You can forgive Scott Dixon for wanting to come out of the blocks like he did this season. His run at the 2007 IRL title included an amazing run of three wins on the trot and, but for an ounce of fuel, he would have been celebrating winning his second title 12 months ago. But, for whatever reason, most experts dismissed Dixon's performance and said this season would see a 'Brazilian battle' as Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves would be the ones to beat.

You can also forgive him for thoroughly dominating the Indy 500. After all, the last three seasons have seen the person who wins that race, wins the championship. But there was more to it than that. Scott's first visit to the famous track wound up in bitter disappointment in 2003 as he suffered the embarrassment of crashing out of the race while weaving behind the pace car warming up his tyres.

You can even forgive him for breaking his 'ice man' persona and showing frustration at Sonoma where he could have, potentially, wrapped up the title, but racing luck had clearly deserted him that day. The next race saw Helio further cut into Scott's lead leading to today's finale in Chicagoland and we've all heard this before to the leader going into a title deciding race; "all you have to do is..."

That meant that Dixon had two ways to race this thing; like Jimmie Johnson has done the last two races at Homestead in the Cup series, or to go for it.

Now, it's probably safe to say that Scott did take the first half of the race reasonably easy. After all, there's no point in overstressing the car when you're the one with the most to lose. However, that bad pit stop which dropped him into his 'dangerzone' was possibly the best thing to have happened since it forced Dixon to do what he'd done all season long; race.

His pit crew also made up for it by getting him out in front at the final stop and from there we were treated to a battle royale between Scott and Helio that produced the second closest ever finish in IRL history.

Scott celebrates on the podium.

So I guess you should also forgive Scott for not bothering to listen to reason and race for the points...after all, he hasn't done that all year so why should he have started today?

Congratulations, Scott, you've made Kiwis the world over very proud.

Well this won't take very long...New Zealanders in motorsport...I can really only think of three.

Less than half a lap is what seperated Scott Dixon from winning his second IRL title. He was running in first with Dario Franchitti in second (the only two drivers on the lead lap) when the yellow flag was put away for the final time. Both were driving on fumes but I imagine that since Dario was getting the slipstream, that meant he eeked out a tiny bit more fuel than Scott and was able to blast past him when Scott's engine spluttered coming into turn three. However, 2008 sees no Franchitti and no Sam Hornish Jr so Dixon should be favourite...so why Tony Kanaan is being talked up to win it is beyond me. I'm backing Scott and nothing short of having the #1 on his car next year will be a success. As for the Indy 500....well he has a good shot but I think one of the Andretti Green cars will win the thing.

Scott once again leads the 'Kiwis on display' for motorsport in 2008. 

Wade Cunningham...a name that will probably have many of you scratching your heads wondering who he is. His career shot into the spotlight when he won the 2003 World Karting Championship. After a year in the States in the Formula Ford Zetecs, he jumped up to the Infiniti Pro Series for 2005. Despite only winning one race, he won that title in his rookie year. 2006 saw him finish third, not too bad if you take into account the fat that he missed two races due to illness while last year he wound up third again. But at the end of the year he was rewared with his first test drive of an IRL car at Sebring, driving the car that Danica Patrick usually has. So could we see two Kiwis in the IRL in 2009? Highly probable I reckon. I wouldn't mind if someone put him in the Craftsman Truck series though...he knows how to drive on ovals and he's only 23 years old.

Wade on his way to winning at Watkins Glen.

And now we come to the last person I know; Josh Coppins. After a gazillion years of the MX1 series being dominated by Stefan Everts (who retired at the end of 2006), Josh looked to have the 2007 title wrapped up until an injury forced him to miss the last handful of races. He came back for the final round but the pain from his arm was too much and he couldn't do anything except watch the title slip away. If he stays fit this year, he should be able to win the championship...but that's a big if in the MX classes.

Josh on his trusty Yamaha MX1 bike.

That's pretty much it really...I'm writing this since it's Waitangi Day which means I have the day off work. I could get used to a holiday in the middle of the week *laugh*

The Haka...with a twist.

You're a multi-millionaire.

You've got your headquarters in a prime location.

You've hired the best Engineers, Designers and have a killer pitcrew.

You've got sponsors lined up down the road, all wanting to be a part of your new team...but now comes the hard part; who are you going to pay the big bucks to deliver the result on the track?

To figure that out, you'll have to see who's been hot lately and who hasn't. Not as easy a choice as you may think since you're trying to headhunt the best of the best, the cream of the crop, the one guy who you would want driving the car if your life depended on it right now.

A month ago, the guy at the top of your list was Lewis Hamilton. The rookie F1 driver had won the Canadian and US races and was sitting pretty with the Championship lead. Six weeks ago, it was Martin Truex Jr...that guy won his first Cup race at Dover and has since been a factor in pretty much every race. Two months ago, another name; Dario Franchitti. He'd just won the Indianapolis 500 and leapt to the top in the IRL standings. Prior to that it was Jeff Gordon...see how hard this choice has become?

