Scott Dixon is bidding to become just the second driver in Indy Racing League history to claim three consecutive wins at the Kansas Speedway this weekend. But his team-mate, Tomas Scheckter, who dominated last year’s event, could stop him.
Scott Dixon is bidding to become just the second driver in Indy Racing League history to claim three consecutive wins at the Kansas Speedway this weekend. But his team-mate, Tomas Scheckter, who dominated last year’s event, could stop him.
The Ganassi Racing driver won the previous two IRL races at Pikes Peak and Richmond. A third win in Kansas will see him tie Kenny Brack’s record for the most consecutive wins in the championship, which the Swede set in 1998.
“We’ve been on quite a roll over the last few races,” said Dixon. “Team Target has given me great cars, so it’s made my job a lot easier. Not that it’s been easy, don’t get me wrong.
“There’s such great competition in the series, you have to be on top of your game week in and week out. Luckily, our team has been focused, and things have come together for us. We had a really good test in Kansas two weeks ago, so I’m excited about going there to race.”
Scheckter won pole in Kansas last year, led the most laps and set the fastest lap of the race. Airton Dare of Brazil eventually won the race after the South African suffered a deflating tyre and lost control of the car.
“We’ve had so much bad luck over the past few races, but you can’t dwell on that. We have to keep looking ahead to the next race. We’ve had fast cars all year, but one thing or another has kept us out of victory lane. Last year in Kansas, I won the pole and led the most laps and it’s a track that suits my style. We had a very fast car in Texas this year and Kansas is similar in design. I can’t wait to get out there, the Target car should be pretty strong this weekend,” said Scheckter.
Andretti Green racing driver Tony Kanaan has finished in the top-five in six out of seven races and could also stop Dixon. The Brazilian has a 27-point lead over Dixon in the standings with nine races left. “I think we have some bright days ahead of us,” said Kanaan. “I think we tested pretty good at the tracks we will go to in the next few weeks.”