Salinas, CA — In the end, after 25 seasons, it was a disappointing 17th place finish as Scott Dixon’s unbelievable quarter century run with Chip Ganassi Racing came to an end at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
But the unsatisfactory result does absolutely nothing to mask what has been one of the greatest runs for a driver with a team in any form of motorsports.
The gaudy statistics speak volumes: six championships (2003, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2020), 32 poles, 59 total victories including at least one in 23 seasons and the 2008 Indianapolis 500, 6,981 laps led and almost 40% (38.4% to be precise) of Chip Ganassi Racing’s open wheel victories, not to mention 21 years with consecutive race wins, a streak that came to an end at Laguna Seca.
Dixon started his final race for Chip Ganassi Racing in ninth place but couldn’t make up any ground, slipping back to 17th by the end.
“Yeah, it’s not the day we hoped for,” Dixon said. “We definitely tried a bit of a different strategy. We really had to push hard on the tires. We definitely had good speed, but, yeah, it’s just a tricky game that’s what it is.”
Asked about how his emotions were on the occasion of his final race for CGR, the usually taciturn New Zealander admitted it had affected some parts of his day.
“There were definitely many moments, I think, you know, the race meeting and then probably the pre-race interview and things like that, you know, just kind of, seeing old snippets and different memories and things like that but in the race it was pretty good.” And the Kiwi admitted to being “close a couple of times for sure” to tears as he reflected on his amazing run with CGR.
After his first winless season since 2004, Dixon was hardly sorry to see the back of 2026.
“It’s definitely a tough one, but [it ended] kind of like it started to be honest, so I’m looking forward to moving on to 2027, but yeah, I’ll enjoy a few moments of down time.
And next year, a new journey begins for the veteran wheelman as he makes the move to Arrow McLaren.
When asked how he felt about next season, Dixon was honest in his assessment: “I’m looking forward to it, you know, I think, just to feel kind of uncomfortable again, work with a lot of, a lot of different people, some familiar faces, but as I said, I’m looking forward to getting rid of this season.”
It will, however, certainly feel a little strange when the NTT IndyCar Series fires back up on the Streets of St Petersburg in March 2027, not to see Dixon in the No. 9 PNC Bank CGR ride but either way, his legacy is secure and the story isn’t over.
Danny Peters has written for Frontstretch since 2006. An English transplant living in San Francisco, by way of New York City, he’s had an award-winning marketing career with some of the biggest companies sponsoring sports. Working with racers all over the country, his freelance writing has even reached outside the world of racing to include movie screenplays.
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