Six years on from his sixth IndyCar crown, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon is hoping to take a seventh title in 2026. The hunger and desire to make more history is clear.
This campaign will be his 24th in the IndyCar series, 26 if you include his two seasons in Champ Car in 2001 and 2002.
The 45-year-old New Zealander had a good if not stunning campaign in 2025. He kept his yearly win streak going, capitalising on a mistake by teammate Alex Palou to win at Mid-Ohio. It’s now 21 straight seasons with at least one victory.
Nonetheless, he was a distant P3 in the championship to his all-conquering Spanish teammate last year.
A lot of analysis done over the long break between 2025 and 2026 IndyCar seasons says Scott Dixon
Speaking to Pit Debrief and other media outlets during IndyCar media content days, the 58-time victor explained a thorough analysis happened during the off-season to understand where he and the team could do better this year on his car.
The Chip Ganassi driver also discussed how the team plans to keep their domination going following an extraordinary 2025 with the #10 car. Palou also won his first Indy 500 to cap a truly astonishing season.
Kyffin Simpson also bagged his first podium last year. The Caymanian driver made a good step compared to 2024, finishing the season well with a P4 in Nashville as well.
In this decade so far, CGR have won five of the six championships to take place.
“Real excited [for 2026].
“I think last year was just a bit of a downer year for us. Lots of little mistakes here and there. We had lots of things out of our control as well. I’m looking forward to it.
“We had a big deep dive in the off-season, and then there was lots of positives and things that we kind of already knew, and then definitely some bits I could have executed a little bit better on.
“Yeah, it was a big year for the team. Obviously with Alex’s stellar season and his first oval race being the biggest race in the world was pretty sweet as well.
“We’ve got to keep the momentum going, and hopefully we can get together a little bit better on our side.
“Kyffin obviously a big year start to finish was huge for him, so really happy for obviously Kyffin himself but the whole 8 car side as well.
“I think this year should be big for all three of us.”
Qualifying a key area of improvement this year
While Scott Dixon says no major changes are coming to try and get on terms with Alex Palou, qualifying is the key area to improve if he wants to go for the championship once again.
On 11 possible opportunities to make the fast six in 2025 on road and street courses, the legendary New Zealander could only manage to make it on two occasions. His average starting spot across the 17 rounds was 12.6. Meanwhile Alex Palou was 3.35 in comparison. A whopping difference of nine spots.
His fuel management and race pace continues to be superb, but Dixon is having to make too many comeback drives on Sundays.
Interestingly, Scott Dixon mentioned the engineering side of things and the team needing to help him by giving him a car that better suits his driving style as well.
“No, I think honestly, for us, it was all in the details. Just execution.
“Qualifying I think was […] Elkhart [Road America], I think I got myself into grief there; Laguna, Barber; Toronto hit the wall; Long Beach hit the wall [in practice].
“There was a lot of things where we gave up a lot of big starting positions on weekends that were looking extremely good. I think just execution and looking at the details a little bit better.
“I think there’s a few things engineering side that we can definitely do better on as well, for driving style differences and things like that.
“No, the team is strong. The pit crew stays exactly the same as last year. A couple small changes on the stand.
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it.”
Winning is all that matters for Scott Dixon in IndyCar
When asked about the fact he is competing and regularly beating drivers who are in their 20s at the age of 45, Scott Dixon outlined how taking victories and championships is the only goal that matters.
Nonetheless, the longevity and relentless brilliance of the 58-time race winner and six-time champion is astonishing. He has not finished outside the top 10 of the championship since 2005. In fact, his lowest position was 6th in 2016 and 2024.
“Yeah, but third for me still sucks. You want to be winning, so that’s all that really matters.
“Yeah, I don’t know. The group has definitely gotten […] Will and I are 45 [Power turns 45 on March 1st]. I kind of don’t know what the next […] maybe Graham [Rahal, who is 37] is like the next.
“It’s an interesting time because I remember clearly when I first came into the sport, and it doesn’t seem that long ago.
“No, it’s awesome to […] again, we’re very lucky to do what we do. I feel great to be in this position.
“But ultimately you just want to win. Not many people remember who came third last year. They only remember the champion.”
Scott Dixon and the rest of the IndyCar grid will start their 2026 season at St. Pete on March 1st.
