Scott Dixon, Target Chip Ganassi Racing
The cast: Race engineer – Chris Simmons. Race strategist – Mike Hull. Chief mechanic – Blair Julian.
Twitter: @scottdixon9, @CGRindycar
The car: No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
The driver: Turned 35 on July 22. … From Auckland, New Zealand, and resides in Indianapolis. … Completed 14th season with Chip Ganassi Racing Teams – the longest-tenured driver in team history.
Season finish: Placed first in Verizon IndyCar Series standings (winning championship over Juan Pablo Montoya on first tiebreaker – three victories to two). It was Dixon’s fourth series title dating to 2003 (tying Mario Andretti, Sebastien Bourdais and Dario Franchitti for second to A.J. Foyt's seven titles), and second in the past three years.
Video: Scott Dixon reviews his season
Season stats: Dixon started slowly, with finishes out of the top 10 in the first two races. He won the third race of the season (Long Beach for the first time), and added wins at Texas Motor Speedway and Sonoma Raceway in the finale. That victory, with its double points and bonus points earned, brought Dixon level with Montoya (sixth place) on points. Dixon won the title based on one more victory. … Overall, had 12 top-10 finishes. … Led 10 races for total of 306 laps (second in field), and tied for top in races running at the finish with 15 (contact at Belle Isle-2, season-low 20th-place finish).
Year over year: 2015 best qualifying of first for Indianapolis 500 Mile Race (6.1 average), best finish of first at Long Beach, Texas Motor Speedway and season finale at Sonoma Raceway (after starting ninth) (7.7 average). 2014 best qualifying first at Iowa Speedway (8.9 average), best finish of first at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Sonoma Raceway (8.3 average) in 18 races.
The gist: Dixon has competed in 254 Indy car races dating to the 2001 season (first start in Monterrey, Mexico). … Most wins of active Verizon IndyCar Series driver, and his 38 victories is fifth on the all-time list. Al Unser with 39 wins is next. … Also ranks fifth all time with 32 second-place finishes and sixth with 126 top-five finishes. … He tied Bobby Unser, Emerson Fittipaldi and Helio Castroneves for top with 11 consecutive seasons with at least one Indy car victory. Dixon also has won at least one race in 13 seasons, tying Rick Mears and Gordon Johncock. … Dixon won the 2008 Indianapolis 500. … He started the year by co-driving to overall victory in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
The chart (below): Looking at how Dixon finished relative to his qualifying position:
