IndyCar
PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon Ready For Start Of 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Season
PITTSBURGH, PA (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Five-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES Champion Scott Dixon, driver of the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, is ready for the green flag to drop on the 2020 season at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 15th.
“Yeah looking forward to it,” Dixon told The Pittsburgh Racing Now Podcast. “It’s been a long off-season. I think one of the biggest changes this off-season is there hasn’t been too much testing. Actually I’ve been one of the lucky ones that’s had to at least test the aeroscreen early on. I think Felix (Rosenqvist) has had just one day so far before the season kicks off March 15. We get one day this week at Sebring before we fire off, so I’m pumped man! Everybody is excited to get going again.”
Dixon did get to do some testing, helping the NTT INDYCAR SERIES test and develop the new-for-2020 Aeroscreen safety device, which is the next evolution in driver protection. Pittsburgh-headquartered PPG makes the Opticor, which is like a windshield, for the Aeroscreen.
“There’s definitely been some evolution,” said Dixon. “I think once they got to this final version with the help of PPG and Red Bull Technologies. You know Red Bull has tried to implement this in Formula 1. Formula 1 and the FIA decided to go with just the halo, which is kind of the frame piece, and now having both you know IndyCar’s probably a little special too with the oval racing and with the way the debris field can be and a lot of the smaller pieces and so I think this covers both bases.”
AUSTIN, TEXAS – FEBRUARY 11: Scott Dixon, driver of the #9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, prepares to drive at Circuit of The Americas on February 11, 2020 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Dixon welcomes the safety advancement and said there was one thing he noticed right away.
“Honestly it has been very smooth,” said Dixon, who has 45-career race wins, behind only A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti. “I think the only kind of hiccup throughout the off-season, which was kind of expected, was just the lack of airflow. The cars a lot more closed. The driver then became a lot hotter just because there was nothing to cool you, so I think through the series of testing we were able to participate in a little bit, plus other things, they’ve come up with some good ducting and some areas for improvement on that. We had the first test at COTA a couple of weeks ago and everything seemed to go pretty smoothly.”
Dixon was back in a race car in January at the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona but for this first time with a team other than Chip Ganassi’s team, who’s Sports Car program is on hiatus since the Ford GT program came to an end after the 2019 season.
“This is the first time in a while that I’ve kind of stepped out of the situation of running for Chip,” said Dixon. “Chip over the last four years we had the Ford GT program at (Rolex 24 at) Daytona and other races throughout the season but this year I joined Wayne Taylor’s team at Daytona 24-Hours, which worked out fantastically winning my fourth Daytona which was a little bit unexpected going into that race but the car was fantastic.”
When Dixon hasn’t been racing or testing this off-season, he’s been busy at home changing diapers. Dixon, his wife Emma and daughters Poppy and Tilly welcomed son Kit on December 27th.
“He’s been amazing,” said Dixon, whose nickname is the “Iceman”. “He’s very chilled and very relaxed and already sleeping very well through the night. I think it definitely has been a bit of a reset for us. I think when you look at Tilly’s age (8) and Poppy’s ten so there’s been a little bit of a lull with Kit arriving. You know for us we probably wanted more kids earlier on but with how things worked out we never really did but excited to have a healthy baby in the house.”
Dixon and his wife Emma, a competitive runner in her own right, resisted the urge to find out whether they were going to have a boy or a girl.
“We were shocked. We didn’t know what the sex was going to be and to see it was a boy. I’m not really sure what to do with a boy, I’ve had two girls so I’m excited,” Dixon joked.
P O P P Y .. T I L L Y .. K I T ❤️
Love at first sight. #siblings pic.twitter.com/JsBR5rsYae— Scott Dixon (@scottdixon9) December 30, 2019
The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg kicks off the NTT INDYCAR SERIES for the 10th consecutive year and has blossomed into one of the Series marquee events.
“I think that’s what really important these days is making sure that there’s something for everybody in the family, not just the hardcore motor racing enthusiast that wants to go check out the cars and things like that, there’s other things throughout the day that can keep you amused and keep you interested,” said Dixon. “St. Pete, I think do a fantastic job of that and it’s more because of the City really embraces the race as well and they get involved and they promote it and they make it fun for everybody. They’re very lucky to have that support of everybody in that community and it really shows once you get there.”
There is one thing that Dixon would like to change about the race at St. Petersburg.
“Win,” exclaimed Dixon. “I think we’ve finished second four or five times before but have never been able to get that victory. Be a great way to kick off the Championship for us is to try and go for a win there, one spot better than we ended up there last year.”
The best thing about a new season is the challenge to presented to teams and drivers but Dixon’s approach has stayed the same as he embarks on his 19th season with CGR.
“We set two goals every year,” said Dixon. “First to win the Indianapolis 500, which comes up in May, and then go to on and try and capture our sixth Championship which we’ll be putting our head down hard and hopefully drive that PNC Bank No. 9 into victory lane.”
Click the link to hear the complete interview with Scott Dixon on The Pittsburgh Racing Now Podcast.
Check out the new PNC Bank digital ad featuring Dixon and the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Team by clicking the Tweet below:
You don’t see them on the podium when Scott Dixon takes the checkered flag, but there’s a whole team behind the No. 9 PNC Car.
— PNC Bank (@PNCBank) February 26, 2020
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (July 2, 2026) – Six-time Series Champion Scott Dixon is leaving Chip Ganassi Racing following the conclusion of the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series Season the team announced in a statement Thursday before the series races at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Complex this weekend.
MADISON, IL (Sunday, June 7, 2026) – The king of World Wide Technology Raceway has returned to his throne.
