IndyCar: Scott Dixon was already a champion when his new teammate was born

The 2024 IndyCar season is scheduled to begin this Sunday afternoon with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.

There are four rookies set to compete throughout at least a majority of the 2024 season. Linus Lundqvist and Kyffin Simpson are set to compete for Chip Ganassi Racing, Christian Rasmussen is set to compete for Ed Carpenter Racing, and Tom Blomqvist is set to compete for Meyer Shank Racing.

Rasmussen is set to compete in the road and street course races and the Indy 500; the other three are all set to compete full-time. Of the three full-time rookies, one has never competed in an IndyCar race before, and that is Simpson.

Simpson is joining Chip Ganassi Racing this season in a newly added fifth car, the No. 4 Honda, after signing a development deal with the organization in 2022 and competing in Indy Lights/Indy NXT in both 2022 and 2023.

The 19-year-old Caymanian did not light the world in fire in the series, recording finishes of ninth and 10th place in the championship standings with a total of two podium finishes in 27 starts, but his father David's Ridgeline Lubricants company is a major sponsor of Chip Ganassi Racing and the addition of a fifth car was believed to make sense for all parties.

And now Scott Dixon has a teammate who wasn't even born when he won his first IndyCar championship.

Scott Dixon is set for his 24th season at the highest level of American open-wheel racing and his 22nd in IndyCar with Chip Ganassi Racing. The driver of the No. 9 Honda is a six-time champion who is set for his fourth attempt to match A.J. Foyt's record of seven titles.

Dixon is the oldest full-time driver in the series at the age of 43, but he is still performing at a high level.

He finished in second place in last year's championship standings behind teammate Alex Palou, and he won three of the season's final four races. Aside from an early DNF, he did not finish a single race lower than seventh, and he has finished lower than fourth in the standings just once (sixth, 2016) in the last 18 years.

He is also more than 24 years older than Simpson, who was born in October 2004, meaning that he had already won the first of his six IndyCar championships (2003) by the time his newest teammate entered this world.

It almost feels like a Tom Brady stat.

Dixon won his five most recent championships in 2008, 2013, 2015, 2018, and 2020. Given the level at which he continues to compete, it's not out of the question that he could still be around by the time IndyCar gets a driver who was born after he won his second championship -- and his Indy 500 (2008).

Tune in to NBC at 12:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, March 10 for the live broadcast of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg from the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now if you have not already had the chance to do so!