Born Racer (2018) Movie Script

[race cars passing by]
[announcer on PA] Ladies and gentlemen,
on your feet.
The whole list of drivers for
the Indianapolis 500-mile race.
[Dixon] We don't
turn up to just do a job.
We turn up to win and, you know,
win as many races as we can.
And you know, win as many
championships, 500's, whatever it is.
You know, that's what it's all
about, you know, is just winning.
That's why I do it.
[Emma] We just don't talk
about the dangers, really.
It's, like, we just don't.
I'd like to sometimes, but I don't
want to put that into his head either.
I've married a guy that,
unless he's going really fast,
he doesn't feel alive.
[engine revving]
[Emma] He feels euphoric
when he's chancing death.
[male commentator]
232.595 on the lap speed for Scott Dixon.
Yeah! Yeah, baby.
[male commentator] This is an
incredible start for Scott Dixon.
One and a half to go for Chip Ganassi,
watching his driver, Scott Dixon.
[commentator 2] Such a disciplined driver.
[commentator 1] Another in the 232's.
[audience cheering]
And the roar of the crowd.
[commentator 2] That was perfection.
[commentator 1] Checkered
flag for Scott Dixon.
And a new number to the top of the board.
232.164 miles an hour
for four laps around the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
[commentator 2] Scott Dixon records
the fastest speed in over 20 years.
Congratulations. The good news
is you didn't have to wait long.
Mate. Sweet. [Laughs]Chip Ganassi comes up,
gives him congratulations.
They have got the pole here for the
101st running of the Indy 500.
I got to ask,
how does it feel? It feels, uh...
You did it, bro.
Nice job, buddy. Nice job.
[cheering]
[man on PA] ...Dixon's garage.
The garage is now open.
The garage is now open.
Ready to roll. Ready to roll.
Start pressuring them.
Check the pressures
on me babies.
5:15.
What will we know in 12 hours?
[man on TV] ...performance come off
the tires... [continues indistinct]
[Dixon] Hours before the race, I've
already switched off from the family life
and just totally focused
and thinking about only racing.
When I start to get nervous
or anxious about the race,
I typically get quite quiet.
Uh, I don't talk
to too many people.
And it's... it's just, you know,
thinking about a lot of things.
I've been with this team for 16 years.
So they're like family.
Like, I've known these people for a long time,
maybe longer than some of my best friends.
You know, you need a lot of
confidence in motor racing,
especially in the people
that you're working with that,
you know, the cars are safe, they're
gonna be mechanically sound.
And, in a lot of ways, you are
putting your life in their hands.
[Julian on radio]
We're good to fire up here, TK?
[Simmons on radio]
Radio check, Scott.
[Scott Dixon on radio]
10-4. Loud and clear.
[Franchitti] If you're a driver,
it is not all about you.
You may be the focus, but the great
thing is, I think Scott's aware...
that it's not just about him.
[engine starting, revving]
[Franchitti] And without all those
people backing him up, not gonna happen.
[Franchitti]
He is the glue of the team.
The team revolves around Scott.
When you're driving a racing
car, it's all about balance.
You know,
everybody talks about balance.
And that's the front rear end
sliding a bit more than the other.
And Scott will set the car up
so the rear is sliding.
He loves the rear of the car
sliding.
He-He loves that, sort of, right on
the edge feeling with-with the car.
It gives the team such a lift
to watch him do that.
You know you've got a guy there
that can do the exceptional.
[chattering]
[Ganassi]
All right, everybody here?
Okay. Good Morning.
Between now and, uh, the checkered flag,
I'd like everybody to focus on one thing,
and one thing only...
Winning this race.
Put everything else
outside of your mind,
everything we have to do
to win this race today.
Yeah. Thanks.
[man]
Can I help you with that?[Gundlach] Yeah.
[Pena] It's always something simple, Kate.
We're still figuring it out.
[laughs][Julian]
What did you do, Kate?
I'm here to help you, Kate.
What did you do?
We got it all the way
on the back.
[Gundlach] Race has been part
of my life since birth.
It's always been in my family.
When you start to make it more
than a passion, more than a hobby,
when you start making it a career
or a lifestyle permanently...
you pursue perfection.
It's a bizarre phenomenon that... that
human beings want to compete constantly
and prove that they're the best or
just master whatever is in their path.
It's easy to say you pursue winning, but
winning doesn't happen all the time.
It's few and far between.
It's extremely difficult and takes a mass
of dedication, sacrifice and timing.
[Krauss] Drop it down a little.
Oh, there it is.
Yeah. See? Seven.
[air hissing]
[Szymanski] I feel the same way I do about
him as I did about Mario and Ayrton.
You always do your job a hundred percent
for the driver you're working for.
But with Scotty, I feel that
little bit of extra motivation,
because he's got that little bit
extra going for him.
And so you want to give everything
and then some, you know?
And it was the same feeling I had
with Mario and with Ayrton, you know?
You knew you were dealing
with a special guy.
[horn honking]
[Hull] I think globally the Indy
500 is a significant event.
Winning it multiple times
defines who you are.
I think it changes
the driver's career.
[cheering]
That one day will change
that driver for ever.
[Kanaan] Every time you get into that car,
you don't know if you're gonna come out.
You don't know if you're
gonna come out alive.
You don't know if you're
gonna come out in one piece.
You don't know that,
but you don't think about it.
You think about the job
that you want to do.
You want to be the best,
you want to do your best.
You have to face death.
[Emma]
Two of my closest friends that,
you know, had the most
beautiful men that were plucked,
um, out of the sport, and
sometimes I do go into the race,
I am, like, you know, "Oh,
I don't want it to be my turn."
[laughs] Hey, good luck today.
[chattering]
[man on PA] Oh, they're racing now.
Into the first corner,
the 35 car, the Mount Wellington driver,
there he goes,
Scott Dixon takes the lead. Second place...
[fades out]
[Glenys]
Every night before a race,
before I go to sleep,
I text him, say,
"Have a good race. Be safe."
He's still my little boy and...
it does, it worries me,
but I am more relaxed.
I think, because...
he's so confident
about his driving,
I don't worry as-as much.
I-I can relax.
[male reporter] What's the long-term aim?
Starting off in Formula B?
Um, go to Ford, then get
graded for my license, hopefully again,
and go to Atlantic,
and hopefully Indy cars or something.
[man on PA, indistinct]
[no audible dialogue]
[Dixon] I'm normally
pretty quiet at this time
and just taking in
a lot of information.
That's kind of the most
comfortable part is,
you know, once you get
in the car, you're belted in
and you just start
to get into the zone.
You kind of have that eerie
silence before the engines start.
[Emma] We try very hard
to live in the moment,
because I am scared that one
day, you know, it's my turn.
And that's what
I have to live with as well.
[engines revving]
[male announcer on PA] We're green!
