No driver has led more laps of the Indy 500 than Scott Dixon, and it's a record he plans on continuing to add to for many years to come. But all he's focused on is leading lap 200 for the second time.
"I think it just shows I'm not very good at leading the right lap," Scott Dixon told Beyond the Flag. "So I've only, out of all of those [677], I've only led the right one once, so it's a pretty cool stat, and I think when you look at the history of the sport, we're celebrating, we will be running the 109th running of the Indy 500 500 this year.
"It's very special, and I think it will be a pretty tough one to beat, too. I think with the current drivers and that kind of situation, it's a cool stat, but I would much prefer a second or a third Indy 500 win over that one."
With the number of laps he's led, and the number of races he's not only led but positioned himself in the mix for the win and the latter stages, Dixon could easily be a four-time or even the only five-time winner of the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing".
But he's not focused on the "what-ifs" at this stage in his career.
Dixon, who is set to make his 23rd Indy 500 with Chip Ganassi Racing, a race record for starts with a single team, specifically discussed last year, when he was in position to potentially win the race before a late Will Power crash served as somewhat of a fuel strategy equalizer.
"I think we were in a good spot," Dixon said. "You never really know. Even the year I got the speeding penalty [2022], everybody's like 'oh, it was a clear win.' But we were still one whole stint away from the finish of the race, and we've seen in the recent races where if there is a caution, it goes to a red, and a restart, and all that kind of stuff.
"Many of the second places that I had I wish that was the case, maybe a few years ago [2020]. But yeah, I think we were definitely in a good spot. We honestly didn't have the speed, especially of the top three or four competitors that were racing at the end, and we could see that clearly.
"I think on one of the restarts or two of the restarts I led, two of them had passed me even before I got to the start finish line. So maybe if Will didn't crash, we could have been going for our second, but that's racing, and you can't do much about that."
This year, Dixon feels that he and the No. 9 team do have the speed, and that was particularly evident in qualifying. One year after Chevrolet swept the top eight, Honda took four of the top six.
"It's nice to know that we're 17 spots better than last year," Dixon said of his P4 starting spot on the inside of the second row. "I guess we moved up pretty quickly last year, and I think we've got some big hitters, definitely towards the back with the Penske cars, and I think they'll move up very fast as well. I think probably if you're on a legit qualifying position of say 21st, you can understand that last year we didn't quite have the speed, whereas this year, I feel like we're in a much better spot.
"We were definitely knocked out, not even contenders for the Fast 12, last year. The mix [this year] I think was four Honda and two Chevys, obviously two of them are on the front row. [Takuma] Sato did a great job and HRC have been working extremely hard, everybody at Honda has."
He knows that two-time reigning winner Josef Newgarden and 2018 winner Will Power are still threats to win the race, even from the back row, because their starting positions are not at all representative of their true speed.
"With the penalties that those guys received, I expect them to be very fast and definitely contenders for the race," he said. "We've seen Dario [Franchitti], when I was teammates with him, went to the back, after the first or second stint, and came through to win the race, so I don't think it will matter too much."
That race in 2012 was one of the races in which Dixon finished second.
Regarding this year's pace in race trim, Dixon is confident, but not overconfident.
"I'd say that you never really know until you get to race day, to be honest," Dixon said. "I think there are big laps thrown up all the time, but I would say as a group, we've found ourselves to be a lot more competitive this year than we were last year."
Even ahead of his 23rd attempt, Dixon is enjoying every minute of the Indy 500 experience, because no two years are alike.
"Absolutely," he said. "I think there is always something very special about your first time at doing anything, and I think, not the innocence of it, but just not knowing what to expect is sometimes a little bit easier. They go on about how it’s tough for rookies, but if you’ don’t know what’s coming, I think that’s sometimes a little bit easier.
"But the formula has changed a lot. I think the racing style has changed a lot, the additions to the car, whether it’s the aeroscreen or the different things that they’ve added through the years, have definitely changed the racing quite a bit. I think last year we maybe had almost 25 cars on the lead lap. I think my first year, there were maybe six or seven. So reliability has changed a ton. It’s definitely very different, but also the same excitement."
Speaking of rookies, he also gave props to rookie polesitter Robert Shwartzman, who competes for a Prema Racing team that weren't even in IndyCar before this year.
