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FIFA World Cup 2026 poster'We're in a good spot’: Scott Dixon hopeful for Kiwi Indy 500 victory
Savannah Lendich Jonkers • May 22nd, 2026 2:29 pm
Scott Dixon | Photo: Barry Cantrell
Sir Scott Dixon is hopeful for Kiwi domination in the 2026 Indianapolis 500.
The Kiwi racing legend told Sport Nation’s Scotty & Izzy, “I'm just proud that we've got three Kiwis on the grid and I was flying solo for the longest time.
"It's fantastic to have (Scott) McLaughlin here and (Marcus) Armstrong, he's finding his way very quickly and very well so I'd be so proud to hopefully see one of us Kiwis on that top step.”
It was heartbreak all-around for the Kiwis in 2025, with McLaughlin crashing out on the parade lap, Dixon’s brakes catching fire and forcing him to also retire from the race, while Armstrong wrote off his car in qualifying, then finished 18th in his backup car.
In 2026, McLaughlin will start the race 9th, with Dixon just one position behind in 10th and Armstrong 16th.
Dixon joked that a game plan for himself and McLaughlin is not to let history repeat itself.
“Last year was pretty rough. I think without his crash, I wouldn't have had my failure, maybe where the brake failed because we got the disc too hot and I was pretty much out of the race before we even got to the start.”
But now, he’s eager to get the jump when the green flag drops and stay out of trouble for 500 miles.
“I want to be aggressive. I want to get to the front pretty quickly, make sure that we can race with the big dogs out front there, and make sure we have the speed.
“It's really just playing the race back, what we need, where we can make the car better, what adjustments we can make in each stop, to the fact of nailing pit in, not speeding in the pits, which I've done in the past, all the small details that can help you later in the race.
He described last year's version of events as a reason why drivers in the Indy 500 need to be ready for change, saying he in particular will keep his head down and remain on his toes.
Scott Dixon | Photo: Phillip Abbott
“I think it's too hard going into this one with preconceived notions of how you think it should play out, how visualising how things are gonna go down because it will change immediately and that was true for last year as well.
“I've led a lot of laps here, I've led the most laps in the history of the (Indianapolis) speedway but I'm obviously not very good at leading the right lap so I need to work on that,” he laughed.
“Qualifying for us was a little bit miserable, in just the Fast 12 run we had a couple of issues on the car that ended up hindering us from moving on to the Fast 6.”
However, he is adamant he can use knowledge from the previous week of testing and qualifying to his advantage, noting “I think we're in a good spot.”
Dixon is the only Kiwi to have won the race labelled ‘the greatest spectacle in racing,’ kissing the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway bricks in 2008.
Scott Dixon received the Borg-Warner trophy after winning the Indianapolis 500 in 2008 | Photo: Photosport
Despite being the pole sitter, the race hasn’t been won from pole since 2019, with Josef Newgarden winning in 2023 from grid 17.
Dixon’s teammate and reigning Indy 500 champion, Alex Palou will start the from pole on Monday, after dominating IndyCar so far in 2026.
“Alex is also a generational talent that has been, you know, pushing the envelope. I think what's tough with him is that he's just so well rounded, you know, he's exceptionally good at everything.
“I think the current car and current style of the car is really suited to him and his background where he came through, you know, from Super Formula to F2 and things like that, unfortunately, with the issues that we had, it kind of took us out of it, pretty quickly.”
The 110th running of the Indy 500 begins Monday 4.45am NZST.
Watch the full interview via the Sport Nation YouTube below:
