When the 2022 IndyCar championship gets underway, Scott Dixon will be fighting for his seventh series title.
The Kiwi’s last championship win came in 2020, the 2021 season saw him sitting fourth in the points by the end of the season.
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver’s only win of the season came at Texas Motor Speedway, which also featured Scott McLaughlin in a Kiwi 1, 2 on the podium.
Dixon recently spoke to 1075TheFan.com about the 2021 season and his goals for 2022.
“It was just one of those seasons where we had some good results, but it just wasn’t what it was going to take to win the championship,” Dixon said.
“We learn a lot, I think, throughout the year, and looking forward to going into ’22.”
Dixon will head into the season just one win shy of equalling the all-time win record of Mario Andretti, who took 52 race wins through his career.
The Kiwi has clear goals heading into this year’s championship.
“Basically, for us we always set two goals, first, to win the Indy 500 because it comes so early in the season,” he said. “Secondly to win the championship, and those goals are no different.”
Dixon has taken the Indy 500 win once in 2008.
Chip Ganassi Racing will run four cars for the full season, with Tony Kanaan joining the team in a fifth entry for the Indianapolis 500.
2021 championship winner Alex Palou and Marcus Ericsson continue with the team for the upcoming season. Jimmie Johnson will also return for a second season this year completing the full IndyCar schedule.
“Yeah, it’s five cars, a lot of cars,” Dixon said.
“I think when you understand the process and how many times you’ve been there before, it can be tricky, and you’ve definitely seen other teams kind of step on their toes in their scenarios. I think the way it’s done and who’s involved I think hopefully it should go pretty smoothly.”
The 2022 Indycar season will get underway at St Petersberg February 27.
Main image: Joe Skibinski