Today, Scott Dixon has lost a chance of win and close the gap in the championship due to a Drive-Through penalty, due to an incident in the pit lane. Scott Dixon was leaving his pit spot, in front of him, Will Power was leaving his, and a Penske crew member was carrying his rear right tire, going straight to Dixon’s car. Dixon clipped the right-rear tire carried by Penske crew member Travis Law, which knocked him into airjack man Justin Bosch. Both were uninjured. Penske crew member has done a dangerous maneuver, so it seems that he is, at least, a little guilty. However, Scott Dixon stepped a bit on a line that delimited Power’s spot, so it is the cause of his penalty.
Race director Beaux Barfield said Dixon’s car crossed over into Power’s pit box. “Ultimately, we have a duty to protect everybody in the pit lane,” Barfield said. “If we have somebody who uses less than great judgement when they leave their pit box and we have an incident, then we have to make a statement by penalizing. And we’re going to make that call. There are a couple of different (video) angles, and clearly the 9 car crosses right into the 12 car’s space and that’s where the violation occurred. He was in the 12 car’s box for a good half-car length.”
Scott Dixon did not agree: “It’s probably the most blatant thing I’ve seen in a long time. I had a straight line and he walked into us. Pretty annoyed with that; we had a strong car all day.”
External video of the incident: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib0clXBmcxw