[no audible dialogue]
[Dixon on radio]
[Simmons on radio]
[garbled transmission]
[Dixon on radio]
[Hull on radio]
[Hull on radio]
[Hull on radio]
[Simmons] In these speeds, you
know, 400 feet per second...
almost a football field
every second...
the cars are inches apart,
so literally,
way faster than you can react.
You're adjusting your steering, making
corrections faster than you can think.
You're not thinking about
turning the wheel,
and if you have to think about,
then it's too late.
[Gundlach on radio]
[Simmons on radio]
[Hull on radio] Uh, up top
right there. Stop! Stop! Ooh!
[Emma] I heard the spotter
scream something at Scott,
and then... it went silent.
[man] Is he all right?
[Simmons] You look up at the telemetry
screen, if you're not already,
and you see a lot of things on the
telemetry that are not normal.
[Hull on radio] Uh, up top right there.
Stop! Stop! Ooh!
[Simmons] The car goes in the air, the
RPM goes up, the steering goes crazy.
But the speed is not doing
what it should.
All those squiggles,
they speak to us as engineers.
We know, ooh, the steering
shouldn't look like that.
It's almost like you're outside
of yourself looking down,
because everything is happening
faster than you want it to.
But it seems slow, 'cause it all
just slows down in your mind.
At those speeds...
you know that...
it's not gonna end well.
But those-those moments,
agonizingly long.
[commentator] What a huge crash.
[Simmons] Agonizingly long.
[commentator] Scott Dixon is in it.
Jay Howard is the other car involved.
Dixon and Jay Howard. There is Dixon.
Look at that car. It is destroyed.
[commentator 2] There's nothing left of
the back. That sawed the engine in half.
[Hull] Well, I think it
affects the entire team.
Because this is a people business.
We are people.
We love each other.
We support each other.
We eat, sleep,
and travel together.
[low, indistinct]
[Hull] You lose family members
in this deal.
Huh? I honestly thought
that was my turn.
Yeah?
After Susie.
[low, indistinct]
[clapping, cheering]Hi, everybody.
Saw he was gonna hit the wall, but I
thought it'd be a little bit later.
That's why I chose left.
Um, tried to slow the car down as much
as possible, but just wasn't to be.
And Scott Dixon already
thinking about next year.
[commentator] Yeah. Yeah.Yep. Yep.
[reporter] Glad to see you
walking out of there.
[chattering]Wrong place, wrong time.
Is that... Were you just hanging on for
the ride at the point? Yeah, it's just...
Yeah, that car
saved our life today.
Didn't it?
He had a good car
as well, like... [laughs]
I'm just thank our lucky stars.
But I'm kind of like... Now
I'm like, "Oh man." [laughs]
But...
Yeah.
At least he's good.
[Poppy] Daddy's here.
[man] Yeah.
Hi, monkey.
How are you? Good? Good.
What are you guys doing?
[Dixon] We've always
been a pretty open family
in the fact that I do
something that's dangerous.
So, Mr. Scotty, I know that there's
something wrong with that.
You should go get a boot. Ah, we'll see.
[Dixon] I've never reflected on, you
know, maybe I should give this up.
I love, you know,
the people I get to work with,
and my passion is racing.
[Ron] When he was a real baby,
if he wanted to say good night to
me, he had to come downstairs,
because we were working on the race car
for the next Saturday night race meeting.
He'd want to touch
every tool that was there,
and if it had grease and dirt on
it, that was him... He loved it.
[Dixon] The first time I ever got
in a go-kart was... was crazy.
In a go-cart,
you sit really low, you know,
so everything seems like
it's going very fast.
There's the sense of speed
and having control of something.
I'm sure I was going
very slow at the time.
[Ron] We used to go
away a lot together.
If it wasn't at Mount Wellington,
it was at the Auckland track,
or Hamilton, Tokoroa
or, uh, Hastings.
We would go with other families
and sleep in tents.
And the, uh... the families that had
plenty of money, they'd be in the motel.
Well, we'd make sure we got invited to
the barbecue that night at their place,
or if you wanted to shower,
somebody would always offer.
It's a huge, huge family.
It's a competitive family.
Even from go-kart days, if you had
a big crash or a flip or a wreck,
you know, that same day was probably the
best time to get back into the car,
just so, you know,
sometimes it can be, um,
you know, tough for people.
But it's-it's... that's the best thing
you can do is get back on it, but...
I can't get ready on time. I just
physically cannot get ready on time, can I?
You look amazing, babe. Thank you.
[Emma] So do you.
I can't believe you managed to get
that foot in that shoe. [Laughs]
Bit swollen.
See, so I would have milked it
and, like, dragged my leg.
[laughs]Pretend. [Laughs]
Okay. I think we're ready.
You had a feeling, huh? I had a feeling
about him, didn't I?
Should have told me
that in the morning. I did tell you.
I should have spun out and crashed
when the car was loose earlier on.
I don't know how you didn't, man.
That was wild.
Did you see it go... You were so trim.
I had huge runs on you, like,
still couldn't make it past.
[Dixon] The toughest part is just
trying to get ready so quickly.
And I guess in this situation, it'd
be nice if there's a week off.
And Detroit is probably...
It's the roughest, and it's the
only doubleheader of the season.
[woman] If you a star
I be your Milky Way
If you a bar
I drink up every day
If you the town
I be the talk
If you the talk
Baby, I'll be the walk
If you wanna dig
I be your gold, baby
If you wanna live
I be your old age
You be the time
I be the clock
You be the tick
I be the tock
If you wanna race
I run like crazy
If you wanna ride
I drive you daily
If you a beach I be the sand
You wanna give
I be your hand
You got me stuck to you
You got me stuck to you
You got me stuck to you
You got me stuck to you
You got me stuck to you
You got me stuck to you
You got me stuck to you
You got me stuck to you
[Gundlach] The jump from Indy to
Detroit is notoriously difficult.
You're going from the most
important race of the year,
and three or four days later
you're on the track in Detroit.
But when you have something massive
happen at the 500, like we had...
completely destroyed a car
at the 500...
The debris was spread
across our three garages.
There was... I mean, there was just
unrecognizable parts of the car everywhere...
And it compounds the stress and the anxiety
and the issues you're thinking about.
[man whistling]
And they're all 365.
How much?
[Gundlach] When you're in the building and
you're doing your prep work, it's a routine.
You know what to do. It's the same
thing for every race, pretty much.
And then whenever a crash happens,
you still know what to do.
You know what parts to change,
what needs to be checked,
you know how to fix the car,
how to do this, how to do that.
You just have to do it
at an accelerated rate.
Just get the temperature,
Tim, please.
Oh shoot. I got to go pour this out.
Come on, Dave.
After the crash, we built
a new car from scratch.
So we had a couple of
late nights at the shop.
And, uh, everything seemed
to go back together well.
I think Scott's doing fine.
I'm sure he's a little bit sore, but
I think we'll be doing all right.
I mean, right now we're second in the
points. So, you know, this is important.
