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July 13, 2026 11 mins

Sir Scott Dixon has revealed he sat on an IndyCar move for months before deciding to leave his long-time team. 

The six-time series champion will join rival Arrow McLaren for 2027 on a two-year deal, following a 25th campaign this year with Chip Ganassi. 

Dixon told Mike Hosking he's kept his current employers in the loop since first toying with a move last September. 

He says it was not an easy decision by any means, but it came down to his desire for something different.  

Dixon says he was drawn across by racing under the legacy of New Zealander Bruce McLaren. 

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
One of the big sports stories of the year so far.
So Scott Dixon as off to McLaren. He's leaving chip
Ganassi Racing at the end of the season. He's been
with the team for twenty five years. Of course he's
going to team up with Roseen Quest and the award. He's
still got to deal with the season. The next racing weekend,
of course, is this weekend at Nashville. Anyway, catch up times,
So Scott Dixon is with us.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Good morning, yeah, very good morning to you guys too,
and thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
On and not at all, and congratulations on the move.
How's it landed now that we've had a few days
to let it sink in.

Speaker 3 (00:29):
Yeah, the process, honestly has been has been quite long.
You know. I think it's been several months and really
just kind of you know, thinking about how it's going
to look, you know, if it's the right time, you know,
I think if you back up to a certain you know,
kind of almost six years ago, I nearly went to
this team in twenty nineteen. I just found like the

(00:52):
timing wasn't wasn't right at that moment. So, yeah, it's
been you know, obviously I've been with this team for
almost twenty five years, is you know, so it was
definitely a lot of a lot of you know, I
think moments to think about whether it's the right choice,
you know, if the timing's right. And for me, ultimately
it just really came down to wanting to do something different,

(01:13):
you know, have a new excitement level for for a
different project and something different.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
Did Chip Ganassi know that? Did they suspect that? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (01:22):
We had started talking kind of end of last year,
probably September November, and then you know, we we we
I've really kept them, you know, in the loop of
of you know, what direction we were really looking at
and where we were going if we were going to change,
and you know, ultimately when it you know kind of
in my mind had made the decision, you know, flew

(01:44):
to Pittsburgh, sat down the Chip and the chairman of
of p and C, the sponsor on the car, the
PENC Bank with with Bill Demchek and and sat down
and just you know, went through the scenario of not staying. So. Yeah,
it was it was not easy, trust me, it was.
It was very emotional and you know, not an easy
decision by any means.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
Is there goodwill plenty of good will.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
Yeah, it's been, it's been, it's been good.

Speaker 3 (02:08):
You know, I think obviously it's never easy, you know,
even for me, it's it's been you know, tough through
throughout moments. Obviously. Now you know, you kind of get
cut off a lot of stuff. You know, there's no
electronics stuff. You know, there's no simulation before events. You know,
certain meetings are not really in anymore. But that's just
the likelihood of the direction it goes. But no, everybody

(02:31):
on the team has been amazing, you know, And you know,
part of the conversation with Chip was obviously to make
sure that you know, for me, the biggest thing that
matters is that we remain friends and that we remain
and you know, he's like family for me. You know,
he's he's there's a lot of love there and and
you know, for what he's been able to, you know,
do for me throughout my career has truly been unmatched.

Speaker 1 (02:53):
It's such an interesting thing, isn't it? Because I'm assuming
at some point they get they said something like what
can we do for you? Because you were explaining I
need something different? Was that part of it?

Speaker 2 (03:08):
Yes?

Speaker 3 (03:08):
And no, like I think, you know, for me, the
you know, I think it was easy to continue to
do the same thing, but I think you know, the
you know, it's kind of been going through a moment
of where I wouldn't say that we haven't been happy
or they haven't been happy, it's just you know, for me,
it really came down to the point of, you know,

(03:30):
thinking about the amount of years I've been racing, the
amount of years have been IndyCar and really leaving the
sport at some point and not have have tried anything else,
And what kind of kept you know, mentally for me
was was you know, the excitement of just trying something new,
you know. And it was nothing against any of the
people that I've worked with. You know, I've had fantastic

(03:51):
teammates and obviously an amazing team. And I'm not you know,
jumping because I think the grass is greener on the
other side. You know, I think we all know how
that that turns out. For me, it simply was just
to have a new adventure.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
Yeah, but what have McLaren got that you want?

