Scott Dixon
Sir Scott Ronald Glyndwr Dixon is a New Zealand racing driver who races the 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara DW12-Honda car in the IndyCar Series. He has won the IndyCar Series championship six times, in 2003, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2020, and he won the 2008 Indianapolis 500 with CGR. Dixon is a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona, with CGR in 2006 and 2015 and in 2020 with Wayne Taylor Racing. He has also won the Petit Le Mans twice.
Dixon began karting at age seven and won thirty major karting titles in his age group across Australia and New Zealand. At the age of thirteen, he progressed to car racing, winning the 1994 New Zealand Formula Vee Championship, the 1996 New Zealand Formula Ford Class II Championship, the 1998 Australian Drivers' Championship and the 2000 Indy Lights. He debuted in Championship Auto Racing Teams in 2001 with the PacWest Racing team and won his first major open-wheel race in his third series start before joining CGR in 2002 when PacWest folded due to financial difficulties. Dixon and CGR moved to the IndyCar Series in 2003, winning the title in his debut season with three victories. Following a winless 2004 season, he won one race in the 2005, finished fourth in the 2006 with two victories, and finished second to Dario Franchitti in 2007 with four wins. Dixon won his second IndyCar championship in 2008, with five victories.
Dixon finished second to teammate Franchitti in the 2009 season, breaking Sam Hornish Jr.'s all-time series wins record, and third in each season from 2010 to 2012. He won his third series championship with four victories in 2013, and finished third overall with two victories the following season. In 2015, he won his fourth IndyCar championship, tying Juan Pablo Montoya on points but being declared series champion due to a count-back on the number of victories taken by both drivers. During the 2016 and 2017 season, Dixon's form lowered but he took three wins to finish sixth and third overall, respectively. His three victories during the 2018 season earned him his fifth series championship, and he went on to win his sixth title two years later with four victories. After finishing fourth overall with one victory in 2021, Dixon improved on his performance with two wins for third in the points standings in 2022, finished runner-up in 2023 with three victories but he dropped to sixth overall with two wins in 2024. He was third overall in 2025 with a solitary win.
Overall, Dixon has won 59 races in American open-wheel car racing and finished on the podium 143 times. Since 2004, he has also competed in endurance racing in the American Le Mans Series, the Rolex Sports Car Series, the IMSA SportsCar Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans as well the International Race of Champions and V8 Supercars. He was named New Zealand's Sportsman of the Year in both 2008 and 2013. Dixon was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2009, a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit a decade later and promoted to Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2025. He is an inductee of both the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America and the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame.
Early and personal life
Dixon was born in Brisbane, Australia on 22 July 1980, the youngest child and only son of middle-class New Zealand expatriates Ron and Glenys Dixon. He has two older sisters. Although he was born in Australia, Dixon holds New Zealand citizenship. Dixon's parents raced various types of cars on various circuits, and owned a dirt speedway in Townsville, North Queensland. The family had moved to Australia in 1976 in search of better opportunities, settling in Townsville before returning to Auckland, New Zealand, a decade later after a major accident involving his father. Dixon attended Manurewa Central Primary, Green Meadows Intermediate and James Cook High School. He married former British and Welsh 800 metres champion and television presenter Emma Davies in February 2008 They have three children.Early racing career
Aged seven, Dixon began racing go-karts after watching his cousins race at Auckland's Mt. Wellington oval kart track and tried karting following the conclusion of a raceday. He was encouraged by his parents to pursue a racing career, and was first put into a midget car with an Ironhorse engine at age eight. Dixon was influenced by the success of New Zealand drivers Chris Amon, Denny Hulme and Bruce McLaren. Over the next six years, Dixon parents purchased additional equipment depending on circumstances and Dixon's increase in achievements. His father worked long hours importing Omega karts and cars from Japan, to finance his son's endeavours and borrowed so much money he did not inform his wife about all of it. During the following five years, Dixon won thirty major Australian and New Zealand-based karting championships in his age group, including the 1992 New Zealand Junior Restricted Championship.Aged thirteen, he began car racing, earning dispensation from Motorsport NZ to obtain a junior competition licence to enter club and national level events in categories up to Formula Ford after lobbying by his parents. Dixon took the 1994 New Zealand Formula Vee Championship at his first attempt to become its youngest champion; He was second in the 1994 New Zealand Formula Class II Championship, and drove the 1994 NZRDC Formula Ford Winter Series. Dixon rolled a Nissan Sentra saloon car onto its roof during a race at Pukekohe Park Raceway, capturing national attention when footage showed him struggling from the upturned car with a cushion strapped to his back to reach the pedals. For the 1995–1996 season, he drove a 1600cc light, low-downforce pushrod open-wheel car in the higher-tier New Zealand Formula Ford Class II Championship, winning the category title with thirteen victories in fourteen events. Dixon's family moved him to the primary Formula Ford class in a 1992 Swift car, securing the 1996–1997 title with eight wins from fifteen starts.