So we're just trying
to keep the pace up.
[Dixon] If I know that I can be
physically fitter than the competition,
you know, it's one less thing
I have to worry about.
Five seconds.
[Dixon] This day and age, it becomes a lot
more than just running or cycling or swimming
or going and lifting weights.
You know, it's become more about reaction
times to, you know, plyometrics to...
Five seconds.
Any kind of advantage that you can
find for what you do in a car,
you know, helps.[Leo] ...fly, reverse fly.
[Dixon] These cars have, you know,
over 6,000 pounds of downforce.
You're getting five to six G's
in some of the corners.
Your neck is one of
the hardest things to train,
with the G loading up the helmet, you
know, it's always pulling on you.
Push, pull. Push, pull.
Push, pull. Last 15.
[Dixon] And then the cardio side of it where
you're well over 150, 160 beats per minute
for that
three-and-a-half-hour race.
[Leo] Come on. Come on.
Five to go.
[beeping]
Correct.
[Leo] We obviously can't
put them in the race car.
We don't have that
capacity in here.
But you can still train
the neural pathways
to process things
easier and faster,
and identify things, and, um...
so we train the mind and the brain
to do these kind of things,
and then when it
comes to the race car,
they'd hopefully just shift gears over
to the race car... same neural pathways.
- Eight seconds.
- [beeping]
[Leo] He'll be in there carrying on a
conversation and speaking nice and soft
and just doing it very methodically,
but he's not wasting energy.
Whereas other drivers are just pounding
away and moving their feet and everything.
He's very efficient in there. I think
that's probably the way he drives.
[beeping stops]Good.
Everything correct.
Good job. 126.
Just do another on that heat.
[Leo] We'll load the wheel up super heavy
sometimes. Sometimes a little lighter.
It's the same motion
as they use in the race car.
You're training
the exact same muscles.
And you're doing it with
the reaction, so it makes them,
um, able to respond
quicker in the car.
When the accident happened,
from where Scott realized that
he had to decide right then
whether he was gonna try to go
to the left or the right,
and you have basically process
what a cruise missile does.
I need to get from here to there
and avoid this in milliseconds.
Even with the best human reactions, it
still takes a couple of tenths of a second
to actually start pushing
the pedal to slow the car down.
And sometimes you have to
decide which way you're going
before you really know
what's happening,
before you really know what the trajectory
of that car in front of you is,
whether it's gonna go left
or right or flip over or what.
You watch it on TV,
and it's always in slow motion,
it seems like, "Why didn't he do this?
Why didn't he do that?"
He did it before you even realized
the accident was happening.
It just happens so fast.
[Hull on radio] Stop! Stop! Ooh!
[low, indistinct]
Okay...
welcome to Detroit.
Um... just a follow-up
on last week, um...
we obviously didn't win the Indy 500, and
that's what we open up every meeting with.
So what's our choice left now?
[all] Win the championship. Win
the championship, right? Okay.
Obviously, the 10 car,
we had a little brake issue.
And obviously with, uh, Evel
Knievel down there, uh...
[all laughing]
As if the week didn't have
enough activity already,
you had to give us
more that day.
Anyway, we're poised for the rest
of the season. So let's go get it.
[horn honks]
[horn honks]
[Dixon] With me, what accidents linger
longer and set doubt into your mind
are ones that you've caused
as far as losing control of the
car, spinning out by yourself.
[applauding]
[Dixon] That's when I felt most
vulnerable on a confidence level,
and confidence in my ability, to where
it starts to affect how fast you go.
[low, indistinct]
[Dixon] But with Indianapolis and the
crash, it was just wrong place, wrong time.
I couldn't have done
anything different.
Jay couldn't have done anything different.
Nobody did it on purpose.
So we'll see what happens today.
Uh, so it could be
three stops today, Dave?
Eighteen seconds. Eighteen seconds
in your time.
So just remember what today is all about.
Today is about today.
Racing validates what we do today.
So... do what you do best.
[Dixon] With Indianapolis and the crash,
it didn't reflect in my mind at all
something that would hinder
my performance down the road.
It was just about...
how do I get my body back to something I can
use, you know, racing with a broken ankle.
[Simmons] You could tell he wasn't
too phased after the accident.
But to be honest, it was a big
question mark for all of us, I think.
[announcer on PA] Race fans, it's time for
those most famous words in motorsports.
[man on PA] All right, fans, are you
ready?-[audience cheering, applauding]
[man on PA] Drivers, start your engines!
[engines starting, revving]
[engines revving]
[Gundlach on radio]
[Hull on radio]
[Dixon on radio]
[Hull on radio]
[Hull on radio]
[Dixon on radio]
[Gundlach on radio]
[Hull on radio]
[Simmons] The crash really
brings the risks to light.
If, as a driver, you're a
fraction of a percent cautious,
then you're not as quick, and
your further back in the field,
well, then it just
snowballs from there.
[Hull on radio]
[Hull on radio]
[Dixon on radio]
[Simmons on radio]
[Hull on radio]
[Gundlach on radio]
[commentator 1] Rahal in front of Dixon.
[commentator 2] And talking
about Scott Dixon,
what an incredible comeback this week.
On crutches most of the week.
An injury to the inside of his
left ankle, in the tibia,
a large weight-bearing
bone in the lower leg.
He said, "I can push the brake pedal."
It's pulling my foot off the brake pedal that's
a problem, with the swelling and numbness."
But Dixon hanging on.
[Hull on radio]
[Hull on radio]
[man on radio]
[Hull on radio]
[crew member on radio]
[Dixon on radio]
[Hull on radio]
[Simmons on radio]
[Hull on radio]
[Dixon on radio]
[Hull on radio]
[commentator] Rahal now 8.6
seconds in front of Dixon.
[Dixon on radio]
[Hull on radio]
[commentator] It's amazing how Scotty didn't
want people talking about his injury.
He admitted that this is gonna
be a very difficult day.
He said, "My biggest concern
is gonna be fatigue."
[Gundlach] The car itself
isn't a fun thing to drive.
It's an extremely sensitive car.
You could roll over a pebble, and
you can feel that in the chassis.
And it vibrates like mad,
just vibrating,
and you can't really breathe.
And you can't see what's in the mirrors
because they're vibrating so bad.
[commentator] Scott running second.
He's got about five seconds
on Hinchcliffe in third.
[Leo] You're holding your breath in
the corners to fight the G forces.
He's got to put 300 pounds of pressure
with one foot on the brake pedal.
[commentator] But you're right.
He has not complained.
He has not said a single word.
[Gundlach] What blows my mind
is Scott has still got to put up
with all of the physical
feeling of the car
around Detroit or Toronto,
any of the street courses...
[commentator] Graham Rahal has a
6.6 second lead over Scott Dixon.
[Gundlach] ...and put in lap times that are
within hundredths of a second of each other
again and again
and again and again... perfect.
