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IndyCar: Scott Dixon to drive the #9 Honda, not the #1 Honda, in 2019

By Asher Fair

SONOMA, CA - SEPTEMBER 16: Scott Dixon, driver of the #9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, on track during the Verizon IndyCar Series Sonoma Grand Prix at Sonoma Raceway on September 16, 2018 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Jonathan Moore/Getty Images)
SONOMA, CA - SEPTEMBER 16: Scott Dixon, driver of the #9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, on track during the Verizon IndyCar Series Sonoma Grand Prix at Sonoma Raceway on September 16, 2018 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Jonathan Moore/Getty Images) /
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Despite posting a picture of himself standing beside the #1 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, Scott Dixon is set to drive the #9 Honda in the 2019 IndyCar season.

Reigning IndyCar champion Scott Dixon has the right to use the #1 as his car number in the 2019 season since he won last year’s championship, as the #1 is reserved for the reigning series champion.

So when the 38-year-old New Zealander posted a photo on Instagram of himself standings beside the #1 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, it was assumed that he would, in fact, use the #1 as his car number in the 2019 season. After all, it was he who posted the photo.

Here is this photo.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bsej2r2BMV9/

However, this photo ended up being nothing more than an early April Fools’ Day joke. Here is what Dixon had to say about the matter, according to IndyCar.

"“We’ll turn up to the official test with the No. 9 on there…That’s after we won the 2003 championship. We ran it into 2004, and then we’ve never done it since. I think some people will get a little bit of a laugh out of it. I like (No.) 9, but to be honest, it’s Chip’s decision.”"

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Dixon is a five-time IndyCar champion, meaning that he has had four prior opportunities to use the #1 as his car number. The only time he did so was in the 2004 season, which resulted in him finishing in 10th place in the championship standings, the second lowest finish of his career. He finished that season without earning any victories. To this day, the 2004 season is the only season during which he failed to earn a single victory.

Dixon won the 2008 championship and drove the #9 Honda in the 2009 season. He won the 2013 championship and drove the #9 Chevrolet in the 2014 season. Finally, he won the 2015 championship and drove the #9 Chevrolet in the 2016 season.

It looks like he will drive the #9 Honda, not the #1 Honda, as the defending champion in the 2019 season as well.

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Will Scott Dixon successfully defend his IndyCar championship in the 2019 season as the driver of the #9 Honda? He has never won two consecutive championships in his career. The 17-race season is scheduled to get underway on Sunday, March 10 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, and it is set to last until Sunday, September 22.