No real bumps, just cooler run for Dixon

INDIANAPOLIS -- They call Scott Dixon “The Ice Man” for his coolheadedness, and the New Zealander more than lived up to that reputation Sunday on his way to winning the 92nd Indianapolis 500.

For this was no easy triumph even though the box score says differently. It shows him, at the end, nearly two seconds up on Vitor Meira and better than two up on the third-place finisher, Marco Andretti. But it was hardly that on an afternoon filled with antics and accidents and an attitude that just about anything was possible.

There was a fire in the pits involving A.J. Foyt IV. There was an incident in the pits involving Danica Patrick and Ryan Briscoe. There were eight cautions for 69 laps and even two spinouts (one by Sarah Fisher, the other by Jeff Simmons) when the cars were under yellow.

That was the kind of race Dixon, 27, was forced to negotiate, and that was why he needed every bit of his notable elan.

“He’s been like that forever, ever since I’ve known him,” team owner Chip Ganassi said. “Quite frankly, at first I didn’t think he was that excited about racing. . . . But that quietness, people confuse that with not caring about things. It was a relief to know it wasn’t that. It was a quiet confidence. That’s his trademark. That’s a powerful tool.”

Even Dixon acknowledged: “I was worried going into the race just because we’d had such a smooth month. It was one of those things of waiting for something to go wrong. . . . You always have high expectations, but in the back of your mind you wonder about a bad pit stop or something mechanical, something that’s out of your hands. . . . At no point did I think, ‘We have this in the bag.’ I was waiting for something to go wrong.”

Nothing did go wrong, but with only 100 miles remaining in the festivities, Meira did go by him and take over the lead.

This was an unexpected twist. He drives for the under-financed Panther Racing team, and Dixon works for one of the wealthiest and most powerful.

Yet, when asked whether he then thought he might win, Meira replied, “For sure. I was as sure as I could be with Dixon on my left. . . .

“We had the car. We had the crew. It just didn’t work out. . . . We finished second, but you know what? This is a very good result compared to the struggle we had last year and at the beginning of this season. Definitely Panther Racing is back and the Big Three (Ganassi, Andretti, Penske) better watch out.”

But on this afternoon all he could do was watch Dixon pass him on Lap 172.

From there, the only real threat confronting Dixon was slow, lapped traffic. It hindered him on occasion and, only four laps from the finish, he was up on Meira by a mere 0.4 of a second.

Yet Dixon simply kept his cool and, on the way to the finish, inexorably pulled away.

Then came his victory lap, and, at last, that calm abandoned him.

“I was really yelling on the radio. I was throwing my fist in the air. I think I almost took out three cars,” he said, looking a bit embarrassed by the admission.

“I was shocked . . . almost dumbfounded. It’s such a strange feeling and for me, I don’t show emotions too much. I don’t know. It’s almost like you’re in a dreamland. It was quite crazy. It’s something that you sort of expect somebody to maybe pinch you and you wake up and you’re sleeping in your bed back home.

“It still hasn’t sunk in yet.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Indianapolis 500

Results from Sunday’s 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Starting positions in parentheses; all chassis Dallara, all engines Honda:

*--* RESULTS Pl St Driver Laps 1. (1) Scott Dixon 200 2. (8) Vitor Meira 200 3. (7) Marco Andretti 200 4. (4) Helio Castroneves 200 5. (10) Ed Carpenter 200 6. (20) Ryan Hunter-Reay 200 7. (9) Hideki Mutoh 200 8. (17) Buddy Rice 200 9. (14) Darren Manning 200 10. (12) Townsend Bell 200 11. (25) Oriol Servia 200 12. (2) Dan Wheldon 200 13. (23) Will Power 200 14. (18) Davey Hamilton 200 15. (29) Enrique Bernoldi 200 16. (21) John Andretti 199 17. (32) Buddy Lazier 195 18. (28) Mario Moraes 194 19. (27) Milka Duno 185 20. (15) Bruno Junqueira 184 21. (31) A.J. Foyt IV 180 22. (5) Danica Patrick 171-a 23. (3) Ryan Briscoe 171-a 24. (11) Tomas Scheckter 156-b 25. (19) Alex Lloyd 151-a 26. (26) E.J. Viso 139-b 27. (16) Justin Wilson 132-a 28. (24) Jeff Simmons 112-a 29. (6) Tony Kanaan 105-a 30. (22) Sarah Fisher 103-a 31. (30) Jaime Camara 79-a 32. (33) Marty Roth 59-a 33. (13) Graham Rahal 36-a *--*

a-accident; b-mechanical

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RACE STATISTICS

Winner’s avg. speed: 143.567 mph.

Time of race: 3 hours, 28 minutes, 57.679 seconds

Margin of victory: 1.750 seconds.

Caution flags: 8 for 69 laps.

Lead changes: 18 among 9 drivers.

Lap leaders: Dixon 1-2, Wheldon 3-9, Junqueira 10-11, Rice 12-19, Wheldon 20-35, Dixon 36-74, Wheldon 75-79, Dixon 80-91, Wheldon 92-93, Kanaan 94-105, Dixon 105-121, Ma.Andretti 122-135, Moraes 136-138, Ma.Andretti 139, Dixon 140-155, Carpenter 156-158, Dixon 159, Meira 160-171, Dixon 172-200. Point standings (After 5 of 18 races): 1. Dixon 191; 2. Castroneves 176; 3. Wheldon 153; 4. Kanaan 139; 5. M.Andretti 130; 6. Patrick 122; 7. Carpenter 120; 8. Power 114; 9. Mutoh 113; 10. Servia 112; 11. Hunter-Reay 105; 12. Bernoldi 99; 13. Meira 98, Rahal 98; 15. Viso 93; 16. Foyt 92, Manning 92.