"What a story," Dixon said. "I think it's really cool for a team that probably didn't think they would really be a contender. I know a lot of us, I was sitting in our engineering room, and I saw them do their first run, and I was like ‘wow, that's really fast.’ He was lifting in all four corners on every lap. I was like, ‘if that guy gets flat at any point, Robert's going to be a contender for the pole.'
"And obviously 24 hours later, he was definitely in the mix of it, and they fought extremely hard, so congrats to Robert and Prema. That's no easy feat. There are so many small details that you have to get right for this place, and for them to do it, it's a pretty cool story going into the race."
It's high praise coming from a five-time polesitter. But despite converting his first pole to a win in 2008, Dixon is still seeking that elusive second victory.
Would he prefer that over a record-tying seventh IndyCar championship?
"My answer to that is always both," he stated. "I would love a seventh championship and second Indy 500 win, so yeah, no, I think once you're here and celebrating the month of May and here for the biggest race in the world, honestly, yeah, it would feel so sweet to get a second."
Though he certainly wants to win, his 20-year win streak, by far an all-time IndyCar record, isn't a focal point.
"Not really," he admitted. "I think over the last few years, the stats have kind of been thrown out a lot more, and the fact that we've been definitely hitting some pretty big milestones is very cool. But we’re in the business of winning races, and if you're not winning, you're not going to be sticking around for too much longer.
"So for me, the goal is to win this weekend. If I don't win this weekend, it's to win next weekend in Detroit. So every weekend is about winning. So it's a cool stat, again, and something that I am focused on winning, but just the next race at hand."
Dixon, second on the all-time IndyCar wins list behind A.J. Foyt, is a driver who has already established himself as one of the sport's greatest of all-time, whether he wins a seventh championship or a second Indy 500 or both, or neither.
He came from very humble beginnings, as his family made a ton of sacrifices just to give him a chance to pursue his dreams. Ahead of his record-breaking 408th IndyCar start this weekend, he admits that, even more than two decades after his first Indy 500 start, he is sometimes still pinching himself about how far he has come, doing what he loves.
"Every day, honestly," he said. "It's a shock, and to be starting my 408th consecutive is pretty wild, breaking another of Mario Andretti's records is pretty crazy, and I just had a very cool video note from him, and it was fun to see and be a part of. We're so lucky to have the likes of Mario and A.J. still at most of our races.
"It's crazy; they're big heroes of mine, people whom I loved watching when I was younger, so yeah, there is a lot of sacrifice, and I can't thank my family enough for it. I don't think you ever know at that age or at that point when I first started, when I was seven years old or even going into Formula cars at 13, you were just hoping to get to the next year, and so was my family.
"But there were a lot of sacrifices along the way from many different people, so I’m very grateful, and I think that's also a big push and a big, big reason of why I'm so competitive, because I don't want to leave anything on the table with what I was given by so many people."
Skipping ahead to the current day, Dixon is set to enter his eighth consecutive Indy 500 with PNC Bank as a primary sponsor. After Target was the primary sponsor for 14 years, they left Chip Ganassi Racing following the 2016 season. PNC Bank joined forces with Dixon and the No. 9 team in 2018, and they have been there ever since.
"PNC has been phenomenal," Dixon said. "I think gone are the days of just putting a sticker on the car and letting that do its job. There is so much activation. I think what's really special for me is the community outreach programs that they have, when Chip Ganassi Racing had Women in Motorsports, PNC were a great partner with that, to the PNC Grow Up Great program; we just did one yesterday with early education, and the prominence of making sure kids have what they need; also the teachers.
"So it's not just about really aligning with the sponsor and putting a sticker on the car. We were able to activate it and make it work for both sides very well. I've never been a part, even when we were in the Target days, of just how engrossed and part of the team everybody at PNC is.
"Their internal activation of the program is phenomenal, so anywhere we go now, because PNC has banks all across America, now where we're able to have so many guests at the track and really listen to their stories and bring them into ours and be part of IndyCar racing and become big fans. So it's been huge, man. It's been huge."
Tune in to Fox at 10:00 a.m. ET this Sunday, May 25 for the live broadcast of the 109th running of the Indy 500. Can Scott Dixon capture a second Indy 500 win? If you have not yet had the opportunity to begin a free trial of FuboTV, do so now and don't miss any of the action from Indianapolis Motor Speedway!