Two Indy 500 drivers, Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti, were robbed at gunpoint at about 9:40 p.m. while sitting in line at an Indianapolis Taco Bell restaurant drive-thru that is only a half mile from the race track, police reported.
Only a few hours after Dixon won the pole position for the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500, the two drivers accompanied by Dixon’s wife, Emma Davies-Dixon, were confronted by two teenagers, one of whom was armed with a gun, Indy’s Fox 59 reported.
A police report of the incident noted, “The victims stated two males robbed them at gunpoint and fled north on Berwick (Avenue) on foot.”
The thieves took the drivers’ wallets, IDs, credit cards, and cash, police reported.
Police later arrested a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old and charged them with the crime. The older suspect was also charged with resisting arrest.
Earlier in the day, Dixon, who drives for Honda Motors, was awarded the pole position with the fastest speeds in 21 years. The New Zealand-born driver finished with a four-lap average of 232.164 mph, easily surpassing front-row starters, Ed Carpenter at 231.664 and defending Indy 500 champ Alexander Rossi at 231.487, ESPN reported.
Dixon last won the 500 in 2008 and Franchitti, a three-time Indy winner, retired from racing in 2013 after breaking his back in a serious crash.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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