Born Racer (2018) - full transcript

Ladies and gentlemen,
on your feet.

The whole list of drivers for
the Indianapolis 500-mile race.

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.

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.

He feels euphoric when
he's chancing death.

232.595 on the lap
speed for Scott Dixon.

Yeah! Yeah, baby.

This is an incredible
start for Scott Dixon.

One and a half to go
for Chip Ganassi,

watching his driver,
Scott Dixon.

Such a disciplined driver.

Another in the 232's.

And the roar of the crowd.

That was perfection.

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.

Scott Dixon records the fastest
speed in over 20 years.

Congratulations. The good news
is you didn't have to wait long.

Mate. Sweet. 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.

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?

Performance come
off the tires...

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.

We're good to fire up here, TK?

Radio check, Scott.

10-4. Loud and clear.

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.

And without all those people
backing him up, not gonna happen.

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.

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.

Can I help you with that? Yeah.

It's always something simple, Kate.
We're still figuring it out.

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.

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.

Drop it down a little.

Oh, there it is. Yeah.
See? Seven.

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.

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.

That one day will change
that driver for ever.

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.

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."

Hey, good luck today.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

We're green!

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.

Uh, up top right there.
Stop! Stop! Ooh!

I heard the spotter scream
something at Scott,

and then... it went silent.

Is he all right?

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.

Uh, up top right there.
Stop! Stop! Ooh!

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.

What a huge crash.

Agonizingly long.

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.

There's nothing left of the back.
That sawed the engine in half.

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.

You lose family
members in this deal.

Huh? I honestly thought
that was my turn.

Yeah?

After Susie.

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.

Yeah. Yeah.Yep. Yep.

Glad to see you
walking out of there.

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...

I'm just thank our lucky stars.

But I'm kind of like...
Now I'm like, "Oh man."

But...

Yeah.

At least he's good.

Daddy's here.

Yeah.

Hi, monkey. How are you?
Good? Good.

What are you guys doing?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

So do you.

I can't believe you managed to
get that foot in that shoe.

Bit swollen.

See, so I would have milked
it and, like, dragged my leg.

Pretend.

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.

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.

♪ 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 ♪

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.

And they're all 365.

How much?

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.

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.

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...
fly, reverse fly.

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.

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.

Come on. Come on. Five to go.

Correct.

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.

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.

Good.

Everything correct.
Good job. 126.

Just do another on that heat.

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.

Stop! Stop! Ooh!

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?

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Race fans, it's time for those
most famous words in motorsports.

- All right, fans,
are you ready?-

Drivers, start your engines!

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.

Rahal in front of Dixon.

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.

Rahal now 8.6 seconds
in front of Dixon.

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."

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.

Scott running second.

He's got about five seconds
on Hinchcliffe in third.

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.

But you're right. He
has not complained.

He has not said a single word.

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...

Graham Rahal has a 6.6 second
lead over Scott Dixon.

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.

Those skills combined
just blow my mind.

Career win number five to
Graham Rahal at Detroit.

Great drive for Scott
Dixon in second.

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.

Good job, bro. Hey,
just missed it.

Well done, Scott.
Hey, thanks, man.

Sorry, I got a little angry there, but...
That's all right.

We get through it. Not
the end of the world.

Thanks, man.

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.

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?"

There you go. Can you throw me?

You've got... You've
still got more.

No, Mommy is actually full up.

Emma is... is a big
portion of who I am now,

how I approach races,
how competitive I am.

I was waiting... I was
waiting for seconds.

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.

I know, I said, cakes.

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?

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.

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.

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."

I better go.

Love you, Daddy. See you after
the race, right? Love you.

Good luck, Daddy.
Good luck, baby.

Good luck. Thanks, baby.

Good luck.

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.

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 Hélio 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.

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.

Ready to roll for Road America.

It's Penske on
Penske at the start!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Road America was
pretty incredible.

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."

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.

Okay. This is good.

It's hard not to get emotional about
it, because you put so much into it.

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.

Scott Dixon.

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.

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.

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...

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

He's in! He's in! He's in!

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.

Scott Dixon, not
as fast of a stop

as you would expect
for the Ganassi team.

Simon goes by, Hunter-Reay
goes by, Rossi goes by.

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."

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!

Man, Ganassi is struggling.

They're ninth, 13th,
15th, and 17th.

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.

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.

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.

Couldn't really tell what
he was doing in the middle.

That's because it was
turning the opposite way.

Fuck, it was horrendous.

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.

Leading up to Mid-Ohio we were
three points in the lead.

But the guys in front
of us, Josef and Hélio,

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.

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.

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.

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? A ten-count.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five,
four, three, two, one. All right.

Can I get another ten-count?

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six,
five, four, three, two, one.

Okay.

Anytime you guys are ready.

Okay.

Hey, everyone. I'm
Lauren Bohlander.

I'm Scott Dixon.

Sorry, I'm Dan Wheldon.

Driver of the Number 10 Target Chip
Ganassi Racing Dallara Honda Firestone.

Nice.

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.

Here they come down the
front straightaway.

And the final race for the
championship is green.

I remember being terrified
the night before.

Didn't go to sleep.