Speaker 3 (04:08):
H Well, I think you know the team, you know,
I think they're doing a very good job right now.
You know, I think when you look at it even
back six years ago when I was looking at doing
that possibility, I think, you know, they've acquired a lot
of really good people. Obviously, that team is you know,
I think if you look at it from a financial standpoint,

(04:28):
is funded extremely well. You know, the different categories that
they race and you know, whether it's Indy Car to
F one then you know the World Endurance Championship stuff
now that's kicking off next year. You know, there's a
lot of different legs there. But you know, for me too,
it was also the patriotic kind of side of you know,
I'm a big fan of Bruce McLaren. You know, I've

(04:49):
read all his books, you know, lots of pictures autographs
of his and you know, fascinated by purely what he created,
you know, and being able to spend some time with
you know, his daughter.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
Through other years at events as well. And you know,
for me that was that was also a very big poll.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
Well, I'm glad to hear you say that, because that's genuine,
because it's an easy thing to say Old New Zealand
and the clari and everyone knows, but that that for
you is real.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yes, yeah, no, it always has been.

Speaker 3 (05:16):
You know, I think for me and what really, you know,
I think throughout the years with my dad, you know,
just you know, talking about you know, Bruce and what
he did, and you know, hearing it from my dad
was extremely special as well. But you know, I think,
you know, yes, it is easy to say that, but honestly,
I think New Zealand and the motor racing history that
they have is profound, man, and it's insane. You know

(05:38):
the amount of top level drivers they have in pretty
much every category right now, which is which is fantastic
to see for such a small country, you know, packing
a big punch. But you know, Bruce was was definitely
one of the founding fathers for that.

Speaker 1 (05:51):
Man, I reckon, that's true. Zach Brown, how much this
has to do with him? And what do you make
of him?

Speaker 3 (05:57):
Well, funny enough, I've been friends with Zach longer than
you know, I've known Chip. I first met Zach in
nineteen ninety nine when I first moved to Indianapolis. He
was running a go kart track here called Zak Attack,
and I spent many days, you know, with him out there.
And you know, he was a racer for many years,
kind of in Indie lights and different categories and you

(06:19):
know then obviously you know, formed Just Marketing, which was
a behemoth for sponsors throughout the you know, different categories
with it was, you know, whether it was F one
or NASCAR, and you know we're Bath based, you know,
he's based in London now and off season for me
is there with the family as well, so you know,
we definitely catch up.

Speaker 1 (06:38):
So did he if you go back like six years,
did he go like one day we'll do this. Was
it kind of like that?

Speaker 3 (06:47):
Yeah, it was, it was. It was within hours that one.
It was quite Yeah, it was quite an interesting time
for me. And you know, obviously the following year went
on to win another championship with Ganassi.

Speaker 2 (06:59):
But yeah, the timing just wasn't right.

Speaker 3 (07:01):
It was it was, you know, Zach had kind of
just come into that team with McLaren. They were buying
it from Sam Schmidt and his group of people with
Arrow and you know, lots of lots of stuff has
changed since then. So yeah, the timing now seems to
fit perfectly.

Speaker 1 (07:16):
Following you do it like a Lewis Hamilton and so
he it'spent a year at Ferrari, last year at Ferrari,
working through how they work, and maybe it's because they're Retellian.
I don't know. Are you confident going to a different
team with different people and different processes that you fit
in or is that a job ahead of you?

Speaker 3 (07:35):
Oh yeah, it'll be. It'll be a lot of hard work.
But you know that's exciting for me as well. You know,
I think something new and obviously different processes.

Speaker 2 (07:45):
You know.