With no help from Motorsport NZ, Dixon's family approached open-wheel racer Ken Smith, who became Dixon's manager and mentor in their plan to send him to the Australian Drivers' Championship's Formula Holden class. Dixon got race-by-race funding from sponsors and individuals as his family and a small group of local sponsors lost funding. He finished the fourteen-race series third in the under-powered 1991 Ralt Australia Reynard 91D–Holden car, and was named Rookie of the Year. Dixon initially found it difficult to communicate with team owner Graham Watson because he was not a family member; his school recommended he stop schooling due to his good academic performance and focus on racing.
To fund his 1998 campaign, investors formed the Scott Dixon Motor Sport company to raise enough money to support Dixon's career until a top-team signed him, and allowed him to be paid a salary. He was not allowed to access the Australian Institute of Sport for fitness and media training since he was not an Australian citizen. Driving the 1992 SH Racing Reynard 92D–Holden car in the twelve-round series, Dixon achieved five wins, five second-places and seven pole positions to claim the Australian Gold Star Drivers' Championship, after a season-long duel with future V8 Supercars racer Todd Kelly. He also finished second in the New Zealand Grand Prix.
In late 1998, Dixon moved to the United States and entered the Championship Auto Racing Teams' developmental series Indy Lights, hoping to reach Formula One because SDMS could not afford the more expensive European series such as British Formula 3 with Alan Docking Racing. SDMS approached Tasman Motorsports owner Steve Horne but was unable to secure enough sponsorship for Dixon to drive for the team, so Dixon was tested by Johansson Motorsports owner Stefan Johansson at Sebring International Raceway in Florida. Dixon raced for the team in the 1999 season after legal negotiations with SDMS and additional sponsorship funding. He underwent intensive training in a weighted helmet to strengthen his neck muscles to combat g-forces. Dixon finished fifth in the drivers' championship in a Lola T97/20-Buick car, with one victory and four top-five finishes, and was second to Jonny Kane in the Rookie of the Year standings. In October 1999, he tested a Formula 3000 car for the Gauloises Junior Team in France, and two months later, finished second in the New Zealand Grand Prix.
After Smith left Dixon's management team post-season, Johansson became Dixon's manager, deciding if Dixon could not progress to CART in the 2001 season, Dixon would join another team. After seeing Dixon compete in Australia, media manager Brett Murray encouraged PacWest Racing's Indy Lights development squad to employ him for the 2000 championship. Dixon accepted following SDMS' decision not to engage in direct contract talks that were done through driver Tony Renna, finalising a five-year contract with 15 days minimum testing with its CART team in April 2000. He won the title with 155 points, six victories and eight top-four finishes, becoming the series' second-youngest title winner behind Greg Moore.
CART (2001–2002)
Dixon was promoted to CART by PacWest owner Bruce McCaw in 2001, replacing the retired Mark Blundell in PWR's No. 18 Reynard 01I–Toyota car. His team encouraged him to gain weight before the season began, and he trained with teammate Maurício Gugelmin; he was concerned about acclimating to the longer CART races and developing race strategies. Dixon won the Lehigh Valley Grand Prix at Nazareth Speedway on his third career start, driving 116 laps without stopping for fuel, becoming the youngest winner of a major open-wheel race at the age of twenty years, nine months, and fourteen days. He added another top-three finish at Milwaukee Mile and three fourth-place finishes at Chicago Motor Speedway, Road America and Laguna Seca, finishing eighth in the drivers' championship with 98 points and winning the Rookie of the Year award.Dixon returned to the renamed PWR Championship Racing in the 2002 season, with the team switching manufacturers from Reynard to a Lola B02/00-Toyota. Dixon purposefully did not sign a long-term contract with the team so that he could switch to F1 if he impressed teams during testing. Following his two top-ten finishes at Monterrey and Motegi in the first three races, financial trouble forced PWR to disband. This prompted Chip Ganassi Racing to sign Dixon to drive its third car for the rest of the season after discussions with his family, team owner Chip Ganassi, and engine manufacturer Toyota during preparations for the Indianapolis 500. Dixon became compatible with his teammates Bruno Junqueira and Kenny Bräck and had to learn about CGR's expectations. The rest of the season saw him achieve nine top-ten finishes including a season-best second at the Grand Prix of Denver late in the year. Dixon finished thirteenth in the final drivers' championship standings with 97 points.