Won or lost? The story of Dixon’s Mid-Ohio win as IndyCar records loom

Credit: Dominic Loyer

Scott Dixon is not one to get fixated on records. At least not while his career goes on.

There will be time for that in retirement. 

“I just want to win,” is the mindset of the six-time IndyCar champion. “I don’t really look back. I just look forward to the next race, starting a new season. The fire still burns very strong and all I’m focused on is winning. 

“Once you leave the sport, hopefully you’re happy with what you’ve achieved along the way. But I just care about [the current] weekend.”

But as he won at Mid-Ohio on Sunday, extending to a run of victories in 21 successive seasons and clocking a 59th career win, from the outside you could not help but marvel at the spectacle of the great Kiwi’s continued longevity. 

This is not just longevity in the basic sense, either. This is over two decades at the very top, putting Dixon within a very rare bracket in a wider sporting context.

Dixon again echoed his take on shelving thoughts of records after his Mid-Ohio success saw him close within eight victories of AJ Foyt’s all-time record of 67. But he did admit the position in which he still finds himself at 44 years of age is something of a dream come true.

“I had big dreams to be racing, but to be in this scenario, to be with this team, to get to work with the people I get to work with on a daily basis is unbelievable,” Dixon confessed. “I pinch myself every day. It’s very, very sweet.”

The beaming grin and infectious energy of Dixon’s son Kit made win No.59 all the more special. The youngest of his three children, Kit had never before witnessed his father win a race in-person - Dixon’s last victory being in Detroit at the start of June 2024.

Only the morning of the race did Emma, Dixon’s wife, decide to drive from Indianapolis with Kit and daughter Tilly to be in attendance at Mid-Ohio after arriving from England back into the United States at midnight. But a fantastic decision, it proved to be.

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“Thankful that they made the drive over,” Dixon exclaimed. “The only one that missed out was [daughter] Poppy; it was her birthday [on Saturday], 16th. So hopefully that’s a pretty good present for her, even though I’m not sure she’s not too worried about that. 

“But that’s what it’s all about, these memories. You see the photos obviously with Álex [Palou] and his family that he’s been able to celebrate this year. For us, it’s definitely very special.”

The 2025 season has not been one to remember for Dixon. A driver who finished outside the top five in the standings for only the second time in 19 years last season, he has been holding base back inside the top five this season. But unremarkably so. 

His season started with a what-could-have been second-place finish to teammate Palou - a victory snatched from Dixon amid radio troubles. The Indianapolis 500 was the only obvious low point as a brake issue forced him multiple laps down early on, but nine rounds into the season heading to Mid-Ohio, he had only three times results better than eighth.

Qualifying has tended to be that same brand of ‘unremarkable’ too, with Mid-Ohio only Dixon’s third top-10 start of the season. 

“This year has been super frustrating for all of us on the No.9 car,” Dixon conceded. “Any time we could have something roll our way, it just hasn’t. We’ve had a load of mechanicals. It’s been extremely frustrating. Indy I think was one of the best 500 cars I’ve had and it was over before it even started.

“[Winning for the first time in 13 months] is big for team morale and for everybody involved. We know we can win; just hopefully we can get on a roll here.”

Seeing teammate Palou streak away this year - only twice finishing worse than second and already the first driver since Will Power in 2011 to win six times in a season - is unquestionably a cause for irritation. 

Dixon may only have been sitting three or four positions behind the Spaniard in points for the most part, but even after beating Palou at Mid-Ohio, he still trails by 148 points. But working closely with Palou, there is a sense of appreciation amid any frustration.

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“I spend a lot more time with these people than my family. They are family,” Dixon acknowledged. “So to see everybody happy [at the team] is fantastic. 

“It’s not always going to be your day. It’s not always going to be your year. I’ve seen plenty of those where it just doesn’t work out. We’ve been frustrated. It’s been tough. But ultimately to see the team as a whole to have the season that it has is huge. Happy for everybody. 

“We’ve just got to do a better job, we’ve got to work harder and hopefully we can keep working on that door and it opens like it did [at Mid-Ohio]. All you can say about what Álex and the No.10 car group have done is just tremendous.”

Dixon may lack the raw speed of some of the competition at times at this stage of his career - his qualifying results outlining that. But as much as he has been extremely consistent, he has not been a renowned qualifier as much as a formidable racer throughout his career.

He has 28 poles to his name in 412 starts but his last on a road or street course came at Watkins Glen all the way back in 2016. What he has always had, though, is nous in abundance - no matter where he may stand by way of pure pace.

