INDIANAPOLIS — Scott Dixon is durable and patient, mentally and physically tough. So the prospect of driving 500 miles amid 95-degree heat during Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 doesn’t unnerve him.

 

Besides, he’s a triathlete.

 

If the 200-lap marathon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway becomes a test of will, then Dixon should be in the hunt when the contenders separate themselves from the pack over the final 100 miles.

 

But there isn’t nearly as much certainty about his No. 9 Dallara-Honda, which struggled to generate enough speed during last weekend’s time trials to keep pace with the Chevrolets of the top qualifiers, including pole winner Ryan Briscoe.

 

Dixon will try to get a better feel for his Chip Ganassi Racing entry when all 33 drivers return today to the Brickyard for Carburetion Day. It’s the final practice runs and a chance for engineers to improve their race-day setup, which isn’t likely to resemble qualifying trim.

 

Dixon is confident, yet cautiously optimistic in taking on the 21/2-mile oval that humbled him a year ago.

 

“If you lose your respect for this track, it’ll bite you in the butt,” said Dixon, who won the 2008 Indy 500.

 

But Dixon isn’t relying solely on today’s practices.

 

“It was exciting to have an offseason where you were testing a lot,” Dixon said. “In season, you only get six days of testing. I think I did that probably in the first month with the new car.

 

“For me, it’s a change of times. It’s a new car, and it requires different things.”

 

For Dixon, today’s practice sessions matter.

  

Dixon will be starting 15th, but he expects to reel in the lead pack, in part, because slower cars — including the last row cars of Bryan Clauson, Simona de Silvestro and Jean Alesi — qualifed with speeds less than 215 mph, nearly 11 mph slower than Briscoe’s winning mark of 226.484.

 

“I don’t think we’re going to see the race spread out like it tends to sometimes, especially with the slower cars toward the back end of the group.” Dixon said. “I think you’re going to see a lot of passing this year.

 

“What you notice the most is in the short chutes. You turn left and wait. Then, you pick up speed, and that becomes one big turn.

 

“Hopefully, all our Ganassi cars will adjust quickly to the race. I think it’s cool going into the race knowing it won’t be anything like qualifying.”

 

Dixon is hoping the Indy 500 doesn’t resemble his disjointed efforts at Long Beach, where he completed on 27 laps, or at Brazil, where another late fuel stop saddled him with a 17th-place finish.

 

But team manager Mike Hull said Dixon’s team has put it together.

 

“The advantage that we have is the fact that we’re a cohesive group of people,” Hull said. “No matter what people on the outside want to try to stir up, internally we work well together.”