Motorsport: Scott Dixon's drive for second Indy 500 win

Scott Dixon. Photo / AP

This year's Indy 500 comes with special bragging rights. Whoever wins the Indianapolis 500 IndyCar race will be able to claim something no other winner of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing will have: their name on the trophy for the 100th anniversary of the world's biggest single-day sporting event.

Even better, the Monday morning race (NZ time) is shaping up as the best chance for Kiwi driver Scott Dixon to win a second title. All through practice and qualifying, Dixon has been quietly going about his business and hasn't been outside the top five the entire time.

Missing out on pole not because he wasn't fast enough but because of a slight fuel miscalculation, bodes well for race day. Starting from the front row with pole-sitter Alex Tagliani and Oriol Servia and having great car speed is reminiscent of the run-up to Dixon's 2008 victory at Indianapolis.

"The whole qualifying day was quite good. We spent 80 per cent of the day working on race set-up and only on the Friday did we look at trimming out for qualifying," Dixon told the Weekend Herald.

"A bunch of other people only worked on qualifying set-up. We messed up a little in qualifying, as we didn't trim out enough. I could have gone 367km/h, then we messed up with the fuel. That was disappointing but it was good to know we had great speed running out of fuel on the last lap."

Tagliani, of Canada, has a proven qualifying record. Last year he was in the hunt for pole, but it was Helio Castroneves who got it right on the day.

But things will be different come 4am Monday morning when those famous words "ladies and gentlemen - start your engines" boom out of the Motor Speedway. Engine mapping will be different, fuel consumption tweaked and the car aero in different trim.

The good thing for Dixon, though, is the rest of his car set-up is just fine.

He's not too worried about Tagliani come race day, as their team spent most of the run up to the weekend focusing on qualifying.

"Tagliani's total laps probably equate to my in-and-out laps alone. He did around 80 laps in total all week all focused on qualifying, whereas we focused on race pace. Don't get me wrong, qualifying is a lot, but the race is the main thing," said Dixon.

The Indianapolis 500 isn't just about going around and around for 200 laps. For a start, it's more of a D shape than an oval and has four distinct bends. Couple that with travelling at 300km/h plus for hour after hour with cars in all directions, the smallest lapse in concentration will end in some very big tears.

"Concentration is a big part of it and you've got to pick your time to be comfortable in the car," said Dixon.

"It's like anything, you've got to pick your battles and as the race wears on small things may start happening with the car like a bit of under-steer or over-steer. And if you're not concentrating, that's when it can bite you in the arse big time."

Of all the races to try and pick a winner, the Indy 500 is the hardest. It's a hell of a long race driven at 100 per cent for 200 laps. Dixon's teammate, two-time winner Dario Franchitti, will be a threat as will another former winner, Castroneves, and Will Power and Ryan Briscoe. Power, virtually unbeatable on a road course, has yet to win on an oval. Also watch for former winner Dan Wheldon, as this is his only IndyCar race this season.

"I think Will [Power] will be the dark horse to be honest," said Dixon. "He looks confident and he's been well out there. The thing is though, if one little thing goes wrong for him he falls apart a little bit more.

"No one's going to dominate, that's for sure."

This year's race could be the closest yet as less than three seconds separate pole-sitter Tagliani from the last driver to make the start, Ana Beatriz. There are also five former winners in the field - Dixon, Wheldon, Buddy Rice, Franchitti and Castroneves. Four of them are in the first three rows, but Dixon has the advantage - he's got a clear track in front of him.