Motorsport: Put your money on the Kiwi

Can Scott Dixon win another Indy 500? You bet. And I'm going with one of the legends of the most iconic of motor races not just in America, but also in the world.

If Bobby Unser reckons Dixon can pull it off that's good enough for me.

A three-time winner, and an American to boot, is picking the Kiwi to add another Borg Warner trophy to an already bulging cabinet.

Dixon is fresh off a win in Kansas and will be a little miffed with having to look at the gearbox housings of the three cars in front of him on the front row.

While not exactly happy with qualifying, Dixon is well aware car set-up for pole is rather different from that for race day. Qualifying is a four-lap out-and-out blast where the race is an endurance event.

During practice Dixon had the fastest car in race trim, being quickest two days in a row and inside the top seven on the other days.

Formerly known as the iceman due to his unflappable nature, Dixon is ideally suited to the rigors of the race. The amount of information being processed by the drivers at such enormous speeds beggars belief.

Not only are conversations happening back and forth between drivers and the pits, these guys have to be aware of other cars around them, avoid hitting the wall, work out how to pass the guy in front and concentrate on the balance of the car and fuel consumption.

It's enough to send mere mortals screaming to the nearest asylum.

A lapse in concentration will see an entire race plan unravel and the car heading backwards into the wall at 350km/h. The smallest of mistakes will result in the biggest of messes.

In all seriousness, trying to pick a winner is virtually impossible. Luck plays such a huge part in this 200-lap race and as long as Dixon is in the hunt and running among the top dozen towards the latter stages of the race, he's in with a better than even chance of taking the win.

Back on ovals after four races on road courses, Dixon has hauled himself back up to second on the points table behind Will Power. If winners were picked on numbers the race is Dixon's to lose. With 22 wins in 112 starts he has the best ratio of drivers still racing.

Dixon is a man who worries about the small things because he knows the devil's in the detail, and it'll be taking care of the small things that'll win him his drink from a milk bottle.

The TAB has last year's winner Helio Castroneves as the favourite paying $3.75 with Dixon second favourite at $4.25 and his team-mate Dario Franchitti at $5.50.

Ladies and gentlemen, grab a beer, get that couch organised, sit back and enjoy.