Six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon, driver of the No.9 PNC BANK Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, has been inducted into the Motorsports Hall Of Fame Of America class of 2024.
Dixon joins his INDYCAR SERIES team owner Chip Ganassi and fellow champion Dario Franchitti. Speaking about the news, Dixon said right now it is eyes forward as he searches for his seventh series championship and second Indianapolis 500 win in 2023. The Iceman is third in the championship heading into this weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Dixon is joined on this year’s list by his former teammate and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson. John Surtees and former champ Car team owner Paul Newman.
Jim Downing and Bob Hubbard, who created the HANS device, have also been inducted into the Hall Of Fame, which takes place next March—speaking to Paddock Eye during the announcement that it means a lot to him, gave that he is still going strong in his career and aiming to win his seventh championship this year and that he is excited to go to the event and celebrate with Jimmie Johnson.
Chip Ganassi told Paddock Eye that he is immensely proud that Scott Dixon and Jimmie Johnson are in the Hall of Fame, which is what the team is all about in having successful drivers.
Jim Downing, who was on the call said that following Ayrton Senna’s crash in 1994, that got the ball rolling with the introduction of the HANS Device, although it took up to 1999 to have it introduced in the IndyCar Series.
Dixon went on to say:
“I’m extremely honored to be thought of in this way and mentioned among many of the greats across so many forms of motorsports. The first thing that comes to mind is how I was able to get here. A single person can never do it alone. I’m grateful to Chip, the team and everyone who has helped make this possible over the last 20 years, and then going back to the start of it all with my parents and the group that helped me along. But it comes down to racing for me and the pure love that I have for this sport across every different category. First and foremost, I am a racing fan and that’s where the desire comes from. I’m extremely lucky to be able to do what I do and I am grateful for everybody that has helped give me the possibility, and this is in their honor.”
The Class of 2024 includes the all-time winningest NHRA Top Fuel Funny Car crew chief Austin Coil (Drag Racing), six-time INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon (Open Wheel), HANS Device inventors Jim Downing & Dr. Robert Hubbard (Technology), desert racing legend and Hollywood stuntman Bud Ekins (Motorcycles), seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson (Stock Cars), four-time SCCA national champion and eight-time IndyCar title-winning owner Paul Newman (At Large) and 1966 Can-Am champion and championship-winning constructor John Surtees (Sports Cars). Two additional Historic Category inductees will be announced this summer.