There's the number 10
of Dario Franchitti.

I think I was right behind
Dario, and you know,

there was the two of us that,
kind of, sat on the bottom.

Updating you as Tony
Kanaan is still leading.

But, boy, the action
back behind him.

He doesn't know
what he's missing.

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.

Oh, so close. And they're
touching right there.

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.

Looking for Dan Wheldon.

Started 34th in this field.

You know, you could tell
right away there was

something that was,
uh, gonna go down.

And sure enough... Whoa!
Here we go!

Trouble! Contact
and a huge crash!

Go low! Go low!

Oh! Up at car number 2.

Oh! Multiple cars involved.

Onboard with Will Power,

and he's in the air!

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.

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.

And the doctor came in and
shook his head and...

Well, at that point
we knew Dan...

was dead and...

Don't ever say race car
drivers don't have emotions,

that they feel nothing.

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...

And there is... Tony,

and... very distressed.

And Tony just is a-a
great friend of Dan and,

um, they hang out together, has
always hung out together...

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.

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?

It's the only time I've seen
Scott cry is when Dan died.

Is there another can, or is that the can?
That's it.

That is the the can of
beans, Mr. Taggart.

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.

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.

Go, Matt. Whoa!

Whoo!

Oh, tight!

Whoo-hoo!

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

Everyone comes down pit
road, to get on the slicks.

Charlie Kimball beats
Scott Dixon out.

So Dixon lost quite a few spots.

Newgarden defends
Dixon to the outside.

Tough to go around the
outside here Paul,

under the inner loop, but
he's already cleared him.

Now he has gotten ahead of
his championship rival.

Now he's got to chase
down Castroneves.

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.

Yeah, Josef got us
on that pit stop.

Come on, Scotty.

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.

Josef Newgarden totally
overcooked his pit exit.

- Oh! Against the the wall.

Oh! He gets hit!

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."

I hate that that's
happened to those guys,

because you want to
beat them on merit.

But he just screwed up.

So... So you get really excited.

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.

Enormous.

Rossi wins at The Glen.

Over Scott Dixon,

this championship has tightened
way up, with one race to go.

We're in the fight. Yes, we are.

I didn't... I never
thought we weren't.

Yeah, no. True.

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.

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.

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.

We were all young kids that
have known nothing but racing.

Remembering where you came
from, in this business,

defines who you are.

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.

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.

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?"

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?

Well, you talk about
a Sunday drive.

It's been that for
Scott Dixon today.

A lap to go.

Here comes 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.

And here's the winner of the
92nd Indianapolis 500-mile race.

Scott Dixon from New Zealand.

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.

The 92nd 500 winner,
Scott Dixon.

The man from New Zealand who takes the
Borg-Warner trophy here at Indianapolis.

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.

I think when you're talking about
the greatest drivers of all time,

he may be there already.

Racing has been
pretty much my life.

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.

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.

What a beautiful picture.

Sonoma Raceway, hosting the 17th and final
round of the Verizon IndyCar Series.

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.

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.

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.

We live to race,

everything else
comes around that.

Your family, your wife,
your kids, everybody.

They have to adapt
to your lifestyle.

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.

You have butterflies, right?

It's the last race,

and you have a legitimate
chance to win this thing.

It's been a terrific season.

Very, very tight from
start to finish.

I've never seen it this
competitive in IndyCar.

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.

It's the 17th, and final race
in the Verizon IndyCar Series.

It's championship day, and
it's time to bring the action.

Newgarden to the front.
Nice clean start.

Starting the race, the start
of the race went well.

Uh, past Sato, got
up to fifth place.

Josef Newgarden, Will
Power, Hélio Castroneves,

Simon Pagenaud, Scott Dixon.

The championship five
are in the top five.

And then that's when the
chaos started to happen.

Whoa! Sato, the wild
thing in the dirt.

We're hearing a report that James
Hinchcliffe may have left the track.

He's way off the track.

- Whoa! -Sideways on the
red, dirt everywhere.

The guys at the wall.

What a wild opening lap.

Just carnage.

Big cloud of dust. Cars
banging into each other.

Everybody was slowing down.

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...

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.

Well, the first stop
comes and goes.

And we haven't changed positions
much, relative to the leader.

It was four Penskes
versus Scott.

Castroneves into turn Number 9

with Scott Dixon skulking
just behind him,

trying to close in.

Oh, Scott Dixon just
lit up the tires

as he made a pass on
Hélio Castroneves.

You're hoping of
something to switch it,

uh, to try and switch
the strategy up.

But Hélio is right on us.

He's been stopping
every time we stop.

They know our strategy.

Penske covered all strategies.

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.

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.

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.

Scott Dixon, four-time champion,

and it's looking increasingly difficult
to be a five-time champion here today.

And I think the point
where you start to think,

"Well, this isn't... This
isn't gonna happen."

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.

Dixon's ability to make something
happen is a miracle here,

with half a lap to go.

Simon Pagenaud wins in Sonoma.

But Josef Newgarden is

the 2017 Verizon IndyCar
Series champion.

It's a reality now
for Josef Newgarden.

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.

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.

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.

♪ 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 ♪