Perfect. The entries are perfect, the exits
are perfect, the mid-corner speed is perfect.
[Simmons on radio]
[Gundlach] Those skills
combined just blow my mind.
[commentator] Career win number
five to Graham Rahal at Detroit.
Great drive for Scott Dixon in second.
[crew member 1 on radio]
[crew member 2 on radio]
[Simmons on radio]
[Hull on radio]
[Hull] Some days the reality
exceeds expectation,
and some days
you accept the reality.
Well, if you can't
win today, be second.
If you can't be second,
be third.
And with that attitude,
you never give up.
You never stop trying.
That was hard work[laughs]
Good job, bro. Hey, just missed it.
Well done, Scott. Hey, thanks, man.
Sorry, I got a little angry
there, but... [laughs]That's all right.
We get through it. Not the
end of the world [laughs]
Thanks, man.
[dog barking]
[squeals]
- [chattering]
- [laughing]
[Dixon] I think for me that's been
a huge help is Poppy and Tilly.
Ready to jump? No.
Why not? Watch this.
Mommy says I can't swim
in the deep end, but watch.
[Dixon] You have a race weekend, and you
walk through the door Sunday night,
and you can talk about
the picture they drew today
and what they've been
doing at school.
So I don't know, I've really
enjoyed that about being a father.
Poppy, I think, is starting to
understand a little bit more.
Tilly was a little set back, I
think, after the Indianapolis crash,
because she saw it a few times.
She was, like,
"Oh, did that hurt?"
Or, you know, "Could you have
been injured a lot more?"
[laughs]
There you go. Can you throw me?
You've got...
You've still got more.
No, Mommy is actually full up.
[Dixon] Emma is... is a big
portion of who I am now,
how I approach races,
how competitive I am.
[laughs]I was waiting...
I was waiting for seconds.
[Dixon] For me, I think, with her background
as a runner, and a runner for Great Britain,
you know, the training side,
the focus,
and mentally with her having gone through
something like that to an Olympic level,
it complements
what I'm trying to do.
[Tilly] I know, I said, cakes.
[Dixon] She loves the sport,
but she only wants me to win.
Okay, put this down. Okay, let me
get the cookies.
Cookie batter.
I was thinking about it. Maybe, you know,
I do push Scott so hard or, you know,
I focus so much
on the race season,
as in, like, diet and sleep
and all that good stuff.
Maybe it's... You know, I never did
fulfill all my dreams, you know,
as a runner.
And I got a second chance with
Scott to help him fulfill his.
In sport, we're always
looking for that little sign
of how to make ourselves bigger
and better than the next person.
In running, you're feeling the
pace of the people around you,
and how heavily
they're breathing.
When is the right time to put that charge in
and, you know, when people are suffering?
[Emma] I see Scott, he'll
come round the top bend,
and I already see he's lining
himself up for the move.
I can already see
the one he's going for.
And it might take three laps, but
I know he's going for this one.
[no audible dialogue]
It's so loud,
and it's such a quick lap,
because we're on,
like, a short oval.
It comes round super quickly.
So they're back again.
[Emma] The competitive side
of me, the athlete is, like,
"Come on. Come on. Give it everything.
Come on. You know, stay focused."
But then it's two sides
of the race for me.
And the other is, like,
"Please, God, I don't care.
It's not about the win,
I just... I just need him home."
[man on PA, indistinct]
[applauding]I better go.
Love you, Daddy. See you after the race,
right? Love you.
Good luck, Daddy. Good luck, baby.
Love you.Mm. Good luck.
Good luck. Thanks, baby.
Good luck.[chuckles]
[Gundlach] So we're at a very dangerous
point in the championship right now.
We're eight points out
of the lead,
and we are surrounded by
some extremely talented guys,
and our biggest team threat
is Penske.
Anybody in motorsports is an
underdog to the Penske organization.
They have been
the benchmark for many years.
[Dixon] It's gonna be
a really steep uphill climb,
to try and overcome one
of the best teams in history.
Well, let's talk
about Hlio first.
Really fast.
Probably one of the toughest guys to
fight, because he's unpredictable.
Then you get Simon Pagenaud.
Very meticulous, calm, calculates
everything he is gonna do, every move.
He's really smart, so you've got to
be careful, because he's just there.
And then you have Will Power. How can you not
be race car driver with a name like that?
I don't think anybody
can beat him in one lap.
Josef Newgarden, the American kid.
The American dream.
The series is talking about, "We
have all these foreigners, you know",
Brazilians, New Zealanders,
Australians, French,
but where is the American?"
And he's cool.
[Simmons]
You've got two fire-breathers.
You have one that has all
the experience, in Scott Dixon,
and you've got another one in Josef Newgarden
that's just getting ready to load up and go.
[Hull on radio]
[Gundlach on radio]
[commentator] Ready to
roll for Road America.
It's Penske on Penske at the start!
[Gundlach] Race strategy is
a little easier with Scott,
because he is the man when it comes
to fuel economy and savings,
and it's something two or three other drivers
in this series may do, that I know of.
And most of them
are on Penske's.
[Hull] We had to be very calculating for every
lap in order to get the most out of it.
And Scott had to do his job.
We had to leapfrog four cars
to get to the front,
at-at a very high speed circuit.
And the pass that he made on
Josef Newgarden at the end,
showed you how much
he wanted to win the race.
[commentator] A good run for Scott Dixon.
The blue cars pops to the outside trying to
go around the outside of Josef Newgarden.
Side-by-side coming in to turn number one.
Newgarden won't give it up, but Dixon is
gonna grab the spot and takes the lead.
[Hull] Driving around the outside of
somebody in turn one at Road America,
that is like a carnival ride.
There's nothing good
gonna come out of that,
but something good
came out of it for us.
[Gundlach] Road America
was pretty incredible.
[Dixon on radio]
[Simmons on radio]
[Gundlach] You saw it coming, because he was
so far ahead, and Josef was right on him.
But you're like, "Okay.
Well, this is gonna happen."
[commentator] Scott Dixon, the master
is going to take the checkered flag,
win for the first time in Road America,
and the first time in 2017.
[Gundlach] Okay. This is good.
[Dixon on radio]
[Simmons on radio]
[Dixon on radio]
[Simmons on radio]
[Gundlach] It's hard not to get emotional
about it, because you put so much into it.
[Dixon] I feel like there's a
lot of weight on your shoulders
at the start of a race,
which makes winning
feel so damn good.
[presenter] Scott Dixon.
[cheering]
All right! Whoo!
He won the Formula B National
Championship at the age of 13.
He's the youngest driver ever to hold
an international racing license.
[Glenys] Scott was
always so determined
that that's what
he wanted to do.
We had been in the media a lot,
so people knew that
we had really struggled
to get Scott to where he got.
And people would always say,
"Your son owes you."
He does not owe me anything.
[Ron] We protected him from the
financial problems that we had,
and we had a lot.
