Scott Dixon zoomed around Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday at 232.164 mph to earn the pole for this week's race, but he couldn't get away from two teenagers who robbed him at gunpoint while on a late-night food run at Taco Bell.
No word on what Dixon and three-time 500 winner Dario Franchitti ordered while in the drive-thru lane, or what was taken from them by two boys, 15 and 14, who were arrested a short time later.
The robbery occurred shortly before 10 p.m. Eastern less than a mile from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Tony Kanaan, Dixon's teammate with Chip Ganassi Racing, told reporters that Dixon was making a food run for a group of drivers, including himself. Franchitti, who retired in 2013, also works for the team.
"While they were ordering with their windows down, two guys approached at gunpoint," Kanaan said. "They held a gun at Dixon's head and asked him for his wallet and his phone. You don't expect that to happen, especially here."
Nobody in the car was hurt. By the time practice resumed at the track Monday, the incident had become a little bit of a joking matter around the 2.5-mile oval.
Team owner Ganassi wrote on Twitter: "There goes that Taco Bell sponsorship we were working on I guess."
Kanaan said he was supposed to be with them.
"I'm from Brazil, so I'm a little bit more accustomed to this stuff," he said.
Dixon, who is from New Zealand, is the 2008 Indy 500 winner. He is one of five drivers to win the Indy pole three times.
Taco Bell Corp. spokesman Rob Poetsch did not comment on Ganassi's sponsorship joke, but he expressed concern in an email.
"We're all very relieved to hear that everyone is safe and that the suspects were caught," Poetsch said.
Slim pickings
The San Diego Padres have pretty much lived down to expectations this season, compiling Major League Baseball's worst team batting average of .216 as well as the worst record (16-30) among MLB's 30 teams entering play Monday.
So, Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Shaiken visited the Padres team store at Petco Park to see which Padres players were getting top billing.
"Among the jerseys and T-shirts, you could buy a Tony Gwynn or a Trevor Hoffman, a Dave Winfield or a Goose Gossage, a Randy Jones or a Steve Garvey or a Garry Templeton or ...
"What the heck? A Kurt Bevacqua?
"That Kurt Bevacqua, the career .236 hitter best known in Los Angeles as the guy Tommy Lasorda once said 'couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat?' "
Bevacqua, it turns out, is a San Diego cult hero for hitting a home run in the only World Series game the Padres ever have won, in 1984.
"Good for him, then," Shaiken wrote. "But, seriously, where are the jerseys promoting the current players? The Wil Myers jerseys have been in stock all season. The Manuel Margot jerseys just showed up, and there aren't very many of them.
"That was it for the current squad. Really, who could blame the marketing folks? Other than Myers, an All-Star last season and signed for the next six seasons, this year's entire cast is subject to audition. Order a few hundred jerseys with anyone else's name, and you could be stuck with the bill if the guy is demoted, traded or released."
SPORTS QUIZ
The San Diego Padres have played in two World Series since their inception in 1969 -- 1984 and 1998. Which teams did the Padres play?
ANSWER
They lost 4-1 to Detroit in 1984 and were swept by the New York Yankees in 1998.
Sports on 05/23/2017