Well, you can cross all those names off since I'm going to tell you who the hottest driver going around is...hands down. He's been riding a huge crest this past month and I have to wonder what this guy has to do to get the recognition he deserves.

Give up? Have no idea who could possibly blow those guys out of the water with his performances?

I'll give you a hint; he's from New Zealand.

Yep, that's right...the best driver in the world right now is none other than Scott Dixon.

Scott piloting his #9 Ganassi Honda IRL beast

You disagree with that? Let me give you some statistics then.

Scott just won his third straight race in the IRL series and has closed the gap to Franchitti from 60 points to 24 in that time. He finished second in the Indy 500 (behind Dario) and probably would have won the race had it not been cut short due to the weather. He won the IRL title in 2003 (in his first season I might add) and is the youngest winner of an internationally recognised 'top level' motorsport event (cars anyway...no idea about bikes) after he won his third ever CART (now Champ Car World Series) race at Nazareth when he was just 20 years old.

You want more proof? He's won the last three IRL races at Watkins Glen...big deal you might say. After all, he's from a country where road courses are the norm. That's all well and good but he won the 2005 race with Toyota power. So what? Toyota had the least powerful engine (by as much as 50 horsepower) yet Scott still whipped everyone...mighty impressive I think you'd agree.

Scott has nine wins in his IRL career...his last 3 have come in the last 3 races

I can see that you're slowly starting to believe me so let me give even more information. He also finished runnerup to Sam Hornish Jr in last years IRL Championship, outscoring his more highly fancied teammate, Dan Wheldon. And his record doesn't stop at open-wheelers either. Last year, Scott teamed up with Wheldon and Casey Mears to win the Daytona 24 hour race.

And he's no slouch with a roof over his head either

He may not have the high profile that a lot of drivers have...but he also doesn't have the baggage those guys carry either. He'll give it 100% every time he steps behind the wheel and anything less than first will see him work that little bit harder next time...that's the kind of driver I want. Oh yeah, and he's only just turned 27...so plenty of years left in his career.

Ok, I can see that you're nodding your head now so my work here is done...Scott Dixon is now at the top of that list.

Mind you, you'll have a fight on your hands to nick him off Chip...but Scott will more than pay you back.

Ok, now I can't find any blog on this particular topic so I figured I'd get the ball rolling (if I'm wrong, please give me a link since I only skimmed over the 'NASCAR' and 'Other' categories).

We've had a couple days to digest the lap 14 collision between Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin in the Pepsi 400. Most have said it was just a racing incident and that it was just "one of those things". I think the problem most people have is what Tony said afterwards, about it all being Denny's fault and that Denny needs to figure out the meaning of the word 'team'.

But has he lost his crown for the silliest thing to say after crashing out? The very next day saw the IRL race at Watkins Glen. The first part of the race was a close fought affair with Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti running within a couple seconds of each other for the first 15 laps. All three of them pitted at the end of that lap and that's when things started to get a little interesting.

Franchitti lost a bit of ground during the stop and Dixon decided it was time to really pile on the pressure on Castroneves for the lead. Lap 17 saw him get a great slipstream and Castroneves dived right to protect the inside line leaving Dixon the outside (and racing) line which he couldn't pull off.

Lap 18, on the same corner, Dixon managed to get the inside line this time but thought better of it and backed out.

Lap 19, again on the same part of the track, Dixon faked a move up the inside in an attempt to distract Castroneves...and it worked. A few corners later, Castroneves got a bit sideways and smacked the outside wall, destroying the left front of his car while Dixon snuck through before he spun back across the track.

A classic case of being put under pressure...or was it?

Helio saw it differently and had this to say; "I hold my line. It's ridiculous, I mean, I'm trying to hold my line. But, I mean, you want (me) to give the pass to him, fine I'll give it to him. It's ridiculous, all of a sudden I'm pushing, pushing and it led to a mistake."

The commentators replied with; "If you listen to what Helio said, I mean, he apparently was unhappy that he was being pressured. But that's what Scott Dixon is supposed to do; pressure him into making a mistake."

"Sure it is. He absolutely pressured him into making a mistake. He said it was slick and he was trying to hang on to it. But that's because Scott Dixon was putting a lot of pressure on him."

"That's racing, pal, that's racing."

So, let me get this right. If you're the guy in front, you're expected to be absolutely millimeter perfect for the entire race so as to not buckle under pressure from behind. If you're the guy behind you can't pressure the guy in front as it can cause them to crash.

All the drivers are out there to do their best to come home with a result. Denny seemingly had a good car but it was going away a little and Tony just got in the back of him at the wrong time. As for Helio, he too had a good car but Scott's was a little bit better and was clearly pushing hard...it was too much for Helio to handle.

Should Tony have backed off? Should Helio have given Scott the position? No, of course they shouldn't.

Should both guys have bitten their tongues instead of lashing out at the other guy for just driving their cars? You better believe they should've.

I'm sorry, but this was pathetic and both guys were out of line. This is racing and these people are supposed to be some of the best drivers in the world...not some of the best whingers.

For what it's worth, I think Helio's comment was worse...it was his own fault he lost the back end of his car, not Scott's.