You know, I used to work, I don't know,
40, 50 hours a week on my business,
and 40 to 50 hours a week
on Scott.
And we tried to be as honest
as we could with Scott,
but we would keep him away
from the slammed doors,
the... [laughs]
"Not interested. Go away,"
or "No, motorsport
isn't our thing."
We borrowed money.
I borrowed money.
I borrowed money that
even Glen didn't know about.
It's like having
a drug addiction.
You can't stop.
No matter what differences we
have, and anything in life,
but the pride of what he's
done, and what he's achieved...
And it doesn't matter who has been
behind him or helped him or whatever,
he's actually the one
that's achieved the accolades,
and how well he's done,
you know.
Yeah.
I love him to bits.
I really do.
[no audible dialogue]
[Ganassi] I remember watching him
walk around the paddock in Nazareth
when he was an Indy Lights
driver,
coming over to drive Indy cars.
I remember he was
the young-looking guy,
and I thought, "Boy, does this kid
know what he's getting into?"
You know?
And of course he won the race
there in Nazareth.
He was very shy,
and, uh... and he was very shy
for the first year or two,
and it took a lot to coax him
to come out of his shell a bit.
I want Scott to be Scott,
and-and-and...
I'm okay with whatever that is.
As long as when it's time to go
fast, he can get the job done.
And he knows he can do that.
We know he can do that.
[race cars passing by
in the distance]
[Simmons] There's a lot of different
points through the weekend where...
Where a split second
can make all the difference.
You've always got to be mentally
calculating in your head,
"What's the upside
if we pit now?
What's the downside
if we pit now?"
It's a bit like
counting cards in Blackjack.
You just try to get the odds
in your favor,
and then you make your bet.
Sometimes you win,
sometimes you lose.
The goal is to win a lot more
than you lose.
[chattering]
[Gundlach] You have to scrape
together every single point possible.
And all we can do that's do
the best job that we can
over stuff that's
in our control.
For the rest of the season,
we need to be perfect.
[Emma] He's got to
not think about me,
he's got to put
the children away,
he's got to, you know,
put his helmet on,
and trust the people
that he's racing against.
He knows what he can do
on the racetrack.
He trusts himself,
but he's also got to put that trust
in the other 33 guys around him.
That's what I would
really struggle with.
[Kanaan] It's only one winner at the end of
the day. It's either gonna be you or me.
How can you trust somebody
that is going after
the same dream as you?
And at the same time...
at the same place?
You got to choose who you can
trust, and who you cannot trust.
[Hull] You work really, really hard
for this perpetual motion machine,
that's based on time.
You know,
racing is about a timetable.
We're at six seconds
in the pit lane,
and you lose two or three tenths
of a second over your neighbor,
that bumps you back four spots.
Think about that.
Three to four tenths of a second
moves you four spots toward
the rear on a normal pit stop.
[Hull on radio]
[crew member] He's in!
He's in! He's in!
[Simmons on radio]
[Julian] The first stop,
we came in, tires came off.
Tires went back on.
So Pat dropped the car,
I went to send the car,
Kyle has still got his wheel gun
on the... on the right rear wheel.
[commentator] Scott Dixon,
not as fast of a stop
as you would expect for the Ganassi team.
[commentator 2] Simon goes by,
Hunter-Reay goes by, Rossi goes by.
[Hull on radio]
[Julian on radio]
[Dixon] You know, you're coming into
the pits, you have in your mind,
like, "Yeah, this is...
This is a really good strategy."
The guys are really fast,
you're gonna gain a second here.
"We're gonna, you know, leapfrog, you
know, the three guys we were behind."
[Simmons on radio]
[commentator] Scott Dixon,
he leads the points,
but has had a very, very
difficult day today.
Oh, and now there's a
problem on the left rear.
Oh, my God!
[Hull on radio]
[engine roaring]
[tires screeching]
[Hull on radio]
[commentator] Man, Ganassi is struggling.
They're ninth, 13th, 15th, and 17th.
[commentator 2] Josef Newgarden,
he will take the championship
lead for the first time.
Josef Newgarden dominates in Mid-Ohio.
We're sitting in 11th, like,
an okay salvageable day
would be sixth to finish.
[Gundlach] You put everything
you have into this.
You try to look at every avenue
of how things are gonna work out,
and then suddenly it doesn't.
And it's something
that's out of your control,
and you feel
completely helpless.
And you walk away from the race
just completely depressed or...
Or just questioning why you're
doing this in the first place.
[Julian] Race is done.
You want to crawl under...
A under a rock.
You know, the whole team trusts
you to perform.
And when you get it wrong,
it's just,
you know, the weight of
the world is on you.
Yeah, whether it's putting
Scott at risk on the track,
something being wrong
with the car,
or you've just thrown away your
chances of a win, it can be...
Or a championship at that point.
Like, if that was
the last stop of the last race,
and you were going for the championship,
and you had that problem,
then it's... you're the problem.
You're the reason why you
lost the championship, right?
That's what people focus on.
[Simmons] Couldn't really tell
what he was doing in the middle.
That's because it was
turning the opposite way.
Fuck, it was horrendous.
[Simmons] We've had a couple of
races that didn't go our way.
I think where we're sitting is
probably better than a lot of people
expected... ourselves included...
Um, going up against
the Penske juggernaut.
[Gundlach] Leading up to Mid-Ohio
we were three points in the lead.
But the guys in front of us,
Josef and Hlio,
finished higher
than us in Mid-Ohio,
so that puts them ahead
in the points.
That just gave them enough
of a lead
to now we're eight points back.
On the bench up there.
So, oh, the antenna
that came out.Yeah.
All right. Thanks. Cool.
[Emma] I don't get the happy Scott
without the winning on the track.
And he gets the happy Emma, if
he's the happy Scott, you know?
We know that the drivers are gonna
push it to the absolute limit.
And, you know,
the risks are large.
[Julian] He's won the Indy 500, and he's made
some money, he's got a beautiful family,
and it makes you wonder
what keeps his drive that high.
[Szymanski] So, I mean, it's part
of the deal. We're all at risk.
You know,
the boys in the pit lane.
You know, when we're out there.
I mean, I've known a number of drivers,
of course, who have lost their lives.
But... 25...
Fucking hell.
Um, it's not something
you really...
You know,
you don't dwell on it, you know?
Just don't like to... You know,
you don't like to bring up...
Bring up the painful memories
of losing... losing your mates.
What's that?[man] A ten-count.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six,
five, four, three, two, one. All right.
[man]
Can I get another ten-count?
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six,
five, four, three, two, one.
[man] Okay.
[director]
Anytime you guys are ready.
Okay.
Hey, everyone.
I'm Lauren Bohlander.
I'm Scott Dixon.
Oh, I'm not Scott Dixon.No.
Sorry, I'm Dan Wheldon.
Driver of the Number 10 Target Chip
Ganassi Racing Dallara Honda Firestone.
