Scott Dixon dedicates Indycar win to his benefactor

Kiwi Indycar motor racing legend, Scott Dixon, won the latest Indycar round in Long Beach California and dedicated the win to his benefactor, Sir Colin Giltrap, who died recently.

The 43-year-old is now 10 wins behind AJ Foyt who scored the most Indycar wins in history.

Dixon, renowned for his race strategy, pitted early for his second fuel stop and subsequently conserved enough to hold off challengers in the dying laps. He kept the hard-charging Josef Newgarden, Colton Herta and teammate Alex Palou at bay.

After the race, he paid tribute to New Zealand motorsport benefactor, Sir Colin Giltrap, who passed away last week. Giltrap was key to helping Dixon early in his career.

He said, “This win I am dedicating to Sir Colin Giltrap. He obviously helped start my career. We lost him (last) week so a huge thank-you to him and all the support back home.”

Dixon rates the win as one of his toughest given the fuel saving strategy. He said “It was fun but the stress level was pretty high.

“Other fuel [strategy] races I have done we’ve been under control for the whole stint but in the closing two laps the team…said go for it.” 

It is the second time Dixon has won the Long Beach event, the first time in 2015.

Dixon is now second in the Indycar standings after two rounds, 12 points behind Josef Newgarden, who finished fourth in Long Beach.

Today’s victory also means Dixon extends his record streak of consecutive seasons with at least one victory to 20.