A karting prodigy from Brisbane who won six IndyCar titles with Chip Ganassi Racing, the 2008 Indianapolis 500 and three 24 Hours of Daytona.
Born in Brisbane on 22 July 1980, Scott Dixon races for New Zealand. He has won six IndyCar Series championships, in 2003, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2020, plus the 2008 Indianapolis 500 for Chip Ganassi Racing. He has also won the 24 Hours of Daytona three times.
Scott Dixon is a New Zealand racing driver, born in Brisbane, who has won the IndyCar Series championship six times. He won the 2008 Indianapolis 500 for Chip Ganassi Racing and has won the 24 Hours of Daytona three times. In 2024 he passed Mario Andretti to set the record for most IndyCar podiums, and he had a run of 21 consecutive seasons with at least one race win before 2026.
How did Dixon start in racing?
Dixon began karting at seven, after watching his cousins race at Auckland's Mt. Wellington oval kart track. He was first put into a midget car with an Ironhorse engine at eight. His parents encouraged him to pursue a racing career, and his father worked long hours importing karts and cars from Japan to finance his son's efforts. In the following years he won thirty major karting championships in his age group across Australia and New Zealand.
He began car racing at thirteen with a junior licence obtained through lobbying by his parents. He won the 1994 New Zealand Formula Vee Championship at his first attempt, becoming its youngest champion. He won the 1996 New Zealand Formula Ford Class II title, and in 1998 he claimed the Australian Gold Star Drivers' Championship with five wins from twelve rounds, after a season-long duel with Todd Kelly.
A karting prodigy who spent two decades at the top of IndyCar, then moved on to a new team after a winless 2026.
How did Dixon break into the big leagues?
Dixon moved to the United States in late 1998 and entered Indy Lights, the developmental series for CART. He finished fifth in the 1999 championship with one victory, then won the 2000 Indy Lights title with 155 points and six victories. He became the series' second-youngest champion, behind Greg Moore. That title earned him a contract with PacWest Racing for the 2001 CART season.
In 2001 he won the Lehigh Valley Grand Prix at Nazareth Speedway on his third career start, becoming the youngest winner of a major open-wheel race at twenty years, nine months and fourteen days. He finished eighth in the drivers' championship with 98 points and was named Rookie of the Year. When PacWest disbanded in 2002, Chip Ganassi Racing signed him for its third car for the rest of the season.
How did the 2003 title come about?
Dixon and Chip Ganassi Racing moved from CART to the IndyCar Series for 2003. Although he was a road course specialist and hesitant about an oval-only series, he adapted quickly. He claimed his first IndyCar start at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the Toyota Indy 300, having led the last 53 laps.
He won the title in his first full season with 507 points, despite five non-finishes. The championship was settled at Texas, where he finished second to defeat several rival contenders, and he finished on top of the championship with three race wins that year.
| Season | Championship result | Race wins | Notable detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Champion | 3 | Debut season with Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 2008 | Champion | 5 | Indianapolis 500 win from pole |
| 2013 | Champion | 4 | Third series title, 577 points |
| 2015 | Champion | 3 | Title on the tiebreak with Juan Pablo Montoya on 556 points |
| 2018 | Champion | 3 | Fifth title, 678 points |
| 2020 | Champion | 4 | Sixth title, 16 points ahead of Josef Newgarden |
| 2023 | Second | 3 | Runner-up behind teammate Alex Palou |
| 2024 | Sixth | 2 | Long Beach and Detroit wins; podium record |
| 2025 | Third | 1 | Mid-Ohio win |
| 2026 | Twelfth | 0 | First winless season since 2004 |
What were the lean years of 2004 to 2006?
The 2004 season was winless, and Toyota's engine became less competitive after Toyota moved staff to its NASCAR Truck programme. Dixon finished tenth overall with 355 points. He won one race in 2005, at Watkins Glen, leading an event-high 25 laps, which was his first series win in forty races. He finished 13th that year with 321 points. At the Indianapolis 500 he qualified 13th but finished 24th after a two-car accident with Richie Hearn on lap 114.
In 2006 Chip Ganassi Racing switched to Honda engines and the Dallara chassis. Dixon won the wet Watkins Glen race, his fifth career victory, and then won at Nashville Superspeedway by 0.1176 seconds over Dan Wheldon after leading the final 67 laps. He ended the season fourth overall with 460 points.
How did Dixon win the 2008 Indianapolis 500?
His 2007 season was almost a championship, with three consecutive wins at Watkins Glen, Nashville and Mid-Ohio, and a Sonoma win that took the lead. On the final lap of the season finale in Chicago he ran out of fuel, and he finished runner-up to Dario Franchitti with 624 points.
In 2008 he returned to CGR and won the season-opening Indy 300 at Homestead from pole. He then won the Indianapolis 500, the only Indianapolis 500 win of his career, leading 115 laps from pole. The title went to a close finish at the season finale, where he finished 0.0033 seconds behind race winner Helio Castroneves, and he still took his second series title with five wins that year.