Nice.
[Dixon] A lot us
where very tight with Dan.
He was a big personality.
But especially with the group I mostly
hung out with... with Dario and Tony,
and you know, we spent a lot of
time together.
[commentator] Here they come
down the front straightaway.
And the final race for the
championship is green.
[Franchitti] I remember being
terrified the night before.
Didn't go to sleep.
[commentator] There's the
number 10 of Dario Franchitti.
[Dixon] I think I was right
behind Dario, and you know,
there was the two of us that,
kind of, sat on the bottom.
[commentator] ...updating you as
Tony Kanaan is still leading.
But, boy, the action back behind him.
He doesn't know what he's missing.
[Dixon] You could
tell right from the get-go,
there was new guys, and other
people maybe with, you know,
with a chip on their shoulder
that wanted to prove something.
[commentator] Oh, so close. And
they're touching right there.
[Franchitti] A lot of times as a driver,
you're in control of your own destiny.
How much risk
you're willing to take,
how fast you go through
a corner, to go faster,
to distance yourself
from the others.
[commentator] Looking for Dan Wheldon.
Started 34th in this field.
[Dixon] You know, you could
tell right away there was
something that was,
uh, gonna go down.
And sure enough...[commentator] Whoa!
Here we go!
Trouble! Contact and a huge crash!
[crew member] Go low! Go low!
[commentator] Oh! Up at car number 2.
Oh! Multiple cars involved.
[commentator 2] Onboard with Will Power,
and he's in the air!
[Franchitti]
I remember trying to brake,
and I think it was Scott
right in front of me.
In all this commotion,
all I was looking at
was trying to not hit
the car in front.
And it all happened,
I didn't see any of it.
[Dixon] The debris, it was just
scattered everywhere for, you know,
a mile and a half of, you know, 15
to 20 Indy cars totally destroyed.
I've seen, you know, many big
accidents, you know, pile-ups, before,
but I'd never seen
a debris field like that.
You know, there was
a driver's meeting called.
And at that point,
that's not really normal.
[Franchitti] And the doctor came
in and shook his head and...
Well, at that point
we knew Dan...
was dead and...
[commentator] Don't ever say race
car drivers don't have emotions,
that they feel nothing.
[Kanaan] I've never seen
so many race car drivers crying
because we don't, like,
really do that.
But you don't see
Scott Dixon cry ever.
That guy... I mean...
And some of the guys, we...
We hugged each other,
you know, like, you know,
like as a group and...
[sighs]
[commentator] And there is... Tony,
and... very distressed.
[commentator 2] And Tony just
is a-a great friend of Dan and,
um, they hang out together, has
always hung out together...
[Ganassi] You know,
we've heard all the lines.
"He was doing what he wanted to do.
He knew the risk."
Uh, it doesn't make
the blow any softer.
Yeah.
We miss Dan.
[Dixon] I think
the hardest part was
probably getting to Dan and Susie's
hotel room later that night,
you know, and they'd just had
Oliver, uh, their youngest.
You know, and even Sebastian at that time
would have only been, maybe two, I think.
And, you know, totally oblivious to
what had happened, what had gone on.
You know, I was hurting too,
you know, Emma was.
But, you know, not on a level where
someone had just lost their husband.
You know, uh, the kids had
just lost their father.
You know, his parents had flown in and,
you know, they'd just lost their son.
I've had this discussion many a times,
when people... like, when you lose friends,
do you really think
about giving up?
[Emma] It's the only time I've
seen Scott cry is when Dan died.
[crew chattering]
Is there another can,
or is that the can? That's it.
That is the the can of beans,
Mr. Taggart.
[TV chatter]
[Gundlach] The guys are very
goal-oriented, and they're very tight.
They're a very
good working group.
But things can go wrong
with any good group.
And it's all in the recovery.
[chattering]
[laughing]
[Gundlach] So, how do you build your
confidence back up when things go wrong?
Or how do you ensure that you're
still focusing on the right thing,
or focusing not on the end goal
but maybe on your process,
and how you're taking each step.
[crew member] Go, Matt. Whoa!
Whoo!
Oh, tight!
Whoo-hoo!
[Gundlach] They get frustrated
and angry with each other
because they're all
perfectionists,
and they want to win.
So they'll get upset
for a minute,
and then they'll, uh,
they'll think about things,
and then bring their guys
back together, and say,
"As a group, we've got
to get this back together."
And they do.
[thunder rumbling]
[Ganassi]
Welcome to Watkins Glen,
another beautiful day here
in mid-New York State.
Obviously we're in a championship
chase here with the Nine car.
Let's do everything we can
to make sure that that happens.
Anything we can do...
that's within
the limit of the rules...
I would appreciate
you guys know what to do.
I don't need to be telling you.
[Gundlach] We feel
pretty confident and strong,
and then something that we
can't control starts happening,
and it's the weather.
The difference between a wet setup
and a dry setup is massive.
So, do we start
with a wet setup?
Because the ground is damp,
and the sky is dark,
and our weather says
it's coming.
Do we start with wet? Do we start with dry?
Wet? Dry? Wet? Dry?
We keep thinking about it, and everybody
on the grid is thinking this too.
So, Chris Simmons, he comes up
with a decision to go with wet.
And he has the guys changing gears, changing
wings, changing chassis adjustments.
Massive changes on pre-grid, we're
getting called to the grid,
and we're still changing gears.
We were late getting
to our grid spot,
but the guys got it done,
and it was the right call.
If we hadn't, if we would
have just raced what we had,
we would be in back of the pack,
and it would've been over.
I can't believe that Chris Simmons
can do this, as well as he can.
You step back, and look, "I'm working
with some really good guys."
[commentator] Watkins Glen International,
the scene of today's Verizon
IndyCar series race.
The championship is at stake.
Two races remain, and they're all
chasing the 26-year-old from Tennessee,
Josef Newgarden has won three
of the last four races.
[commentator 2] Oh, boy, this is
gonna be fascinating. Get ready.
It's the IndyCar Grand Prix at The Glen.
And Dixon determined to reduce that
deficit that he has to Josef Newgarden
at the top of this championship.
Everybody is starting on wet weather tires,
but they won't be on them for very long.
Coming onto the front straight,
here at The Glen, it's
time to bring the action.
Good start, Newgarden.
Look at him on the inside.
Three wide. Newgarden locks up.
Can he keep it intact? He
does, but here comes Rossi.
[Dixon on radio]
[Simmons on radio]
[Dixon on radio]
[Simmons on radio]
[commentator] Everyone comes down
pit road, to get on the slicks.
[commentator] Charlie Kimball
beats Scott Dixon out.
So Dixon lost quite a few spots.
[commentator 2] Newgarden
defends Dixon to the outside.
[commentator 1] Tough to go
around the outside here Paul,
under the inner loop, but
he's already cleared him.
[commentator 2] Now he has gotten
ahead of his championship rival.
