By D. Brian Smith
Photography: Ben Moment

Earning his initial IndyCar victory of the 2011 season, Scott Dixon led the majority of the laps at the Mid-Ohio Indy 200 on Sunday. You could call Mr. Dixon Odd Man In, as he has won the Indy 200 in 2007, 2009 and 2011. His strategy almost seems to be to skip a year and win in each odd year – odd man in instead of odd man out.

By capturing victory in the Indy 200, he’s also closing in on second place in the points race for the IZOD Indy Car Championship. Scott’s now a mere 31 points behind second place racer Will Power in the IndyCar Championship standings. Starting in the fourth place, Power ran into bad luck on two occasions, when he was caught out on the course twice during full-course yellow cautions. He ended up in 14th position.

Dario Franchitti, in one of the Target Chip Ganassi Racing machines, was leading in the race until Dixon passed him on a race restart on lap 61. From that moment on the race was Dixon’s. He claimed the checkered flag in the final 85th lap and achieved his first victory of the season. It was a fitting win for Dixon, as he led much of the competition. With the victory, he tied for 12th on the all-time list of IndyCar wins, matching Roger Ward with 26th triumphs.

Many know that Scott Dixon is a two-time IZOD IndyCar Series champion. He was the pole sitter for this contest and really drove a perfect race. There’s still enough of the season left for Dixon to make a run for the championship, but everything has to fall into place for him to become a three-time IZOD IndyCar Series Champion.

Racing the #28 Team DHL/Circle K/Sun Drop Citrus Soda car to a solid third place position was Ryan Hunter-Reay. Earning a season-high fourth place finish in the #5 KV Racing Technology-Lotus car was Takuma Sato, while teammate Tony Kanaan blazed a trail from way back in 16th on the grid to finish all the way up in fifth position.

Scott Dixon’s teammate, Dario Franchitti is in first place for the IndyCar Championship, with four wins and is many points in front of his competitors. For Dixon to also have such a solid showing, from pole position all the way to the checkered flag is nothing but good news for the Target Chip Ganassi Racing squad.

For the rest of the IndyCar season there’s an even mix of road courses and ovals, which should make for an exciting chase to win the Championship. We’re sure to have several more exciting IndyCar races. We can’t wait and bet you can’t either.