LOS ANGELES – Dressed in black tie, Verizon IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon and 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi detoured to California favorite In-N-Out Burger late Wednesday night following the 24th annual ESPY Awards.
Having both been nominated in the ESPYs Best Driver category, Rossi and Dixon spent two days party- and red carpet-hopping around Los Angeles prior to the awards show. They apparently decided that In-N-Out was the best way to cap the experience before packing their bags and flying to Canada for this weekend’s Honda Indy Toronto.
In the end, NASCAR champion Kyle Busch won the Best Driver ESPY and, ever the good sportsmen, Dixon and Rossi congratulated him. Rossi did so publically on USA Today’s Snapchat account.
“It is truly an honor to be on the short list and be nominated for an ESPY and come here and be a part of it all,” said Dixon, who has been nominated five times (also in 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2014).
Before the ESPYs aired Wednesday, both drivers and Dixon’s wife, Emma, spent time on its crowded red carpet, answering questions from entertainment, news and sports media about everything from the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil in May to their lifestyles and fashion choices for the awards ceremony.
Once inside the Microsoft Theater, they were surrounded by the who’s who of the sporting world, including LeBron James, who, along with the Cleveland Cavaliers, won seven of the eight awards for which he was nominated, and recently retired Kobe Bryant and Peyton Manning.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rogers and girlfriend Olivia Munn were there, too. So was newly signed Chicago Bulls guard Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union. Outside, security was tight because Vice President Joe Biden was there to present the Jimmy V Perseverance Award to TNT sideline reporter Craig Sager for his battle with leukemia.
“It’s very cool to be here on the red carpet prior to the show and be with so many people I’ve looked up to for so long in my own personal life,” said Rossi. “To share this evening with them is very special.”
With that, the drivers headed to the airport for the flights to Toronto. But not before a quick pit stop – something to which they are most accustomed – at In-N-Out. Practice for the Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto on the streets of Exhibition Place begins Friday.