Second Thoughts: Why Scott Dixon Should Embrace Move From Ganassi

Seeing all the stories about LeBron James leaving the Los Angeles Lakers and saying it’s time to try somewhere new, could be what many drivers in the INDYCAR paddock — including one of the INDYCAR greats — will say over the next two months.

James, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, will potentially join his fourth NBA team this year. Scott Dixon has driven for Chip Ganassi Racing since 2002 (when he split the year driving for PacWest and Ganassi). He is in his 24th full-time season with the organization and for the last six years has sought his seventh series title.

There won’t be a 25th. He is on his way out. Arrow McLaren the likely destination. Neither side has confirmed Dixon’s departure other than the acknowledgment that Dixon’s exclusive negotiating period has ended with Ganassi. But it is evident from talking to those who have heard from Dixon is that Dixon won’t be back at Ganassi.

And the big question is, can you believe it?

Why, yes. For sure.

The same reason James will leave the Lakers for somewhere else. The same reason Tom Brady left the New England Patriots after winning six titles and went to Tampa Bay, where he won a seventh.

I haven’t talked with Dixon about why he would leave. But it makes sense. Paychecks are nice, but there also is something about the grass being greener somewhere else. Or at least wanting to just check it out.

Not saying that Dixon will repeat the Brady story, but there’s a chance. And he’s leaving a Ganassi team that he can’t say is a place where he has performed up to expectations in his last couple of years. 

The Ganassi team has its leader, at least on the stat sheet, in Alex Palou. Dixon doesn’t have a win this year, and last year — beyond his win at Mid-Ohio (the site of this weekend’s race) — it was relatively a season of frustration. He wondered aloud how he finished third overall in the standings.

This year has been more of the same, maybe even less so, as he sits 10th in the standings. And if he’s getting beat by a great driver in similar equipment, why not see what it is like elsewhere?

Or why not help a program build as Arrow McLaren or anywhere else would need? And assuming he does end up at Arrow McLaren, there could be opportunities on the sports-car side or on the ambassador side. And an extra car for the Indy 500 if he wants it.

He’ll get to be part of the McLaren brand, too.

Ganassi for sure produces winners, and Dixon has won 58 races there (he had one win at PacWest for 59 in his career). Staying wouldn’t be a bad move, but leaving Ganassi now seems apt — Palou is rattling off wins and championships and Dixon’s not leaving Ganassi with nobody for them to hire. Ganassi very well could get a driver who has earned more points and wins this year than Dixon, as it appears McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard would be available.

Some will say that Dixon risks his legacy by making a move. Hogwash. There is no erasing the six titles. Just like Jimmie Johnson, when he went INDYCAR racing, some felt he stained his legacy. Again, disagree. The titles are there. If a driver doesn’t race as well in his 40s as he did in his 30s, maybe it is just a little bit of Father Time rather than a stain on a legacy.

And the fact is, who cares? The only people who should care about legacy are Dixon and his family. Anyone’s view of the legacy doesn’t matter as he can sit at home amid his race-winning and championship-winning trophies.

So good for Dixon for taking a chance and dismissing the comfort. He will have had 25 great years at Ganassi. That’s enough. It will be fun watching him race somewhere else.

In Second Thoughts, Bob Pockrass offers his opinion on a burning motorsports topic.