INDIANAPOLIS — Scott Dixon’s Sunday began when his wife, Emma, made him pancakes at their motorhome parked inside the infield of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
So, what goes better with pancakes than a nice, cold bottle of milk, especially the one that goes to the winner of the Indianapolis 500?
That made this Sunday moment very special to the driver from Auckland, New Zealand, after he won the 92nd Indy 500.
“I went to bed early and got woken up by that God-awful cannon that goes off at six in the morning,” Dixon recalled, referring to the signal bomb that announces the gates are open at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “The dogs in the motorhome, they were barking after that. So I was up quite early. My wife, Emma, made me just plain pancakes, American pancakes.
“I put a bit of butter on it, a bit of hot syrup, and that’s about all I had actually before the race. That was my morning. That’s a nice way to start.”
Later, he found a perfect way to end his day, taking the checkered flag at the Indy 500.
While some drivers may not understand Dixon’s quiet nature, his quiet confidence often belies his steely determination as a driver.
Even team owner Chip Ganassi admitted he didn’t know what to make of the New Zealander’s personality when he first met the driver early in his IndyCar career.
“Quite frankly, at first I didn’t think he was that excited about racing when I first met him because that quietness, people confuse that with not caring about things,” Ganassi said. “It’s a relief to know that really wasn’t what it was; it was a quiet confidence that sort of is his trademark.
“That’s a powerful tool.”
Dixon put that powerful tool to work in Sunday’s 92nd Indianapolis 500 as he finally achieved the one accomplishment that had eluded him throughout his career.
Dixon dominated the race, leading seven times for 115 laps.
For a driver who had displayed the speed for the entire month of May, Dixon kept waiting for something to go wrong on race day that would keep him out of victory lane.
“I think I was worried going into the race just because we had had such a smooth month,” Dixon admitted. “It was one of those things where you’re sort of waiting for something to go wrong. We only had it coming down to the race day, and it’s the last day you want something to go wrong. Going in you always have high expectations, but in the back of the mind you’re like, ‘What if we have a bad pit stop or we have a problem of some sort mechanically that’s going to take you out of it?’
“That’s out of your hands.”
There were only a few moments in the race where Dixon did not feel as if he were in control of the outcome, but he never allowed himself to feel that way.
“I think there was no point in the race where I knew we were over-confident or could win this thing easy,” Dixon said, “especially toward the end with maybe with 20 or 40 laps to go when you have sleepers come out like Vitor Meira. He was super-fast. So, there were definitely guys like that.
“You could see Helio Castroneves was coming up; Marco Andretti we knew all day was fast. I think he had a problem in the pits at some point. But at no point did I think we had this in the bag and was almost waiting for something to go wrong.”
When Dixon easily drove into victory lane to celebrate his first Indianapolis 500 victory, he tried to explain the moment.
“I was shocked,” Dixon recalled. “I think just almost dumbfounded. It’s such a strange feeling, and for me, I don’t show emotions too much.
“It was 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, and it feels so special. I think the victory lap and seeing everybody still out there and driving around such a magnificent circuit with three other people with you and everybody sort of yelling your name was something that I wish I had witnessed previous to now, but it makes you want to go and win this race once again.”
For Dixon, however, he didn’t get that first swig of milk.
Ganassi took the bottle, stood off to the side and took the first gulp.
“You know, it tasted pretty good,” Ganassi said. “When you’ve been in this business as long as I have, there are a few things you get out of the business.
“One of them is trophies, one of them is rings and one is a sip of milk. Outside of that, you don’t walk away from this business with much else. So that’s what’s special about that.”