Portrait – Scott Dixon, 25 years at the top

If Chip Ganassi Racing, for which he has played since 2002, were a band, Scott Dixon would undoubtedly be its metronome. The quiet, invariable force, always there at the right time, in the right tempo. But he would also be the lead singer, a true captain of the road, and apparently irreplaceable. Although a certain Álex Palou did not limit himself to the role of backing singer, two singers can very well coexist in a band… Dixon would also be the guitarist, capable of wild solos, or the bassist, a reference point for all the other instruments. As you will have understood, Scott Dixon is a Swiss army knife!

Yet, when a young 19-year-old New Zealander with peroxide blond hair arrives in the paddock of CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams), the highest level of car American in 2001, few people looked back at him. He worked for the modest PacWest Racing team and his sponsors were not rushing to finance his program. Moreover, his partners preferred to try the adventure in America rather than in the British F3, with Europe demanding much larger budgets. Two years of training in Indy Lights were not too much to acclimatize to ovals, the (at the time) majority playing field