we were just trying to hang on. They had a much better pace than us today, and unfortunately, we just didn’t have enough there in the end.
“The biggest thing is that when you get out of the car, you’re happy with what you did, and we gave it our all,” he later added. “Myself and the team were trying, and they really tried to pump me up at the end. I was just telling them I was going flat out, and I was trying.
“I think in that way, the only bummer you could have is when you leave the track, and you know you didn’t give it everything you have. As a group, we left nothing on the table.”
The six-time champion faced several obstacles on the run to the flag, including taking contact from Ryan Hunter-Reay on Lap 106.
The incident caused the race’s sixth of eight cautions, with the American running down the inside on the back straight in an attempt to take 15th. The gap closed, and the contact with Dixon’s rear sent Hunter-Reay into a high-speed spin, beginning on the grass and finishing on the track.
Amazingly, he regained control without venturing onto the racing line and was able to return to pit lane. Dixon escaped any penalty and was not impacted by the contact.
“There was no room to go. I was looking to the right, and I saw at the last minute when he hit me, but he was pretty deep in the grass at that point,” he said when asked about the incident.
“I hope he’s OK. I haven’t looked at the replay yet to see if there’s anything I could have done differently apart from just pulling out of his way, but that’s not the way you race.”
A lockup entering the pits for the final time on Lap 173 also brought flashbacks of the 2022 penalty for speeding in the lane whilst leading. The six-time IndyCar champion laughed off a question about the lockup and admitted he had it all under control.
“It’s how it should be, right?” he laughed. “I was on the limit, trying to get the lead. I didn’t question it. I had the tow. But actually, the last time I got done for speeding, I had the tow, too. I didn’t think it was that close. I thought it was OK. There was a bit of a bobble there at the end, but we’re OK.”
The 7.50 pm finish time will go down in the history books as one of the latest of the IndyCar era. A four-hour rain delay saw the 200-lap encounter finish just 25 minutes before the 8.15 pm cutoff.
When asked about the impacts of the later start, the Kiwi admitted they were minimal.
“It was a long day, that’s for sure,” he said. “I took a nap, which was actually really nice with a late start to the day. Sometimes it can suck the energy out of you. As soon as I snapped out of my nap and looked outside and saw people in the stands, I was like, ‘holy cow, this is awesome.’
“It was actually pretty good,” he later added. “The only time was when the sun was breaking through at Turn 4, and when you hit the apex, there was a pretty bright light as it was breaking through the stands, which gave a pretty crazy flicker going through there.
“There were no issues out there; it was a great job by the speedway, and timing-wise, with the rain and mother nature, you can’t do much about that. It was cool to get this race in today.”
Header Image: Penske Entertainment: John Cote
