TORONTO — It was the Scott Dixon show for a second day in a row at the Honda Indy Toronto.
Dixon led all but four laps and cruised to win Race 2 from pole position on Sunday, earning back-to-back victories in the doubleheader event around the 1.755-mile street course at Exhibition Place.
It was the third consecutive victory for Dixon and the 32nd of his career, moving the 32-year-old New Zealand driver into sole possession of seventh place on the all-time IndyCar wins list.
Dixon entered the weekend in 10th place sitting one win behind Sebastien Bourdais, Dario Franchitti and Canadian Paul Tracy who are all tied with 31 wins. The only drivers above him now carry legendary names — Foyt, Andretti and Unser — and Dixon said years ago he never thought he would be in this position.
“I just try to concentrate on a day-by-day basis and a week-by-week,” Dixon said. “I’m very fortunate to have 31 of those wins with this team, 12 years with this team. It’s been a great team.”
The two Toronto wins were also the first of his career in T.O., something the two-time IndyCar Series champion said he’s proud to finally add to his long list of accomplishments.
“Toronto has always been a place that I’ve wanted to win at and we’ve eluded it many times,” Dixon said. “I love this place. The town is a lot of fun. The fans are knowledgeable and love what we do. It’s great to see their excitement they’ve had here all weekend.”
Dixon saw two sizeable leads during the race disappear due to caution periods that bunched up the field in the final stages. But Will Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay collided with two laps remaining and ensured the Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver would cross the finish line ahead of Helio Castroneves. Sebastien Bourdais finished third for his second straight podium finish followed by Dario Franchitti and E.J. Viso.
Dixon also earned a $100,000 bonus for sweeping the doubleheader. He now sits second in the championship standings and only 29 points behind points leader Castroneves.
“It’s been a hell of a swing in a seven-day period,” Dixon said about his three-win streak. “We were seventh or eighth and 92 points out … so it’s nice to put a little pressure on Helio and hope we can keep that going.”
The IZOD IndyCar Series now heads to the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, a track Dixon has won four times in six races. He said it would be nice to extend his current winning streak to four.
“It’s been a good place for us,” Dixon said. “We’ve won there four times so I’m hoping to gain good points there but typically Penske has been strong there as well. We’ll go there and do our best.”