The current reality is every driver in the field has got to be inventive to beat Palou amid this record-toppling campaign. And there is no driver more inventive than Dixon.

As soon as it became apparent that Palou was on a three-stop strategy at Mid-Ohio, there was not a doubt in the minds of Dixon and his No.9 Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) team that a two-stop strategy was the play for them. Such is the challenge of beating him in a straight fight, drivers and teams are having to go against the grain.

“A lot of the best IndyCar races are when you can have a flat-out three-stopper and a two-stopper that converge at the end,” Dixon said. “And that always creates a lot of suspense and a lot of craziness.”

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And indeed, what Mid-Ohio became was what Dixon relishes. He thrives in that craziness.

It was classic Dixon. Starting ninth, he was content to lurk at the back end of the top 10. But there is often a ‘trust the process’ aspect to his wins. He was primed to pounce.

On the face of things, it looked like Palou was in control of the race from Christian Lundgaard. But while the pair were not projected to converge until the final stint - just like the previous race at Road America - it was the Dixon factor that put Palou under threat.

For a second race in succession, Dixon was prepared to roll the dice to challenge Palou. 

Palou’s championship advantage at this abnormally early stage is leading to an unusual amount of willingness to take risks. The field has been sent into a gung-ho, nothing-to-lose mentality, with wins all that really matter given the distant prospect of a title in 2025.

The two-stop plan was a gamble of sorts, requiring cautions to make the fuel mileage work. There was tangible relief when Josef Newgarden crashed on the opening lap and the yellow was brandished, as was the case even more so when a further caution came out on Lap 31 as Christian Rasmussen pulled over out of fuel.

“That [Rasmussen] yellow was really good for us because it lasted a long time,” said Dixon’s esteemed strategist Mike Hull. “If it had been like one or two laps [rather than four], our strategy probably would not have worked.

“It just worked out for us. Historically here, the cars that did two stops finished fourth, fifth, sixth. So what we did here today compared to what people have done in the past is probably pretty extraordinary.”

Even with the yellow periods, Dixon pulled off a laudable feat - yet more typical fuel-save mastery. Felix Rosenqvist was the next-best-placed two-stopper in sixth.

Nobody is able to pull off a perceived gamble better than Dixon - maybe in the entire history of the sport. There have been so many victories where he has made the perceived impossible entirely possible, completely against the odds.

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The middle stint was tough for Dixon, with his left-front alternate tyre degrading unexpectedly quickly. And then in his final stop, his crew did not take any front wing out so Dixon was battling a loose car and the associated physicality and difficulty under braking.

Ultimately, when the pair converged after Palou’s third and final stop, it was Dixon’s teammate in the No.10 car who came out ahead - able to push without fuel concerns and sporting fresher tyres. It was a contrast to Road America, where Dixon was ahead in the closing laps until he had to bail for a splash of fuel.

A fortnight later in Mid-Ohio, it seemed again that Dixon was not equipped to bring the challenge to Palou. But then appeared a dust cloud as Dixon approached Turn 9.

For what, though?

“I was like: ‘Oh, maybe that’s a lapped car or something because there’s been some times in these sessions where the dust has actually been lingering in the air,’” Dixon said. “I didn’t know if it was him and then obviously I see it’s a black car. 

“I saw that he was struggling to get going. Hate to say it but pleasantly surprised when I saw that he was rejoining the track.”

Indeed, inexplicably so, it was Palou. 

It took Dixon a moment to compute who he was seeing rejoin the track after an excursion, such has been Palou’s range of liveries in 2025 - from yellow and green, to red and now the villainous-looking OpenAI matte black.

“We saw Mr. Perfect make a mistake,” Lundgaard joked. “You don’t see that very often.”

Palou simply does not make mistakes. He has made a name from his precision and perfection. That is why a solo crash at Iowa Speedway last year had people adamant (wrongly) that something must have failed.

But with a four-second lead entering Turn 9 on Lap 85 at Mid-Ohio, Palou went in damagingly deep, into the marbles and off onto the grass and aggressive kerb. 

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“It felt like ice,” Palou said. “And then I got onto the kerb and I couldn’t get out of the kerb and the RPM dropped a lot and I didn’t have any power at all. I was full throttle but it was just going so slow.”

Was it an unforced error? Was it indirectly forced by the pressure of Dixon looming? It was uncharacteristic regardless.

Palou had certainly been pushing hard from the start, such that before his penultimate stop he dropped wheels off track and lost a second or two as he tried to build a buffer to Dixon at that earlier stage. He also lost time behind Sting Ray Robb before his final stop.

