WATKINS GLEN, New York (Friday, Sept. 1, 2017)
With two rounds remaining things are about to get very interesting in the 2017 IndyCar Series.Apart from the who will be where sags for 2018 and more on that in the coming days, its now church time for the championship quest.
Scott Dixon continued his mastery of Watkins Glen International, leading the afternoon's second practice for the IndyCar Grand Prix at The Glen with the fastest lap of the day.
A year after pacing every practice session, winning the pole position and leading 50 of 60 laps on his way to victory, Dixon topped the end-of-day speed chart on the iconic road course. The driver of the No. 9 NTT Data Honda sped around the 11-turn, 3.37-mile circuit in 1 minute, 22.6187 seconds (146.843 mph) - less than a tenth of a second off the track record he set in capturing the Verizon P1 Award in qualifying in 2016.
"Just really enjoy it," Dixon said of Watkins Glen. "It's a fun place, man. It's extremely fast. It's definitely some pretty high-risk situations.
"For me, the tracks of current day are nothing like these. It's a lot of fun to come here. I think (we're) very fortunate for all IndyCar and the competitors to come back to a circuit like this."
Dixon's win at the Glen last year was his fourth in seven Verizon IndyCar Series races during the current era of competition that began in 2005 at the track in upstate New York. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver is hoping to use today's results as a springboard toward his fifth season championship. He trails Josef Newgarden - who was 11th overall in practice - by 31 points with two races remaining.
"For us, the biggest thing we've got to do is just focus on our race, go out there, try and win," Dixon said. "If we can win, that takes care of a lot of situations."
Will Power, the 2010 Watkins Glen race winner, was second fastest in the afternoon session with a lap of 1:22.7129 (146.676 mph) in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.
"We learned a lot today," Power said. "The Verizon Chevy was pretty good. It was good to get a feel of the (Firestone alternate) red tires versus the (primary) black tires. I feel like the course has changed a little over the last year, but it's still super-fast."
Rounding out the top five were: Graham Rahal in the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda (1:22.9716, 146.219 mph), Simon Pagenaud in the No. 1 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet (1:23.0915, 146.008 mph) and Alexander Rossi in the No. 98 NAPA Auto Parts/Curb Honda (1:23.1124, 145.971 mph). Earlier today, Andretti Autosport announced it had signed Rossi and sponsor NAPA Auto Parts to a multiyear extension for 2018 and beyond so thats a big part of the 2018 puzzle and the fact that Sato will move on leaves a spare seat at Andretti Autosport even thought they will once again be Honda power it appears that Sato's move was in progress while the chat of which power plant for 2018 was equally going on. Unofficially as it can not be made offical until season end he will be back at the Rahal Letterman Lanigan team next year.
Eight drivers - Newgarden, Dixon, Helio Castroneves, Pagenaud, Power, Rahal, Rossi and Takuma Sato - remain mathematically eligible to win the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Of those, only Dixon (four times), Pagenaud (2016) and Power (2014) are past champions.
A third practice is set for 10:30 a.m. ET Saturday, ahead of Verizon P1 Award knockout qualifying at 3 p.m. There is the chance that Sunday US time may even see rain on the forecast and with very limited use of the Firestone wet tyre this will add yet another twist in the race for the title.
Media Quotes from Indy Car Media.
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