Dixon has secret weapon
INDIANAPOLIS — Long before Scott Dixon became one of the most successful race car drivers in history, winning six IndyCar Series championships and 51 races in a span of nearly two decades, he relied on his natural talent to get ahead.
Ask around the sport these days, though, and many people will explain that Dixon, 40, is within a win of tying Mario Andretti for the second-most American open-wheel car victories because he is a hardworking star with a secret weapon.
That would be Emma DaviesDixon, his wife. Davies-Dixon, 42, was a standout middle-distance runner who competed internationally for Britain. She knows what it takes to win.
“I’m convinced more than ever that his greatest asset is Emma,” said Chip Ganassi, owner of the team that Dixon has been with for 20 years. “I didn’t put anything down for that 10 years ago, but now I realize just how important it is. She’s even more competitive than he is and has a complete understanding of what a championship race car driver needs.”
On Sunday, for the fourth time in his career, Dixon will start the Indianapolis 500 from the pole position in his No. 9 car. Sitting in their motor home parked in the infield of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this month, the couple lamented that Dixon had won the Indy 500 only once, back in 2008.
To be sure, though, winning the Indy 500 — the sport’s most prestigious race — is every IndyCar driver’s dream. First run in 1911, it became a Memorial Day weekend tradition. It is the biggest single-day spectator event in the United States, with around 350,000 fans at the 2.5-mile oval track. This year, the spectator limit will be about 135,000 because of coronavirus concerns.
Dixon was in his mid-20s and already a one-time IndyCar champion when he met Emma Davies in 2006. He had been living a bachelor’s life, partying with his friends, skipping main courses to go straight to dessert, and eating Taco Bell or whatever he found in his fridge and cupboards.
It raised Davies’ eyebrows when she learned Dixon could win without buttoning up every aspect of his life. At that time, she wasn’t competing as a runner, having taken a break after her father, who was also her coach, died of cancer at 47. Davies redirected her passion for competition to Dixon, falling in love with him while devising a plan to help his career.
Dario Franchitti, a four-time IndyCar champion who was teammates with Dixon for several years and now is a driver consultant for Chip Ganassi Racing, said DaviesDixon had helped her husband both on and off the track.
“When I first met Scott, yeah, I might have thought he was a jerk because he didn’t say two words,” Franchitti said. “But he must have talked sometime. Hey, he was able to chat up Emma and get her to marry him. Maybe that was a onetime deal and he put all of his effort into that.”
Dixon said he will consider retirement only when there is no chance to win anymore.
And right now, Dixon remains at the top of his sport. He has won at least one race per year over 19 consecutive seasons, breaking A.J. Foyt’s record of 18. He is only one series championship away from tying Foyt’s record of seven.
“I’m more like, ‘C’mon, you’re here. You are so close to making history. You can do it.’ ” DaviesDixon said. “We both want to win races and another championship so badly.”