For 33-year-old Indy Racing League driver Scott Dixon, winning is nothing new.
The New Zealand native joined the Target Chip Ganassi Racing team in the middle of the 2002 season and success came almost instantly – winning the IndyCar Series Championship in just his first full year. Five years later, Dixon won the sport’s biggest event – the Indianapolis 500 – en route to yet another championship. But despite all of the success during his career, it was this year that proved to be Dixon’s best.
In 2013, Dixon scored a season-best four wins and won yet his third championship, while becoming the winningest active IndyCar driver with 33 victories, which currently puts him seventh on the all-time list. It also marked his 12th season driving the No. 9 Target vehicle, the longest tenure of any driver with the Target Chip Ganassi Racing team – which dates back to 1990.
Dixon has been a busy man since claiming his third title and we recently got a chance to speak to the IndyCar driver about what it’s like to win and if there’s anything he still hopes to accomplish.
CraveOnline: Congrats on another Indy Car championship. How does the third one compare to the other two?
Scott Dixon: Well, they’re all so different. The first [championship] in the IndyCar series I was 22 or 23 throughout that year, so I didn’t really know what I had achieved – it was kind of fun and unexpected. It was kind of crazy for us to do all that in the first year. The second one in 2008 was huge. You know getting married in February, winning the [Indianapolis] 500 in May and then going on to win the championship in October, it was kind of a storybook year. This year, just for the sheer ups-and-downs, and thinking I was going to be out of it and then climbing back on top, it was fun I think. It felt really sweet just in the fact that you were always kind of just hanging on by your teeth.
Crave: What’s it like for you after you win, is there a media frenzy?
Dixon: Yea, there’s stuff you do at the track and then a banquet and the next couple of days in LA. And then it was actually nice to get home for a weekend and hang with the kids because the kids had been at the race in California, so it was great to see them. Then we took a trip to see the new orangutans that have come to the Indianapolis Zoo and now we’ve kicked off this week with a tour of New York. So yea, it’s been pretty crazy man but it’s a very, very good problem to have [laughs].
Crave: You had a season-best four wins this year. Were you just in the zone – what would you attribute to?
Dixon: You know, I think Pocono was kind of unexpected, it was just the way the strategy worked and the way the team played it. Toronto is always a race I wanted to get a poll and always wanted to win but even since I started racing there in 1999, I have never had that possibility. I’ve come close many a time but never been able to seal the deal. To get that doubleheader at Toronto was a huge turnaround for us to get the championship, which was fantastic. So, you know, I don’t know. I think at Sonoma we had a really good chance to win that race and also at Baltimore but that was really quick too. I think a lot of the credit goes to the team, they really dug deep and we developed the car throughout the season to have maximum performance.
Crave: You’re climbing up there in career wins. What would it mean to one day become No. 1 on that list?
No. 1 would be [laughs], well I’d probably have to race another 50 years to get the best of A.J. Foyt but I don’t even know how many wins he has – it’s pretty crazy. I don’t know who is up next, it might be Little Al [Unser Jr.] or it might be Michael Andretti, he’s at 42 or something. That could be achievable – could be. But it’s just so different these days, there’s guys that race many different races and you can look at the illustrious career Foyt had over, I don’t know, must have been 30 or 40 years, so in today’s market it’s quite tough to do that. To even be on the same list and get somewhat close to them means a lot and to be directly behind them is very, very special.
Crave: With all the success you’ve had this year, is there anything you did differently to prepare or get ready for the races?
Dixon: No, I think each year, not so much the problems, but the disciplines or the areas you need to improve, can somewhat be different. You know, the tires change constantly, the engine manufacturers, the engine performance and the aerodynamics – it’s a constant moving target. You could never single out one thing different but you could single out a few areas that you could improve on but there’s also areas that you could match your best and improve your season. Again, being with a team like team Target, you’ve always got a great opportunity to win the races and the championship. Even the years we didn’t win the championship, I give a lot of credit to them.
Crave: Speaking of Target, what has it meant to be a member of Target Chip Ganassi Racing?
Dixon: For me, it’s been like family. It’s great to have a career team, especially one that’s so good. For me, I’ve met many, many great friends throughout the years and have that relationship with them, so we win and lose as a team. Some guys don’t get to have that situation and it means a lot to me. So, it’s not just me, it’s all those guys that work on the team. To have Chip [Ganassi], you know, he just wants to get out there and win and that’s also very hard to find – he’s a hell of a dedicated person!
Crave: What has been the best moment of your career thus far?
Dixon: Oh, you know, I don’t know. I think 2008, to win the [Indianapolis] 500 and the championship in one year is tough to do. But I think this year, the comeback and the sheer grit that, you know, myself and the team kept digging, I think it was kind of an easy year to get sidetracked and kind of have some problems and not get the result you’re looking for. For me, this was one of those years were you got to get it all out, even with some of the issues we had along the way, we were still able to fight through it. It was just a trying year and we stuck with it.
Crave: What goes through your head during all that time spent in the vehicle, it has to wander from time to time even though you try and stay focused?
Dixon: It does. Typically that is when you’re on the caution loop. When there’s been an accident you’ll look at the rest of the track, you’ll ask how your teammates are doing, who’s good and who is where on the track. But then you also get into the scenario like, it’s been a really good day, we’re leading the race and we’ll have a great shot at winning the race – you don’t want to jinx it though. You go into some crazy moments and sometime you look into the crowd and see a little kid waving or something, so yea, you do get sidetracked but typically when you’re in that yellow period you’ve also got someone’s radio chatter – that keeps you pretty focused too.
Crave: After going that fast on the track, is it difficult to drive your everyday car?
Dixon: I wouldn’t say I really enjoy it, if I could have a driver drive me everywhere that would be really cool. I’m more of a point A to point B kind of guy. I’d like to think I drive pretty safe with my kids in the car and chill out listening to what my kid is watching on the DVD player…
Crave: It’s a lot different than the Indy 500.
Dixon: Exactly. I think it so different that, I don’t know. I personally think it’s quite easily to separate it, just because sometimes when you get out of a race, you get right into a car and you’re trying to get to the airport quickly then you might have the opportunity of getting a speeding ticket or something like that. But I tend to think I do an alright job of that.
Crave: What do you hope to accomplish next – any other career goals?
Dixon: For me, it’s about winning races – I want to win more [Indianapolis] 500s, I want to win more championships. I think once you win one, you just want it that much more, just because of the sense of accomplishment you get from it. That’s the biggest thing. I think later in my career I’d like to do other types of racing.
Crave: Is that a tough transition, to switch to other styles of racing?
Dixon: I don’t know, we do a little bit of it with sports car racing. The V8 stuff is kind of similar to the IndyCar format, except the cars are very different – that will be a difficult transition. And then with the sports cars, you know, it has its differences obviously, given the length and kind of cars. Anything you get into, yes, you might have to do it quick, but to get all you can out of it, it definitely takes a while and a lot of finesse and a lot of focus. There’s no easy transition out there.
Ed Miller is a contributor for CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @PhillyEdMiller or “like” CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.
Photo Credit: Robert Laberge