Now he's got to chase down Castroneves.
[Simmons on radio]
[engine revving]
[commentator] Not a great
stop for Scott Dixon.
He lost two positions again
on the pit stop exchange.
He made it up, and now
he's dropped back again.
[Simmons on radio]
[Hull on radio]
Yeah, Josef got us
on that pit stop.
[no audible dialogue]
Come on, Scotty.
[commentator] Will Power
has the pit out location.
He's squeezes around.
Josef Newgarden, the championship
leader in the orange and white car,
he's gonna have to get around
Will Power coming out.
Final stop for the two Team Penske cars.
And Josef Newgarden... at the same time...
and it's a drag race to the line.
And now we watch how they blend in.
[commentator 2] Josef Newgarden
totally overcooked his pit exit.
- Oh!
- Against the the wall.
[commentator 1] Oh! He gets hit!
[Gundlach] Suddenly, out of the blue,
you see in the corner of your eye,
you see one of the cars on
the TV wreck in pit lane.
You see it's Josef.
You think, "Oh, my goodness."
[Dixon on radio]
[Simmons on radio]
[Gundlach] I hate that
that's happened to those guys,
because you want to
beat them on merit.
But he just screwed up. [Laughs]
So... So you get really excited.
[Simmons on radio]
[commentator] We thought it was
gonna rain the whole race,
we've had a nice, clean
dry race from the start.
Man, big drama show today
for the Penske Team.
[commentator 2] Enormous.
[commentator 1] Rossi wins at The Glen.
[commentator 2] Over Scott Dixon,
this championship has tightened
way up, with one race to go.
[Dixon]
We're in the fight. Yes, we are.
[Hull] I didn't...
I never thought we weren't.
Yeah, no. True.[laughs]
We're still in the fight,
I should say.
Good job, boys. Thanks, man.
Sorry we didn't get
the win, but... No, it's all right.
Scott Dixon finished second.
But Scott, more importantly,
you are now just three points
behind Josef Newgarden
heading into double points
at Sonoma.
What does that mean
for your race in two weeks?
Yeah, definitely good,
uh, good recovery by the team.
Ended up second. Good points.
Uh, it's definitely
gonna be close,
coming down to the wire
here for Sonoma,
which I expect nothing less
for the Verizon IndyCar Series.
So, I don't know, we're gonna
have to up our game at Sonoma,
and see if we can, you know,
carry away another
championship trophy.
[Szymanski]
That was a good result.
We took a big chunk
out of Newgarden's lead.
All I know is
we've got to beat Newgarden.
[Ganassi] So many times in
sports, you have this, sort of,
confluence of people,
and of timing, and of equipment,
and of the sport itself.
You have this, sort of, coming
together at the right time.
And Scott is somebody that wins with
the team and loses with the team,
and I find that very
refreshing in today's world.
No, I haven't spoken
to the girls yet.
We should call them quickly.
[Hull] We were all young kids that
have known nothing but racing.
Remembering where you came from,
in this business,
defines who you are.
[Simmons] My first memories go
back to when my dad was racing.
Being in the pits
after the races.
The... Pretty young back then,
three or four years old.
Next thing you know,
we're building our own engines,
and have two cars for me,
and two cars for my brother.
And it was a real family sport, and
we traveled all over the country.
[Gundlach] Race has been part of my life
since birth. It's always been in my family.
My dad started taking me to the
racetrack when I was really young.
Sleeping on the back of
the trucks,
you know, showering at the
track, kind of thing.
Not getting a hotel,
not eating anywhere fancy.
It was a really kind of
gypsy lifestyle.
[Ganassi] It starts out
with a love of the automobile.
The kid across the street from me growing
up had a very, very fast go-kart.
And that began the fire for me
in my belly.
You know, I wanted to
drive that go-kart.
I can't think of anything I'd
rather be doing than this business.
But, uh, no,
lots of sacrifices you make.
You know, I've been divorced.
You know, my daughter, who had the
question from her at times about,
uh, you know, maybe I wasn't at a
particular place while she was growing up.
You get to a point in
your career where you think,
"How do you best serve the sport that
you've grown up in and you love so much?"
[crowd cheering]
[Ganassi] Today, I'm in it to win
races and win championships,
and provide some return
for our partners and sponsors,
and take this group of people that
I'm lucky enough to work with,
and you know,
provide a valuable livelihood.
Everything in life
is a trade-off.
But, hey, let's face it.
Winning is
a hell of a lot of fun.
You know, when you win,
I mean, that's big.
Yeah, and you know,
who better to do it with
than the guy I'm doing it with?
[commentator] Well, you
talk about a Sunday drive.
It's been that for Scott Dixon today.
A lap to go.
[commentator 2] Here comes Dixon.
[Dixon] Even at nine, 10, 11,
I would still wake up at,
you know, 2:00, 3:00, 4:00 in the
morning to watch the Indianapolis 500.
The speeds were excessive,
you know, 230 miles an hour.
The style of racing and
how many passes were going on,
uh, to how many different people
had the opportunity to win.
That really intrigued me.
And 2008 is the year that
stands out, uh, in my career.
Um, Emma and I get married
in February,
win the 500 in May.
[commentator] And here's the winner of
the 92nd Indianapolis 500-mile race.
Scott Dixon from New Zealand.
[Dixon] To win the Indianapolis
500, it's such a strange feeling.
And to actually be
in that moment, you know,
we've just won, you know,
the biggest race in the world.
[commentator] The 92nd
500 winner, Scott Dixon.
The man from New Zealand who takes the
Borg-Warner trophy here at Indianapolis.
[Dixon] The steps that we'd taken
from, you know, starting in go-karts
to where we had got to
as a group, as a family,
it magnified what it was
all for, and why, you know,
there was blood, sweat
and tears put in, you know.
Not just from me,
but from many people.
[Ganassi] I think when you're talking
about the greatest drivers of all time,
he may be there already.
[Dixon] Racing has been
pretty much my life.
[car alarm beeps]
You know, we have a passion
for competition,
and, uh, any day we don't win is, you know,
we haven't... we haven't completed our goal.
Hi, Tilly.
What are you doing? Good.
How was, uh... How was school
on Thursday and Friday?
How did... How did that go?
Oh. Well, we'll see you
in a day or two anyway, babe.
I know, we'll try and...
We'll try and win.
We'll be trying to win.
[Simmons] Going into Sonoma,
coming off Watkins Glen,
we're three points back.
We knew we had our destiny
in our own hands.
If we could win the race,
we'd win the championship.
That was somewhat unexpected,
and a good feeling.
But, uh, we also knew that
we were gonna be challenged.
[commentator] What a beautiful picture.
Sonoma Raceway, hosting the 17th and final
round of the Verizon IndyCar Series.
[Dixon] It's one of those tracks where I
would say, performance-wise as a team,
we haven't really always
excelled there.
It's a Penske strong track.
