New Zealand’s Scott Dixon will equal Tony Kanaan’s Iron Man record of 318 consecutive race starts when he lines up at the Music City Grand Prix on the streets of Nashville this weekend. The Kiwi great’s streak extends back to 2004 when he competed at Michigan just ten days after his 24th birthday.
Over his career, Dixon has won the IndyCar Series six times and took his 53rd career victory at this same event last year, moving past Mario Andretti to become the second-most successful IndyCar driver of all time.
Dixon’s Chip Ganassi Racing has won both Music City Grand Prix to date, with Marcus Ericsson winning the inaugural event in 2021, followed by Dixon’s come-from-behind victory last year. The Kiwi started last year’s race in 14th before dropping to 23rd after taking contact and was forced to box for repairs. He would then charge through the field over the final 15 laps to win.
“Nashville has become one of the most wanted to go to races of the year,” said Dixon. “There is a great atmosphere with downtown racing, especially with the link to this fun city and how the promoters have gotten so involved with Nashville.
“As a driver, it’s a fun track, but a very tough track that is quite technical. Then, getting into the race, it’s even more demanding with the heat and humidity, but also trying to keep the car off the walls. It’s very bumpy with high speeds and lots of G’s coming off the bridge.
“There’s plenty of unpredictability, even with us winning last year and Marcus (Ericsson) the year before. It’s been a great place for Chip Ganassi Racing. Two races so far and two victories for this team. We’ll try to keep that tradition going.”
Joining Ericsson and Dixon in this year’s race are teammates Alex Palou and New Zealander Marcus Armstrong. It will be Armstrong’s first time on the circuit, but he says it’s an event he has had marked on the calendar since his signing.
“Nashville is a fantastic city, and it will be quite the vibe racing downtown,” said Armstrong. “It will be tough, but I think this layout will serve our team well, and we’ve been consistently fast on street circuits.
“Nashville has been one of the races that has been circled on the calendar for me. It’s going to be a good one, and I can’t wait to show what we’ve learned in previous street tracks and attack it head-on. It will be bumpy and difficult, just like Toronto and Detroit, which are two circuits we’ve done well on.
“There’s no reason why we can’t go out there and do a great job in Nashville.”
Armstrong has recorded an average finishing position of 8.5 on this year’s street courses and leads the Rookie of the Year battle despite not competing on ovals.
Palou, meanwhile, has built a solid 80-point lead in the championship and has won four of the eight road and street courses this year. Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden is second in the standings, while Dixon is third, a further 40 points behind.
Fellow Kiwi Scott McLaughlin will also take to the track for Team Penske. McLaughlin is fifth in the standings but has work to do to overturn a 148-point deficit on the leader. He finished second in last year’s race for a historic Kiwi one-two.
Coverage of the 2023 Music City Grand Prix begins at 4.00 am on Monday, New Zealand time.