How did Dixon win his later titles?
In 2009 he was runner-up to teammate Franchitti with 605 points, and he set a series record along the way. He won at Richmond for his nineteenth victory, equalling Sam Hornish Jr.'s record, and then broke Hornish's all-time wins record at Mid-Ohio. He had a strong run through 2010 and 2011 as well, finishing third in each of those seasons.
He won his third title in 2013 with four victories, and he won both races of the Honda Indy Toronto doubleheader that year. In 2015 he won Long Beach, took pole at the Indianapolis 500 and won the title on the tiebreak with Juan Pablo Montoya, who had the same 556 points. Dixon won three races to Montoya's two.
How did Dixon's 2010 to 2012 seasons go?
Dixon finished third overall in each of 2010, 2011 and 2012. In 2011 he finished third at Kentucky, and that result allowed him to beat Dario Franchitti to the A. J. Foyt Oval Trophy, despite having no oval victory that season. He also led 62 laps to win the Indy Japan race at Motegi from pole.
In 2012 engine reliability problems affected his performance. He still won the Belle Isle Grand Prix from pole, leading every lap, and his second win of the season came at Mid-Ohio after he qualified fourth.
How did the 2018 to 2020 seasons go?
In 2018 Dixon won three races, including the Detroit race, the Texas race and the Honda Indy Toronto, and he finished second in the season-ending Grand Prix of Sonoma to clinch his fifth title with 678 points. He turned to the 2019 season with two victories, and he finished fourth overall with 578 points.
The 2020 season was shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic to fourteen events. At the opening Texas race he started second and led 157 of the 200 laps. The win matched A. J. Foyt's record of victories across eighteen seasons. He led 111 laps at the Indianapolis 500 and took his 50th career win at Gateway. He won his sixth title by 16 points over Josef Newgarden.
What did 2021 to 2025 bring?
In 2021 Dixon won at Texas, leading 206 of 212 laps, and he took pole at the Indianapolis 500 but finished 17th there. He ended the year fourth with 481 points. In 2022 he led 95 laps at Indianapolis before a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane, and he won at Toronto and Nashville.
In 2023 he won the Gallagher Grand Prix on an alternative strategy, then won the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 after Newgarden crashed. He finished second in the championship, and his streak of seasons with a race win reached nineteen. In 2024 he won Long Beach and Detroit and set the podium record with his 142nd IndyCar podium at Milwaukee. In 2025 he won the Mid-Ohio race and finished third in the standings with 452 points.
Why is 2026 a turning point?
Dixon thought about leaving Chip Ganassi Racing during a visit to New Zealand in October 2025. On 2 July 2026 CGR confirmed he would leave at the end of that season, and four days later Arrow McLaren announced he would join for 2027, alongside Felix Rosenqvist and Pato O'Ward.
In 2026 he finished twelfth with 331 points and no wins, which ended a streak of 21 consecutive seasons with a race victory and his first winless season since 2004.
How strong is Dixon's sports car record?
His Daytona record includes three overall victories. He won in 2006 with Wheldon and Casey Mears, completing 734 laps, and again in 2015 with 740 laps. He won in 2020 with Wayne Taylor Racing, completing a record 833 laps. He also won the Petit Le Mans twice, in 2020 and 2024, and he finished third overall at the 2023 Daytona race.
How has Dixon been honoured?
Dixon was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2009, upgraded to Companion in 2019 and later appointed a Knight Companion. He was named New Zealand's Sportsman of the Year in 2008 and 2013, and he was awarded the Jim Clark Trophy in 1999, 2001, 2004 and 2019.
He is a member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, which inducted him in March 2024, and the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame, added in 2025. Indianapolis declared 24 September 2018 Scott Dixon Day, and Autosport named him one of the 50 greatest drivers never to race in Formula One.
What is Dixon's driving style?
Dixon generally performs better in a race than in qualifying. His teammate Alex Palou has said that he maximises car performance consistently over a stint, a race or a season. Road and Track's Fred Smith described him as patient, a trait Dixon links to his early years, when his family could not afford to make mistakes.
Racer's Jeff Olson noted that Dixon prefers a car with some oversteer for better driveability, and the journalist Marshall Pruett has observed him making around 100 micro-corrections with the steering wheel on each lap. Since his early IndyCar years he has also been able to save more fuel than rivals while still driving quickly, by planning each stint and setting up the car before the race.
What has Dixon done off track?
Dixon is an ambassador for the youth cancer support group CanTeen and for Teen Cancer America, because he feels teenagers with cancer are overlooked as a group. He is also an ambassador for the Richard Mille watch brand and supports the Women in Motorsport initiative at Chip Ganassi Racing, arguing that women in an IndyCar team could improve performance. He and his wife were honorary co-chairs of IndyHumane's Mutt Strut fundraiser at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in April 2019.
