Ron's letter from America - 5th April 09*
Qualifying at St Petersburg
We’ve finished for the day which has seen the first of two races for the Indy Lights and qualifying for the Indy Cars. It is disappointing for Scott (Dixon) to be starting eighth. To be honest and the team would say the same thing, they just didn’t have it together. They didn’t even look good. By all accounts they changed things drastically but it hasn’t worked. It wouldn’t surprise me if Scott goes back to what they had last year for setup.
Graham Rahal is on pole. He won it last year which at the time took everyone by surprise. It will be difficult for Scott as it is very hard to move up the field on a road course with these cars. There is a very fine line for what works and what doesn’t.
Anyway, today has been a good day for our team (Team PBIR -Palm Beach International Raceway) in the Indy Lights. Jay (Howard) finished fifth which was a great effort after he was turned around at the start of the race and had to drive a car that had a damaged front wing and the toe-out off by 5mm. That’s the great thing about a driver like Jay in that they just grab hold of the car and make it work. If he hadn’t had the damage then it would have been a podium for him. Road courses can be deadly, particularly the first lap. Our brand new team had two cars in the top ten which was ahead of other teams that have been in the championship for a number of years.
A few others were struggling, particularly Wade (Cunningham). He finished sixteenth which will be disappointing for him. He’s a very capable driver in a very good team. I wouldn't discount him out of things just yet.
The forecast is for rain later in the day tomorrow (Sunday local time), which will mean fine for the second Indy Lights race and maybe rain for the Indy Cars (timed to go at 6:45am NZ time). This could be a good thing.
More soon, I write after the race tomorrow.
*Ron Dixon is father to Indianapolis 500 winner and 2003 & 08 IndyCar champion Scott Dixon. He is also the President of Palm Beach International Raceway, Junpitor, Florida. This season nzracer.com follows Ron on his road trip around America with the Indycar Championship. Each week Ron will give us the insiders view from track side, pit lane and behind the scenes.
