When Scott Dixon headed to Richmond International Raceway a year ago, he was coming off a 10th-place finish at Iowa that left him third in the IndyCar Series point standings, 52 points behind Dario Franchitti.
The 2007 SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond was the beginning of an incredible tear for the native New Zealander. Dixon finished second at Richmond before rattling off four victories in the final eight races of the season, outscoring Franchitti 370-331 in the nine-race stretch.
The momentum hasn’t slowed in the first eight races of 2008. The driver of the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing entry has seven top-five finishes, including three victories, and holds a 48-point advantage over Helio Castroneves.
“A run like that for me personally is a direct reflection of the work that the team does at Target Chip Ganassi Racing,” Dixon said. “I’m fortunate enough to have a great teammate in Dan Wheldon and an owner in Chip (Ganassi) that values your opinion and puts you in the best possible position to contend for race wins. To be honest, I don’t really look at the numbers. We as a team are focused on taking one race at a time and that’s all we can do each weekend.”
A look at Dixon’s 17-race “season” since Richmond last year:
Races: 17
Wins: 7
Second place: 4
Third: 2
Top 10: 16
Laps led: 823
Points since last year’s race at Richmond:
Scott Dixon – 686
Tony Kanaan – 537
Helio Castroneves – 489
Danica Patrick – 431
Dan Wheldon – 431
Marco Andretti - 390
