By Jenna Jay
New Zealand native Scott Dixon has been an open-wheel champion since he was 13 years old, burning up just about every road race and oval track with his stellar racecar driving abilities and near-perfect performances. The 2008 IndyCar Series champion and Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver won his first Indianapolis 500 last May, and this week Dixon is being honored for his winning performance in the sacred racing event. Joining the ranks of every IRL racing legend to stand in the winner's circle and take home the prestigious title of Indy 500 winner since the 1930s, Scott Dixon made his debut this week in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.
An image of Dixon's face was unveiled at the museum this week on the sacred Borg-Warner Trophy, which bears a likeness of every driver to win the Indy 500 since 1936, when it was created by Borg-Warner Automotive Company. Dixon's face now sits in good company alongside racing legends such as Johnnie Parsons, Al Unser, A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Johnny Rutherford, Bobby Rahal, Helio Castroneves, Dario Franchitti and more, as each of these drivers has his face replicated onto the 5'4" silver trophy in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum. Scott Dixon also received the Champion of Champions winner's ring this week from Speedway president Joie Chitwood, keeping his focus in the off-season for this year's upcoming IRL races, which start with the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg race on April 5 in Florida.
Dixon was raised in Auckland, New Zealand and began racing karts in his homeland at age seven, obtaining a special competition license to race a saloon car at age 13 (the minimum age to obtaining a road license in New Zealand is 15). After driving circles around his competitors in New Zealand in the mid-‘90s, Dixon made the leap to the U.S. in 1999 to join the Johansson Motorsports Indy Lights team, where he eventually raced with PacWest and started chalking up wins. Scott Dixon graduated to PacWest's CART team in 2001 and was eventually brought up into the big leagues of the IRL in 2002 when Chip Ganassi's racing team added a third car to its squad for Dixon to drive with. The New Zealand speedster has been with Target Chip Ganassi Racing ever since, and in his first season driving in the IRL in 2003 Dixon took home honors of the IndyCar Series championship (which he would repeat in 2008).
2004 and 2005 were shaky seasons for the Kiwi, but in 2006 he partnered with Englishman Dan Wheldon (winner of the 2005 Indy 500) with Chip Ganassi Racing and once again became a leading force on the IRL scene, becoming the runner-up in the 2007 IndyCar Series behind Dario Franchitti. 2008 was perhaps Dixon's best season in the league to date, as racing fans with Indy Racing League (IRL) tickets to the prestigious Indianapolis 500 watched his red Target car cross the finish line first, giving Dixon his very first Indy 500 title. He then went on to shut out Helio Castroneves for the IndyCar Series championship title at the end of the season. http://www.stubhub.com/irl-tickets-indy-car-series is the place to go for a head start on racing tickets for the 2009 IRL season, so get yours today and head down to St. Pete for Scott Dixon's first run in the '09 series!
This article is sponsored by StubHub.com and was written by Jenna Jay. StubHub is a leader in the business of selling Indy Racing League (IRL) tickets, sports tickets, concert tickets, theater tickets and special events tickets.
Source:www.isnare.com |
