IZOD IndyCar Series: Indy Japan: The Final

Topics:  Indy Japan: The Final

Scott Dixon
September 18, 2011

MOTEGI, JAPAN

THE MODERATOR: We're pleased to be joined by today's race winner, Scott Dixon. Today's victory at Motegi is Scott's 27th win in IndyCar Series, tying him with Johnny Rutherford on the all-time win list. This is his second win at Motegi.
Scott, we discussed it yesterday and it happened. You're the first driver to win on the road course and oval here.
SCOTT DIXON: Real happy for myself and the team. They did a fantastic job. But to be the only person that's won on the oval here, had the poles on both tracks, to win on both tracks, is very special.
Just happy. I hope at some point in the near future we can come back. The fans here are amazing. I hope we put on a good show today. Towards the ends of the race was very difficult on the restarts. Had a close call with Will Power at the end. But ultimately the car was just fantastic all day.
THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions.

Q. Is this about as flawless of a drive on a road course that you've had? Also, you could you describe the last restart.
SCOTT DIXON: It was a team effort across the board. I had a brilliant car to drive. That almost made it not easy, but stress-free at some points of the race.
As a whole, the team, myself and the pit crew, strategy, everything was flawless. We had no mistakes today. To win races at this level, that's what you need to do.
Last restart was a bit touch-and-go. It was a bit close with Will. At this point I've got nothing to lose and he's got a lot to lose. Still a huge points day for him. I'm sure he had that in the back of his mind so I didn't have to push him too much.

Q. Before the last restart, the last lap, there was a risky moment there. Was it actually good for you that there was a restart right there so everything could clear up for you?
SCOTT DIXON: Personally I would have liked to go green to checkered, but that wasn't the case. Obviously there was a couple cautions throughout.
I could see the accident on the last restart happen in my mirror, so I figured it was going to go yellow again. Unfortunately, it would have finished under yellow.
They did a fantastic job to get the cars moved out of the way as quick as possible. There was a bit of dirt and debris on the track on the last lap. E.J. Viso came back in front of me.
At that point there were no concerns. We had a pretty good buffer to Will Power. We definitely were at the point that we knew as long as we didn't run out of fuel or have a mechanical that we were going to win the race.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you and congratulations.
SCOTT DIXON: Thank you.