IndyCar: The record Scott Dixon inherited from Tony Kanaan

Scott Dixon entered the 2021 IndyCar season with a mark that Tony Kanaan had had to his credit for several years up until now.

For the sixth time in his IndyCar career, Scott Dixon secured a championship last October, and for the sixth time in his career, he began his title defense this past Sunday.

Dixon opened up the 2021 season with a third place finish in the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by AmFirst at Barber Motorsports Park, giving him nine podium finishes in 11 starts at the track where he somehow hasn’t won.

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His start in Sunday’s 90-lap race around the 17-turn, 2.38-mile (3.830-kilometer) natural terrain road course in Birmingham, Alabama was his 273rd consecutive start going back to 2004, which is the longest active streak in the series by far.

Next highest on the list is that of Ryan Hunter-Reay, which sits at 224 going back to 2007.

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But not before the 2021 season had Dixon entered the year riding the longest active streak among all drivers. Prior to this year, it had been IndyCar’s Ironman — who does still compete, by the way — Tony Kanaan who had sat atop this list.

Kanaan’s streak was slated to come to an end at 317 races before the 2020 season, since he signed a deal to compete in only the oval races for A.J. Foyt Enterprises. But due to the coronavirus pandemic, the schedule was shifted, and the season opener became an oval race at Texas Motor Speedway in early June as opposed to a street course race on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida in mid-March.

So the 46-year-old Brazilian was able to extend his streak to 318 races. However, that streak, which had been the all-time record ever since he competed in his 212th consecutive race on the streets of Baltimore, Maryland back in September 2013, came to an end in the 2020 season’s second race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in early July.

Now Dixon sits atop that list with what is the second longest streak of all-time, and he has a clear shot at the all-time record. He sits 35 races shy of Kanaan, which translates to slightly more than two average seasons. At 40 years old, he doesn’t appear to be slowing down, especially having won two of the last three championships.

In the 2021 season opener, what was the third longest active streak — and the third longest all-time streak — ended, as Marco Andretti is no longer a full-time driver after competing in all 248 races that were contested from the start of his career in 2006 until the end of last season.

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The second race on the 2021 IndyCar schedule is the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, which is set to be broadcast live on NBC from the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET next Sunday, April 25. This race is set to mark Dixon’s 274th consecutive start in the series.