You know, it's gonna be a really steep
uphill climb to try and overcome,
uh, four very good cars,
four very good drivers,
and a, you know, one of
the best teams in history.
You've also got Josef,
uh, and he's, you know, going
in leading the championship.
So it's a perfect storm
for a great story.
[Gundlach] That idea that Scott, and that the
car that I'm on, could win this championship...
I've never been to that point
in my IndyCar career before.
It was nerve-wracking.
[Ganassi] This is why
we're in this business.
It's for days like today. Okay?
All the preparation,
all the work, all the sweat.
All the effort that each and every
one of us have put in all year
comes into a focus today.
It's an opportunity
for great accomplishment.
For more than one person,
I might add, in this room.
The only time you're gonna
keep me out of that car,
is either if I'm dead,
or if I can't really do it, because
a doctor tells me I can't.
[Kanaan] We live to race,
everything else
comes around that.
Your family, your wife,
your kids, everybody.
They have to adapt
to your lifestyle.
[Franchitti] It's much easier to call somebody
a legend when they were... 20 years ago.
But for somebody
that's current is,
I think, people struggle more to
recognize just how good they are.
Four championships so far,
you know, that fifth championship
would be incredible.
I'll see you in a minute.
I'll wait here for you.
See you at the car, okay? Yeah.
[Gundlach]
You have butterflies, right?
It's the last race,
and you have a legitimate chance
to win this thing.
[commentator] It's been a terrific season.
Very, very tight from start to finish.
I've never seen it this
competitive in IndyCar.
[Gundlach] There's so many things, so
many scenarios I'm running through.
It starts weighing on your mind.
If we lose a lap, if we have
an extra long pit stop,
if the car fails on track,
if we run out of fuel.
And then you start thinking about all the
prize money that everyone is depending on,
is based on this championship.
So it's an awful lot of
responsibility and weight
just sitting on your shoulders.
[Simmons on radio]
[Dixon on radio]
[Hull on radio]
[commentator] It's the 17th, and final
race in the Verizon IndyCar Series.
It's championship day, and
it's time to bring the action.
[Simmons on radio]
[commentator] Newgarden to the front.
Nice clean start.
[Fast on radio]
[Dixon] Starting the race,
the start of the race went well.
Uh, past Sato,
got up to fifth place.
[commentator] Josef Newgarden,
Will Power, Hlio Castroneves,
Simon Pagenaud, Scott Dixon.
The championship five are in the top five.
[Dixon] And then that's when
the chaos started to happen.
[commentator 2] Whoa! Sato,
the wild thing in the dirt.
[commentator 1] We're hearing a report that
James Hinchcliffe may have left the track.
[commentator 2] He's way off the track.
[commentator 1] Whoa! -Sideways
on the red, dirt everywhere.
[commentator 2] The guys at the wall.
[commentator 1] What a wild opening lap.
Just carnage.
[Simmons on radio]
[commentator] Big cloud of dust.
Cars banging into each other.
Everybody was slowing down.
[commentator 2] Kanaan
is in trouble, I think.
Kanaan has got bent suspension.
Somebody hit him from behind. I think
he's either got a flat tire...
[Hull on radio]
[commentator] And Kanaan, the
teammate to Scott Dixon.
That is a huge blow for Dixon.
He needs Kanaan in this race to help
support the championship fight.
[Hull on radio]
[Hull on radio]
[Gundlach] Well,
the first stop comes and goes.
And we haven't changed positions
much, relative to the leader.
It was four Penskes
versus Scott.
[commentator] Castroneves
into turn Number 9
with Scott Dixon skulking just behind him,
trying to close in.
[commentator 2] Oh, Scott
Dixon just lit up the tires
as he made a pass on Hlio Castroneves.
[Dixon on radio]
[Gundlach on radio]
[Hull on radio]
[Dixon] You're hoping
of something to switch it,
uh, to try and switch
the strategy up.
[Gundlach]
But Hlio is right on us.
He's been stopping
every time we stop.
They know our strategy.
[Hull on radio]
[Gundlach]
Penske covered all strategies.
[Dixon on radio]
[Simmons on radio]
[Gundlach] And then suddenly
the race starts to just...
No one is passing, no one is doing anything
exciting. It's just a kind of a parade.
[Dixon] I was doing all I could,
and still hanging onto,
you know, the last five laps of the race
for something, you know, big to happen.
[Hull] I never give up.
Scott never gives up.
You have to be able to
square up to the mirror
at the end of the day knowing full well
that you gave it everything you had.
[vocalizing]
[commentator] Scott Dixon,
four-time champion,
and it's looking increasingly difficult
to be a five-time champion here today.
[Gundlach] And I think the point
where you start to think,
"Well, this isn't...
This isn't gonna happen."
[vocalizing continues]
It's not... You don't
stop doing your job.
You just...
Your heart just sinks.
And now you're just watching
cars go round the track,
watching somebody else...
win the championship.
[commentator] Dixon's ability to make
something happen is a miracle here,
with half a lap to go.
[commentator 2] Simon
Pagenaud wins in Sonoma.
But Josef Newgarden is
the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series champion.
It's a reality now for Josef Newgarden.
[Emma] Scott is a guy that
unless he's going really fast,
he doesn't feel alive.
He feels euphoric
when he's chancing death.
Just as I was a seven-year-old
getting in a go-kart,
is that it's the same thing.
It's a race against your fellow
competitors, and you're trying to win.
And that's... that's all it is.
But there's so much more
going on now.
It's not wanting to disappoint.
Whether it's my parents, my
brothers and sisters, investors,
you know, Emma,
you know, the kids,
people that have helped me
along the way.
Because I didn't give it my all,
or because I made
a silly mistake,
because I didn't prepare
well enough.
[Hull on radio]
[Hull] Some days
the reality exceeds expectation,
and some days
you accept the reality.
Oh, well.
Shit.
Well done, baby. Thanks, babe.
I'm sorry. It's fucking annoying.
[reporter] Hey, Scott!
Hey, Scott!
The best team won, I guess.
That's all you've got to say.
We'll go get them next year.
Have a couple of beers tonight,
and we'll start planning
for next year tomorrow.
It's all right. Next year.
Congratulations on
a great season, Scott.
Yeah. Well done, guys.
Congrats. Congratulations
on a great season.
You're the best. Oh, thank you.
Well, do you know what?
Next year it's all even...
I'm so excited about
next year already.
I don't think it was meant to...
I think it was meant to be this way.
Do you?
Yeah, I guess. I feel it.
I love you.
I'll be back at the truck.Okay.
[man] Well, my pad is very messy
I got whiskers on my chin
And I'm all hung up on music
But I always play to win
I ain't got no time for lovin'
'Cause my time is All used up
Sitting around creating
All that groovy kind of love
'Cause I'm a man, yes I am And
I can't help But love you so
Oh, I'm a man, yes I am And I
can't help But love you so
[fades out]
[instrumental]
[ends]