Scott Dixon will start 10th as he chases a second Indianapolis 500 title, more than 16 years after winning the race in 2008. The six-time IndyCar champion has finished second three times and third twice at the event, but still returns to one of the sport’s biggest stages with another chance to end that run.
The race, now in its 110th running, is expected to draw more than 300,000 people to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It remains one of the jewels of motor racing, sitting alongside the Le Mans 24 Hour and the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix in the triple crown of the sport.
Dixon said the event changes every year and that the challenge is never quite the same. “It’s different every year, you know, the competition is different every year,” he told the Weekend Herald. “You’re chasing different things or trying to overcome different things and it changes from year to year.”
That variation has not softened the frustration of how close he has come. Dixon said it has been a bit frustrating getting so near another Indy 500 win in the past, adding that he sometimes thinks more about the races they lost than some of the wins. It is a reminder that he has been fast enough to win the race on numerous occasions, even if the event has often been a cruel place for him.
This year’s field also includes two other New Zealanders, Marcus Armstrong and Scott McLaughlin, giving the country three drivers in the race. The Indianapolis 500 will be run over 804.67km on the 4.02km superspeedway, a distance and setting that leave little room for mistakes once the green flag drops.
Dixon said the modern race leaves no room for waiting around. “These days you won’t see a driver leading by a few laps towards the end of the race. Everything is so close now and you have to start to move up through the field as soon as possible after the race starts,” he said. Starting from 10th gives him work to do, but it also puts him within striking distance if the race breaks his way.
