Scott Dixon says it is crazy to imagine he is just one win behind Mario Andretti on the all-time IndyCar winners list.
Reflecting on the journey, Dixon agrees that he never envisioned the pimple-faced James Cook High student would have six series titles next to his name.
“It has been a crazy journey, especially coming from a little country like New Zealand,” Dixon told Fox 2 news.
“I remember watching Michael and Mario [Andretti], I even got to race against Michael for a little bit, and the Unsers. So, it has been a wild ride.”
An Australian by birth, Dixon is a Kiwi at heart.
His father Ron and Mother Glenys introduced the future champion to motor racing when they owned a race track in Townsville.
However, it was in Auckland when Dixon first got behind the wheel proper.
“Dad raced a bit of everything, whether it was rally cars or circuit racing.
“My earliest memories were when they owned a track in Townsville, and my mum would do some of the races there as well.
“Then moving back to New Zealand was when I got my first taste of racing go-karts.
“It was definitely a family atmosphere that we would do every weekend and still, to this day, they are some of the happiest memories I have.”
Dixon says the first few times he drove a go-kart was a unique, eye-opening experience.
“I remember racing the first time in a go-kart at the age of seven and just being overwhelmed with the feeling and the adrenaline.
“I didn’t know what any of that was but just getting behind that machine and driving it was incredible.”
But in fact, Dixon’s first memories of racing were on two wheels, not four, and at the local dirt bike track.
“The earliest memory for me was actually riding a motorbike, probably around age four.
“I only remember it because we used to clean behind the grandstands of the dirt track, and I found a $50 note and I thought it was the most amazing thing ever.”
After two years in CART, Dixon jumped to the then-called Indy Racing League in 2003.
Dixon won on his series debut at Homestead and backed it up with two more victories to claim a maiden championship.
He had broken onto the American oval scene with a flourish.
But two challenging years were to follow, and Dixon admits the harsh seasons in 2004 and 2005 were perhaps the best thing to have happened to me.
“I think the first [championship] in 2003 I didn’t really know what I had achieved. I was young, naïve and didn’t really respect it.
“The best thing that ever happened to me was the ’04 and ’05 seasons, which were just dreadful.
“I think that really knocked home what I had achieved and what it takes to do it.”
Dixon has the potential to tie with Andretti’s win record this weekend at Gateway, Illinois.
This year, he is also firmly in the hunt for a seventh career title, which would equal him with A.J Foyt for most championships ever won.
