Ice Man Wins Indy 500

New Zealander Scott Dixon, 27, woke to the traditional 6am race-day explosion, ate American pancakes with hot syrup for breakfast and then from pole position drove 200 laps to win the 92nd Indianapolis 500, a race “filled with antics and accidents” including a pits fire and two spinouts. That was the kind of race Dixon was forced to negotiate, and that was why he needed every bit of his notable élan. “He’s been like that forever, ever since I’ve known him,” team owner Chip Ganassi said. “He has a quiet confidence. That’s his trademark. That’s a powerful tool.” Dixon is the 18th driver in the history of the Indy 500 to record a lights-to-flag victory. Sports historian Keith Quinn rates Dixon’s victory “well inside” the top 10 sporting feats by a New Zealand sportsperson, including those achieved by Olympians Jack Lovelock, Peter Snell and golfer Michael Campbell’s victory at the US Open. Quinn said: “We have honoured Denny Hulme in the past with the highest accolade – induction into the Hall of Fame – and this has to be as good as winning the Formula One series, but probably bigger because of its audience grab in the US and the significance over there.”