LEEDS, Alabama – When it comes to success at the picturesque and challenging Barber Motorsports Park it’s hard to argue that three-time Verizon IndyCar Series champion and 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon isn’t the best driver on the circuit. After all, he has never finished lower than third at this track since IndyCar staged its first race here in 2010.
The only problem, though, is the driver for Target/Chip Ganassi Racing has never finished higher than second – a position he finished four years in a row from 2010 to 2013. That streak ended last year when he finished third to race-winner Ryan Hunter-Reay and second-place Marco Andretti in a race that was delayed by severe weather and was ultimately a timed contest.
In 2010, Dixon was second to Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves by 0.5703-seconds. In 2011, it was Team Penske’s Will Power that defeated Dixon by a whopping 3.3828 seconds. Power prevailed again by3.3709 seconds over Dixon and it was Hunter-Reay’s turn in 2013 when he scored the first of his two wins at Barber – this one by 0.6363 seconds over Dixon.
By average, no driver is more successful at Barber than Dixon but he has never won at the 2.3-mile, 17-turn natural road course. He hopes to score his first win at this venue in Sunday’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.
“Well, we’ve been consistent and that is obviously the main thing with four seconds and a third,” Dixon said after climbing out of his Chevrolet on Saturday. “It’s a track in the race where we are very fast but in qualifying we have not always gotten the most out of it. In the years where we have made mistakes it has cost us and we’ve finished second.
“The cars are always good here and the team runs well here. It’s like Mid-Ohio – you have a comfort of coming here and the basic setup should be pretty good.”
The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Steam Corners, Ohio is Dixon best track with five victories in eight starts, including last year. Of the few tracks that Dixon has yet to score a win Barber is his best.
“In some ways it’s very good but in other ways it’s very frustrating, too,” Dixon said. “At Mid-Ohio we much prefer winning than coming in second. If you can have a track and keep knocking at the door hopefully it will pay off.”
In a sense, Barber Motorsports Park and Mid-Ohio are quite similar, according to Dixon.
“A little bit with the elevation and grip levels are reminiscent of the two courses,” Dixon said. “Mid-Ohio is pretty special in it’s own right with the vast mix of corners. There is only one slow-speed corner here. It has its similarities as far as the spec tire and those things. I think the biggest thing with these places if you have to run very loose, very neutral. For me to get the speed out of the car it has to be very loose. On Saturday, in the second practice we stepped over and couldn’t get it back.
“It’s very much a commitment track at Barber.”
Dixon believes the Chevrolet Aero Kit allows more speed going into the turns where the old Aero package on the DW012 created a balance issue where teams were out of front wing so they had to trim back on rear wing to get the balance that was needed.
“The new configuration makes it easier to tune that,” Dixon said.”
Dixon is fresh off his first career victory in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. There is a saying in the automotive dealership industry that the best time to sell a car is immediately after selling a new car. So that can be carried over to racing as the best time for a driver to win a race is after he has won the previous contest.
“Long Beach was very special, a track we haven’t fared that well at, to finally get a win there is one of the tracks I’ve been dying to win at but wasn’t that competitive in the past,” Dixon said. “It’s great to come here after that big win.”
Dixon’s Chevrolet is painted in the impressive Coca-Cola paint scheme this weekend and Dixon is hopeful he can put the field on ice in Sunday’s 90-lap race that will be telecast on the NBC Sports Network beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
“It’s cool,” Dixon said. “It’s a lot of fun to wear Coke colors this weekend. It doesn’t look different than the Target colors but it’s a really cool paint scheme.”