Published: May 10, 2008 11:17 pm            

Dixon proves to be ‘The Iceman’

INDIANAPOLIS — Scott Dixon earned the nickname “The Iceman” for his cool, collected and methodical demeanor while making his way to the front of races.

His ice may have melted just a bit, as he could not contain his joy over winning his first pole for the Indy 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday.

Dixon’s 226.366-mile-per-hour run survived only one real attack on his domain, and that was from teammate Dan Wheldon; he withdrew his position of third, but had to settle for second when his overall average of 226.110 was just not enough.

Dixon reveled in every moment, changing hats for each sponsor picture, posing on the tractor presented by Toro to the team and gratefully accepting the $100,000 check from PEAK Motor Oil for the pole award.

Wheldon even took the microphone and conducted an interview of Dixon while on an Indianapolis television station. His first-ever pole at Indy was indeed special.

“It really hasn’t sunk in yet,” Dixon said, but his smile told it all. He had claimed one of the most prestigious honors in racing.

Although he will carry the title of pole-sitter for the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500, Dixon — as always — wouldn’t take much of the credit. “All of the guys on the team are adamant about having a good showing in the 500,” Dixon said. “We just put all of the pieces together today.”

Shortly after qualifying began at noon, Dixon’s first effort of 225.178 initially put him in the fourth position, but it was so early in the day that making a second or third run was likely.

“We knew one attempt was not going to get it done,” said team strategist Mike Hull. “Truly, Chip Ganassi Racing came here today to be aggressive with the format.”

Dixon made his second and winning attempt at 3:39 p.m. He bumped Team Penske driver and former teammate Ryan Briscoe from the top spot; Briscoe had just taken that slot from Wheldon.

Team owner Chip Ganassi said, “When your cars are good, and your drivers are good, it is easy to make calls that other people think take a lot of courage. We’ve been playing poker here for a lot of years, and you know sometimes you’re holding all of the aces and sometimes you’re bluffing. Just so happened today, we had a good hand.”

Dixon was asked if he would have tried again if Wheldon had taken the pole from him with just 15 minutes left to qualify.

“I don’t think it would have been a clear run for us, and for what we could have lost and maybe wrecking a car and not qualifying would have been bigger. I don’t think I would have even got my helmet on if Chip had something to with it.”

This is Dixon’s third pole of the season. His first was Miami-Homestead in the season opener and most recently at Kansas. In his five previous starts at Indy, he has started in the fourth position three times and 13th twice.

Ganassi Racing is has won 17 poles in the IndyCar series, but the last pole at Indianapolis was in 2002 with Juan Pablo Montoya.

        

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