Kiwi Scott Dixon has put together one of the most impressive resumes in IndyCar racing.
He’s tied with Rick Mears for 10th on the career victory list, and another three wins would push him past Dario Franchitti and Sebastien Bourdais as the active driver with the most wins. Dixon has two titles, an Indianapolis 500 win and hasn’t finished lower than third in the standings since 2006.
Yet, it’s Franchitti, with his four titles and three Indy 500 wins, who gets most of the attention.
“He’s famous. He’s got great hair, great teeth, newly single. He’s a stud,” Dixon says with a laugh.
Dixon heads into today’s race at Long Beach ranked second in the IndyCar standings after two masterful drives that didn’t go unnoticed. He drove from 20th to fifth in the season-opener at St Petersburg, then had his fourth consecutive runner-up finish at Barber two weeks ago.
That’s the attention Dixon wants.
“I prefer to do the talking on the track,” the New Zealander said. “I don’t talk [crap] about other people, or worry about what else is going on.
I’m not a gunslinger, not a showboater.”
Franchitti, teammate with Dixon since 2009, doesn’t think his fame overshadows his teammate. Instead, it’s Dixon’s personality to stay under the radar and let his results speak for him.
“He’s very, very good. Fiercely competitive,” Franchitti said.
What he’s capable of is earning a spot as one of the greatest drivers in series history. Dixon has won multiple races in all but two of his 10 IndyCar seasons, and at seven years younger than Franchitti, he’s got a ton of racing ahead of him. He signed a contract extension last summer with Chip Ganassi Racing, where he’s driven since 2002.
When asked earlier this year why the relationship with Dixon works so well, Ganassi joked “because he doesn’t call me, and I don’t call him”.
The reality, team manager Mike Hull said, was Dixon was similar to the team owner.
“His demeanour is a lot like Chip in a lot of ways. He’s very much to the point.”
