IRL: Second In Points: Scott Dixon

PERSONAL:

Driver:
Scott Dixon

Car:
No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Panoz G Force/Toyota/ Firestone

Hometown:
Auckland, New Zealand

Residence:
Indianapolis

Marital Status:
Single

2003 SEASON:

Points:
427 (12 behind leader Helio Castroneves)

Place:
Second

Races:
14

Wins:
3 (Homestead-Miami, Pikes Peak, Richmond) (first)

Top fives:
7 (fourth)

Top 10s:
9 (tied for fifth)

MBNA Poles:
5 (first)

Laps Led:
678 (first)

Laps Completed:
2,554 out of 2,856 (seventh)

Running at the finish:
9

Earnings:
$1,293,465 (fourth)

Races in points lead:
2

CAREER:

IndyCar Series championships:
0

IndyCar Series wins:
3

IndyCar Series laps led:
678

IndyCar Series starts:
14

IndyCar Series earnings:
$1,293,465

Indianapolis 500 victories:
0

Other championships:
Indy Lights (2000); Australian Formula Holden (1998); New Zealand Formula Ford Class I (1996); New Zealand Formula Ford Class II (1995); New Zealand Formula Vee (1994)

For information about Dixon's experience at California Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway please log onto www.indycarseries.com.

NOTES:

*Dixon has three career IndyCar Series victories and one CART victory.

*Scored CART victory at Nazareth in 2001 at age 20 years, 9 months and 14 days, becoming the youngest driver to win in any major open-wheel series.

*Became the first driver in IRL IndyCar Series history to lead consecutive laps throughout three consecutive races. He led the last 84 laps June 15 en route to a victory at Pikes Peak and led all 206 laps of the rain-shortened SunTrust Indy Challenge on June 28 at Richmond. He then led the first 53 laps on July 7 at Kansas for a total of 343 consecutive laps led.

*Earned his third career IRL IndyCar Series victory June 28 at Richmond in only his seventh series start, tying the record set by Helio Castroneves at the 2002 Indianapolis 500.

*Won his fifth MBNA Pole of the season at Nazareth and joined Billy Boat and Greg Ray as the only drivers to win five poles in a season. Boat won six poles in 1998, and Ray won five poles in 2000. Dixon has won five MBNA Poles in just 13 races. He ties Boat for least number of races to obtain five poles.

QUOTE:

SCOTT DIXON: "For me, winning races and championships is what it is all about. That's one of the main reasons why I wanted to join Team Target last year. Everyone in the organization has the same goal: To win the championship. You can see it in how they operate. They are constantly trying new things to improve their performance both on and off of the track. I feel that we're in a very good position to win the championship. Obviously, you would like to be leading, but we're not that far out. If we can win both races, we'll win the title, and that's what our focus is right now. The guys that we are competing against are the best and like they say, 'To be the best, you have to beat the best.'"

INDYCAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS:
1. Helio Castroneves 439
2. Scott Dixon 427
3. Tony Kanaan 425
4. Gil de Ferran 422
5. Sam Hornish Jr. 398

-irl-