Dixon Chasing Elusive 12H Sebring Victory

Scott Dixon will ‘keep knocking on the door’ as he chases an elusive victory in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, as a race win in the Florida endurance classic has thus far escaped him during his previous eleven starts in the event.

The New Zealander will line up for his first Sebring appearance with Acura Meyer Shank Racing, teaming up with Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun aboard the No. 60 Acura ARX-06.

Last year, Dixon, Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande finished second after narrowly losing out to Wayne Taylor Racing, which actually proved to be Dixon’s best finish in the event.

Speaking with Sportscar365, Dixon noted that a Sebring victory thus far remains an unticked box even with a glittering resume that includes six NTT IndyCar Series titles, an Indianapolis 500 win and multiple overall victories in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and Motul Petit Le Mans.

“It’s tough, because I think we’ve been in great situations even the last two years with Cadillac,” said Dixon.

“I think there were going to be victories and then last year was really tough just because we lost it with maybe five or seven laps to go.

“We fought hard but ultimately we just didn’t have it at the end.

“Then the year before, I think we had a monster lead and the distributor pump actually split and filled the whole plenum with fuel. So it was going to be a big fire. That one, we got quite lucky, but that was another good one.

“In the first iteration when we ran for Cadillac [with Ganassi in 2021], we had a monster lead as well and then crashed with a car coming into the pits.

“So I guess the story is [that] we’ve been in good positions and opportunities to win the race, but have come up short.

“It’s definitely one [where] I’ve seen teammates and good friends that have been victorious here. I think if you keep knocking on the door, eventually it’s gonna open.”

Dixon added that the event ‘doesn’t owe him anything,’ noting that he remains drawn to the 12H Sebring due to its unique nature.

“I love coming here,” he said. “I think it’s one of the coolest tracks that we get to go to because it’s so tough. Especially I think the difference between the day race and the heat to the night just transforms everything you do, so you got to be on it.

“As far as the team, strategy wise and the drivers, it’s one of the toughest ones we’ve come to.

“Daytona is a little more laid back as far as the track doesn’t change much, the temperature doesn’t change much, but this track is pretty grueling.”

This year’s Sebring event will mark only Dixon’s second start with MSR, having moved teams after Chip Ganassi Racing and Cadillac went their separate ways at the end of last year.

“Honestly, here has probably been the easiest transition,” he said.

“One, HRC, it’s all very familiar faces. A good 50 percent of them are people that I’ve worked with in IndyCar. And then actually, I would say MSR is similar. There’s a lot of ex-Ganassi [staff] that are here.

“A ton of people I’ve worked with at Ganassi that have been there for, you know, 20 years as well. So it’s actually been a super easy transition.

“I think what Jim [Meyer] and Mike [Shank] do as far as personnel and the environment is, it’s super competitive but friendly as well.

“Kind of like a real family kind of vibe too. With some teams, you maybe don’t necessarily get that that feel. Obviously at Ganassi I do because I’ve been there for so long.

“It feels I’ve hung out with those people more than I’ve hung out with my own family but I’d say the transition here has been super seamless, super easy and a really fun environment to be in.

“The cars [themselves] are very different. The Cadillac was quite good on degradation.

“This one’s maybe a little more challenging, but it’s a lot better at some other things, especially in traffic. The car is quite good in dirty air.

“And then you’ve got a lot, driver aids that are maybe more advanced than what they had last year.

“So it’s kind of cool because the cars do drive completely different, yet they race in the same category. I didn’t think it would be that different when I first got in the car, so that’s kind of cool.”