Josef Newgarden won for the sixth time in 11 starts at the 1.25-mile oval just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, enduring two rain delays during the race Sunday night to win a feverish, fascinating Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline. The victory was Newgarden’s second this season, as he also won in March at the 1-mile Phoenix Raceway oval.
SEE: Race Results
The two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion has captured 15 of his 34 career victories on ovals shorter than 1.5 miles. This win came as he was still recovering from a lower leg injury suffered two weeks ago in the 110th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
“Great job to the group,” Newgarden said. “Just a methodical night. We had a good car to start. It wasn’t perfect, but it really came to us just when we needed it. It was a track position day.”
Newgarden, who started eighth, drove his No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet to victory by .6613 of a second over the No. 28 Delaware Life Honda of fellow Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson, who still managed a season-best finish. Christian Rasmussen finished a season-best third in the No. 21 Splenda Chevrolet of ECR.
Rinus VeeKay continued the trend of season-best finishes by ending up fourth in the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, with Scott McLaughlin rounding out the top five in the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet that featured a throwback livery honoring the 2009 Indianapolis 500-winning car driven by Helio Castroneves.
Newgarden took the lead for good on Lap 221 after a spirited duel with Rasmussen that began almost immediately after a restart on Lap 212. Rasmussen dove under Newgarden in Turn 1 for the lead on Lap 215, but Newgarden drove past Rasmussen in Turn 3 for the top spot on Lap 219.
One lap later, Rasmussen again drove under Newgarden for the lead in Turn 1, one of his race-high 38 on-track passes. But Newgarden countered again in Turn 3 one lap later for a lead he would not surrender. It was the most decisive of an event-record 268 passes for position in this frantic race.
Ericsson sped under Rasmussen for second in Turn 3 on Lap 225 and set his sights on Newgarden. But one lap later, a plume of smoke trailed from the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet fielded by A.J. Foyt Enterprises for Caio Collet, who was enjoying the best race of his rookie season by leading seven laps and running consistently in the top five in the second half of the race.
That triggered the last of four caution periods, with another wrinkle to concern Newgarden and the lead pack. A host of trailing cars entered the pits for fresh Firestone Firehawk tires, while the top eight cars stayed out.
McLaughlin made a spirited charge toward the front on the restart on Lap 234, climbing from ninth to fifth in just four laps. But the Kiwi and the other cars that pitted for tires didn’t have enough traction from the fresher rubber or speed to challenge the top four down the stretch.
Meanwhile, Newgarden maintained a gap of around one-half of a second over Ericsson over the closing 10 laps and never was threatened.
“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Marcus,” Newgarden said. “I thought he was incredibly strong. I don’t really think there was much between us, so it was a matter of who was going to get position on each other, and that was going to seal the deal. He drove a great race.”
Said Ericsson, seeking his first win since March 2023 at St. Petersburg: “I’m very proud of our performance, but at the same time it’s tough to lead that many laps … I thought we had it at some points, but Josef is the best in the business on these short ovals.”
Two red-flag periods totaling 50 minutes kept strategists’ heads spinning on the pit wall as various permutations and fuel options were considered.
Chip Ganassi Racing rolled the dice earlier in the race by calling NTT P1 Award winner Alex Palou and his teammate Scott Dixon to the pits to top off fuel as soon as the pits opened after the first red flag period, which lasted 38 minutes. The hope was to get enough caution to need one fewer fuel stop than rivals or be out front when a race-ending rain shower arrived.
But neither happened, and Palou paid the price dearly.
The four-time series champion entered the pits on Lap 203, two laps after Dixon had to enter a closed pit for emergency service as his No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda was running out of fuel. Palou’s No. 10 HRC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda sputtered when it entered the pit lane and ran out of fuel, and he was forced to coast to his pit box for a stop made even longer when his engine wouldn’t refire.
Palou’s car restarted, and he returned to the track to finish 17th. The two short oval races this season have been Palou’s Achilles’ heel. He finished 24th after contact in March at Phoenix, and that result and tonight’s disappointing showing are his only finishes outside of the top seven all season.
Reigning series champion Palou’s lead in the standings was trimmed to 49 points over Kyle Kirkwood, who finished sixth in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda of Andretti Global.
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America on Sunday, June 21 at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
MADISON, IL (June 6, 2026) – Alex Palou and the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing team are continuing to lay down fast laps when it counts with Palou earning the pole position for Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway. The pole position is Palou’s fourth straight NTT P1 Pole award.
“It was incredible and so much fun, especially that first lap,” said Palou, who turned a two-lap average speed of 174.353 mph in the No. 10 HRC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. “The #10 Honda Honda had so much speed. The team I have around me is incredible. My car was on rails today; it was incredible.”
David Malukas starts second in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet after a two-lap average of 173.244 mph. Malukas could only look on in disbelief as Palou knocked him off the pole.
Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood starts third in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda following a two-lap average of 173.206 mph.
“ It was a good run for us,” said Kirkwood, the 2025 WWWT Raceway winner. “P3 is a really good starting spot and we can definitely do some great things from there. Last year we won from 10th, so it’s nice to be able to be at the front.”
2026 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Felix Rosenqvist starts fourth in the No. 60 SiriusXM Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Honda.
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin will start 5th in the No. 3 Dex Imaging Chevrolet.
Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon starts 7th in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda and CGR’s Kyffin Simpson will start 14th in the No. 8 Sunoco Honda.
Television coverage of Sunday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 begins at 8 PM CT / 9 PM ET on Fox. Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on the INDYCAR Radio Network, and SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation (Channel 160).
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