St. Petersburg, FL (93.7 The Fan) -- PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon is not planning any changes to his approach to the 2019 season and why should he? With 5-IndyCar Championships and 44-race wins, his approach has served him will.
"Same goal as every year," said Dixon. "To win the Indianapolis 500 and win the Championship."
Dixon's championship defense begins this weekend as the green flag drops on the NTT IndyCar Series season with Sunday's Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
"I think it's the best place we could kick-off the season," said Dixon. "I think the city really embraces the race and they do a fantastic job on the promotions side and it's always extremely well attended. It's also one of the longer races, 110-laps on a street course. Seems like everybody is fired-up and there tends to be a few crashes and the strategy goes a bit crazy at that place so it's a fun race to watch and be a part of."
Dixon has never won at the picturesque 1.8-mile course that uses the City streets and part of the runway at Albert Whitted Airport.
"We've come up short there many a times," reflected Dixon. "I've been on the podium. I think I've led a couple of times. I've crashed. It's just a difficult place that I've never been able to pull off a win, but we'll be trying this weekend."
Each NTT IndyCar Series race presents a unique challenge as the series runs on road courses, short ovals, superspeedways and street courses like St. Pete.
"It's definitely a track that takes a little while to get momentum, especially through that back section, (turns) four through nine," said Dixon. "You're really tight between the walls, you have a lot of 2nd gear corners but you can pick up a ton of speed too. Having a car that you know you can really manhandle and muscle around but have a lot of confidence in."
Dixon know the competition will be stiff if he wants to get that elusive St. Pete win and a sixth title.
"I've never gone back-to-back so that's goal number 1, to try and get back-to-back Championships," said Dixon. "Right now, the IndyCar Series is just so tight. The competition is really cut throat, so we'll just put our head down."
The Ganassi team has won back-to-back championships, including the four in-a-row from 1996 to 1999. Those titles were followed up by Juan Montoya's win in the 2000 Indianapolis 500, something Dixon would like to experience for a second time.
"The Indianapolis 500 has definitely eluded us," said Dixon. "It's been ten years now since I won back in 2008 so that's a big goal for us."
In order to reach those goals, Dixon trains hard in the off-season and gets a big assist from his wife Emma, a former Olympic runner for Great Britain.
"Having a person that really understands competition and what it takes," said Dixon. "Fueling the body and the mental toughness and things like that has been a huge help for me. We're definitely a big team and work well together and obviously I'm blessed to have her and (daughters) Poppy and Tilly."
Dixon experience as a father came in handy recently as he spent some time at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with local kids thanks to his sponsor PNC.
"PNC has been amazing," said Dixon. "I think their community outreach, their program with "Grow Up Great", fits really well with the racing program. It was fun to be out at the Speedway with 20-kindergarten kids. It looked like they had a good time."
Dixon knows from experience that someday one of those kids could be a future driver or engineer.
"I don't know how many times I've heard the story of people going out as kids to the Indianapolis 500 and now work in the industry or working with one of the partners like Firestone or Honda. It just takes one little thing to trigger it."
Dixon's love for racing was triggered at a young age and shows no signs of fading after nearly two decades in IndyCar.
"What keeps driving me is the passion," said Dixon. "It's the racing, just trying to beat the fellow competitors. It's so tough out there right now. That's what gets me out of bed. That's what gets me going to the gym everyday trying to perfect what we do and do it better."
Nobody has done it better than Dixon or his Ganassi team over the past two decades so he hopes all sports fans will come out and check out a race because he knows they won't be disappointed.
"Its action packed," said Dixon. "IndyCar racing right now is a spectacle. The speeds and excitement, there's so much going on. Who wouldn't want to get out of that cold Pittsburgh weather and get down to St. Pete Florida and check out some racing?"
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