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2024 was an underwhelming year for Scott Dixon. Looking to better his second-place finish in the 2023 IndyCar series to a seventh championship, he fell harder to finish sixth in the standings - his worst points finish since 2017. However, the Chip Ganassi Racing driver isn't new to the volatility of motorsport.
Scott Dixon is a six-time IndyCar champion and the Indy 500 winner in 2008. Like four-time champion Mario Andretti, he is an icon of the sport. His last championship in 2020 went down to the wire. After a tough year-long battle against Team Penske's Josef Newgarden, Dixon took the trophy home in the last leg despite his title contender winning the race.
His 2015 title battle with Juan Pablo Montoya was even more neck-to-neck. Both racers finished the season with 556 points, but Dixon's three wins compared to Montoya's two earned him his fifth championship.
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Addressing his lackluster 2024 season ahead of 2025 and the tense nature of championship rivalries, Dixon said via IndyCar:
"I’m sure I’m not that happy person to live with through certain parts of it, but that goes with the ups and downs of everyday life. It gets tense. It’s a competitive sport and you have all these emotions."
Despite the pressure and all things considered, the New Zealand racer added:
"What means the most to me is race wins and championships. I’ve had plenty of second-place finishes, but nobody remembers those."
"Frustrating" 2024 season makes Scott Dixon strive for his seventh championship in 2025
In 2024, Scott Dixon broke a handful of records. He became only the second IndyCar driver with 400 starts, surpassed Mario Andretti's record of 142 career poles, and added two race wins to take his career tally to 58. This meant that he won a race in 20 consecutive IndyCar seasons and a total of 22 out of his 24 years.
Yet, he finished five positions and 88 points behind his championship-winning teammate Alex Palou. In an interview with Frontstretch, Dixon summarized his 2024 season, saying:
"Performance-wise [and] car speed, we were really good. Just a frustrating year with the difficulties we had with DNFs and big failures throughout. It makes the fire burn harder."
The 44-year-old also looked at the positives and gratifying comparisons with Mario Andretti in a grateful admission.
"I’m really looking forward to next year, but to go 19 or 20 years consecutively with a win is pretty special [along with] the all-time podiums [record] for IndyCar with Mario [Andretti] was pretty cool as well. It was a strong year, but we want to win."
In a way, Scott Dixon goes into 2025 with not-so-heavy expectations on his shoulders. But along with his inner voice demanding a seventh championship, he also desires a second Indy 500 win. He already holds the career record for most Indy 500 laps led with 677 in 22 career starts.