Without those losses of time, maybe his gravest error would not have been so costly. But as it was, Dixon was able to seize the opportunity and leap on Palou’s loss of momentum.

“Big mistake, man. Big mistake,” Palou admitted. “Nothing in particular happened. Just lost it a little bit. Lost everything there. It was a big, big mistake by my part. It’s not over until it’s over, until you see the chequered flag. 

“I was just trying to push. I was trying to open the gap a little bit more with Scott. I felt confident with the car. Just lost it.”

Palou had not been taking undue risks but ultimately stepped too close to the limit in his bid to break free from Dixon. No doubt, it was a rougher-around-the-edges day than we have grown accustomed to and he was left to rue a thrown-away win, even if it is easier to overcome given his emphatic championship lead.

The fact that it is a ‘disaster’ of sorts for Palou and the only consequence was a single position loss shows the level at which he is operating. A weekend featuring a pole, runner-up finish and championship lead extended to 113 points after 10 races being regarded as disappointing speaks to the season he has had.

It is nothing but a minor taint on a remarkably record-breaking season. But he missed the chance to scale that up an even further notch.

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If not for the mistake, it is unlikely Dixon - on his 11-lap-older tyres and still saving fuel - would have had anything for Palou. He did well to hang on within four seconds to continue to apply some duress but was starting to lose more time.

“It would have been tough,” Dixon explained. “I was shocked that he didn’t pull away. I thought he would have been probably a second-a-lap quicker because of the scenario that we were in with the heavy save. He was definitely in a pretty good situation.” 

In these positions of control, Palou is usually so flawlessly clinical. But he conceded a guaranteed win on Sunday.

“We lost,” he fronted up. “It’s not like we got beaten. But we lost it, myself.”

Palou did lose it. But that does not have to mean Dixon did not win it too. Both can be true.

Dixon cycled to second on merit with the execution of his two-stop strategy. And avoiding mistakes is a big part of the game in motorsport - something Dixon did successfully as his competition failed to do so.

Can you call it luck? Maybe. But you make your own luck. Dixon certainly did so. It was fortunate for him that Palou made the error but he still earned the win. 

Even after Palou’s mistake, Dixon held on for five laps in his less-favourable situation of worn tyres, fuel concerns and a deficit in push-to-pass. He was unflappable under immense pressure from Palou, who was right on his rear wing at points, but defended expertly, manipulated the dirty air and did not put a foot wrong.

It was clean, fair and respectful between the two legendary teammates.

“Most teammates are so carnivorous with each other; they don’t really give an inch to their teammate,” Hull said. “That’s what we didn’t see. What we saw were two people at the end of the race that knew what they were doing.

“They followed Chip’s rules. He has only two rules. Number one: don’t hit your teammate hard enough to where you helicopter out of the place. Number two: remember rule No.1. That’s what we saw and it was spectacular to finish first and second.”

It is these duels that drivers relish too - hard-fought but never crossing a line.

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“Álex does a very good job keeping it clean, unless it’s maybe the No.12 car,” Dixon joked, pointing to an altercation between Palou and Will Power after a supposed holding-up incident in practice. “They had a bit of beef going on there…

“It’s been a pleasure to always race him and we’ve never really had any issues.”

Victory for Dixon marked the end of a nine-race run of only Palou or Kyle Kirkwood winning at the start of 2025, continuing Honda’s domination too - now spanning 11 races back to last season’s Nashville finale.

“It’s kind of weird,” Dixon said of the lack of range in winners. “Very good for Honda. But quite strange when you’re over halfway through the IndyCar championship and only three drivers have won. I feel very lucky to be one of the three.”

There was extra satisfaction for Dixon given he felt he lost out on a certain win in St. Pete to kick off the season. And beating Palou at the peak of his powers - and only getting better - was an affirming reminder of what Dixon is still capable of in his mid-40s.

Are the eight wins required to level Foyt possible? Even that record-equalling seventh championship? Time will tell. 

But as much as it is not at the forefront of his mind, records continue to creep closer with every win for Dixon. With every victory, talk in the historical context only intensifies. 

“If you have a season like Álex is having, sure, we would be almost there,” Dixon laughed. “I don’t know. We’ll keep knocking on the door. Some years are tougher than others and some years things just roll your way and wins just come a little easier. 

“We’ll see where it ends up. Obviously stats are something that you can look at when you’re done with the sport. Hopefully you’re happy with them.”