Speaker 3 (07:45):
The other portion too is you know, I've been a
Honda driver for ninety percent of my career as well.
You know, I did drive for two years for GM
and we we did get a championship in fifteen with
them as well. But you know, the process is very
different from you know, the amount of simulation day as
you do now how they attack the simulation, to you know,
how they do the real world stuff, to how the

(08:06):
setups are. You know, I'm excited to see how they
really operate, and you know, honestly, I won't really get
to see much of that until you know, September October,
to see how they perform. But driving duties, I don't
think I'll be able to do anything until kind of
January of next year.

Speaker 2 (08:20):
So we'll see how it works out. But no, no
exciting to see.

Speaker 3 (08:24):
You know, I've never really seen a different team, you know,
I've done sportscar racing with some other people, so excited
to just you know, kind of lift the covers and
see how other teams operate.

Speaker 1 (08:33):
What keeps you stimulated like that? What what prevents you
from going I've got nothing to prove. I've been around
for twenty five years. I know what I'm doing, so
you'll need to do it my way.

Speaker 3 (08:45):
Yeah, I would never say I know what I'm doing,
you know. I think that's that's the first sign of defeat.

Speaker 2 (08:49):
You know.

Speaker 3 (08:49):
For me, it's always been the love of learning, and
I've had that. You know, every different teammate, whether they've
been you know, exceptional or you know, very good, everybody
does something you know, slightly different, and for me that's
you know, the interesting part. But what it basically comes
down to, man, it's just a love for the sport,
like I love doing what I do, you know, And
that fire still burns very strong right now. You know,

(09:11):
whether it does for for how many years longer, We'll
have to wait and see, But right now the passion
is very full.

Speaker 1 (09:18):
And what's your thinking on that? Because Lebron the other
day out of the lake as he's looking for, you know,
something more, and Lewis is looking for something more, and
you're in that category and you're looking for something more,
you still presumably want will need to win.

Speaker 3 (09:32):
Yeah, it's it's it's yeah, I don't know, maybe a
bad habit, you know, I think it's more that the
hete of maybe the hete of losing, I think, is
what keeps you, what keeps me up at night. You know,
very rarely do I think of, oh, you know, that
was such a great win. You know, for me, it's
always the close losses or you know, the mistakes or
anything like that that really keep you, you know, on

(09:54):
on the you know, on the edge. So yeah, you know,
everybody's different, everybody's unique, everybody's looking for different stuff. But
you know, for me, the timing was just right for right.

Speaker 1 (10:03):
Now, fantastic half a dozen or so left in the season.
Does that feel a bit weird or it is what
it is?

Speaker 3 (10:10):
Yeah, it's a weird sport, I guess in many ways,
where you know, the announcements come, you know, my contract
was was quite strange, and the fact that the you know,
I think just where it originated and the data was,
you know, a lot of a lot of drivers can't
really do anything until September of November, and mine was
quite early this year. In IndyCar, you know, probably half
the field is up for you know, driver Wises is

(10:31):
up and out of contract, so that makes it, you know,
kind of a bit of a silly season for for
many And yes, you know, I think there were periods
where you know, I was like, well, do we sign
later in the year or do we do something you
know where it doesn't create this awkwardness, but obviously lots
of people start talking and things kind of play out
that way. But no, like you know, for me, the

(10:53):
first goal is to win this weekend in Nashville, and
the same for the remaining races. And you know, the
team has been amazing and Chirpin and Mike Culor have
said the same. You know, all we want to do
is you knows, send you on the way with many wins,
So that's what we'll be trying to do.

Speaker 1 (11:08):
Good. Well, we're looking forward to this weekend and the
rest of the season. Great to catch up with you.
Congratulations on the move and let's talk again.

Speaker 2 (11:14):
Soon as always, Thank you so much, look forward.

Speaker 1 (11:16):
To indeed, and you two Scott Dixon currently sits ninth
in the championship and as I say, heading into what
I'm assuming is the heat and humidity of Nashville this
coming weekend.

Speaker 3 (11:27):
For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to
news talks it'd be from six am weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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