Dixon closing in on 2nd championship

By MIKE HARRIS

AP Auto Racing Writer

If Scott Dixon can hang on and win the championship, he's going to appreciate this one a whole lot more than the title he took five years ago as an IndyCar Series rookie.

"The first one was definitely unexpected and a bit of shock," Dixon said last weekend at Infineon Raceway. "In '03, I think it all came a bit too soon. When we came out of the end of the year and we had won a championship, I don't think we knew what we'd actually achieved. And now, knowing what goes into it, and the rewards that go to the guys and everybody who helps, that's the biggest part of it.

"If we do win a championship, it would mean a ton more than '03, I think."

But that's only one of the reasons why winning another title would mean so much to the 28-year-old driver from New Zealand.

There's last year's heartbreaking loss of the championship to Dario Franchitti, who wound up on top after Dixon ran out of fuel while leading both the race and the points on the last lap of the last race of the season.

And there's the frustrating 2004 and 2005 seasons, when Dixon and his team could hardly get out of their own way -- thanks to reduced horsepower in their Toyota engines -- and managed just one victory.

"The drought seasons in '04 and '05 definitely make you respect things a lot more, feel gifted in that you have the opportunity," Dixon said. "So anytime you even win a race, you thrive on it a little more."

So far this year, Dixon has won six of 15 races, tying Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Dan Wheldon for the IndyCar record for victories in a single season. One of those wins came in the Indianapolis 500, a victory he calls "life-changing."

"I think you definitely get recognized a lot more, especially in Indy, which is where I live," he said. "There's such a history there and people love that race. And I probably get a little more respect, too."

But what once appeared to be a breeze to the 2008 title has turned into a little more work with two races to go.

Heading into Sunday's race at Detroit's Belle Isle, Dixon holds a 43-point lead over Team's Penske's Helio Castroneves, who is trying for his first championship.

Castroneves hit Dixon with a little dose of reality at Infineon last Sunday. The Brazilian won his first race of the season after posting seven runner-up finishes. Combined with Dixon's 12th-place run -- only his third time outside the top four this season -- Castroneves chipped a whopping 35 points off the lead.

Team owner Chip Ganassi wrote it off as just a bump in the road for Dixon, who can clinch the title with a victory in Detroit, no matter what Castroneves does.

"I think if Helio wins the next two (races), we just have to place fourth, so we should be able to do that," Ganassi said. "We just have to stay behind him. We're OK. We have a long way to go yet."

"It was definitely a bad day," Dixon said after the race. "I guess we just need to shrug it off and come back strong next week."

But the setback could certainly serve as a strong reminder of what happened to Dixon a year ago, when all he had to do was finish ahead of Franchitti in the last race to wrap up the title.

"This isn't a disaster," Dixon said. "We just need to keep doing what we've been doing all year and we'll be fine."

Mike Hull, director of Ganassi's IndyCar operation, said he is confident Dixon can finish the job this year.

"In terms of this season, I think everything that he's done -- and we've had success together in the past -- is the result of all of those years of working hard day by day," Hull said. "It's not something that just fell into place. It's ... his experience level, all the things that he's managed to gather up in his data bank of experience is paying large dividends.

"With his ability to adapt his driving style to the racetracks that we have today in this series, he's at the right place at the right time with the right team. ... I think we were on the edge of it last year. And I think his experience the whole last year was just at the point where it was starting to work well. But, this year, Scott's really been able to capitalize on that."

Dixon is proud of what the team has already accomplished this year.

"It's the same people and they're obviously doing the same things that they were, and maybe it's a combination of all the small things have probably come through a little better," he said. "Last year, we were decent, I think we just weren't aggressive enough in the first part of the season and that's where we lost a lot of it and had to try and pull it back with six races to go.

"I think, this season we started strong. Any season you win a (Indy) 500 definitely gives you a lot of confidence and a lot of motivation for the rest of the year. But I also think everybody's just been nailing it. The engineering has been extremely good, the pit stops have been fantastic. Where we have struggled a little bit, we've mostly been able to come out with pretty good finishes."

One or two more of those good finishes and Dixon will finally be a two-time champion.