Two weeks ago, Scott Dixon joined some exclusive company. His second-place finish in the 2018 season finale Grand Prix of Sonoma cemented the 2018 IndyCar championship for Dixon. It wasn’t his first championship. It wasn’t even his second…or third…or fourth. This was his FIFTH title in the highest series of American open-wheel racing.
The list of IndyCar drivers to accomplish this feat is short. The first to do it was none other than A.J. Foyt. The second one to do it? Scott Dixon. It was nice timing as well, as a movie about Dixon releases in October (watch the trailer below).
LINK: DIXON FINALLY FEELS COMFORTABLE IN HIS OWN CHAMPION’S SKIN
On the most recent “Trackside With Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee” Radio Show, they noted all drivers across IndyCar, NASCAR and Formula One with five titles. It’s a “Who’s who” list of drivers. In addition to Scott Dixon and A.J. Foyt, the list contains Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty, Jimmie Johnson, Michael Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio.
I believe that if you surveyed 1,000 Americans, all of those drivers other than Fangio are more well-known than Dixon. The only reason Scott Dixon MIGHT be better known than Fangio? Fangio’s last Formula One race was the 1958 French Grand Prix. Every other driver on the list raced into at earliest the 1980s.
LINK: MAYOR PROCLAIMS ‘SCOTT DIXON DAY’ IN INDIANAPOLIS TO HONOR INDYCAR CHAMPION
This is a trading card blog, though. So, let’s move to trading cards.
During the junk wax era of the late 1980s and early 1990s, there were IndyCar trading card sets released. It wasn’t a huge amount, but they were out there. However, American open-wheel racing has seen a decline in popularity since those days (although numbers over the last handful of years show it trending upward). A trading card set hasn’t been released in over a decade, due to that and other factors, . The last set was the 2007 Rittenhouse set.
Racing cards are the least collected of any sport/type of trading card. They are a drop in the bucket compared to baseball, football, hockey, basketball, non-sport and gaming cards. It is difficult that a satisfactory argument could be made contradicting that.
LINK: CHAMPIONS DIXON, CHIP GANASSI RACING HONORED AT VICTORY LAP CELEBRATION
Even with IndyCar’s popularity/viewing audience growing, it’s still not close to NASCAR. I don’t expect there to be multiple sets per year, but I think IndyCar marketing should work on this. How great would it be to buy packs of cards at a race and get them signed? IndyCar drivers are more accessible than NASCAR or any of the stick-and-ball sports.
LINK: INDYCAR COMMUNITY SHOWS SUPPORT FOR DIXON AT FILM PREMIERE
Scott Dixon drives for the Chip Ganassi team and has since 2003. Ganassi’s participation in NASCAR has allowed Dixon to be in a card set since, the 2012 Press Pass Legends and 2013 Press Pass Legends sets. I am thankful Press Pass included Dixon (and others including Will Power and Dario Franchitti).
LINK: DIXON RECEIVES AND GIVES PRAISE AT VICTORY LAP CELEBRATION
According to Trading Card Database, there are 47 Scott Dixon trading cards. That’s it. Only six of those cards aren’t from the 2012 and 2013 Press Pass Legends sets. That is the least cards of any of the five drivers from the American racing series.
| Driver | # of cards (TCDB) |
| Jimmie Johnson | 5440 |
| Dale Earnhardt | 4050 |
| Richard Petty | 2494 |
| A.J. Foyt | 88 |
| Scott Dixon | 47 |
| Juan Manuel Fangio | 29 |
| Michael Schumacher | 25 |
It’s sad to me that Scott Dixon isn’t more well known. He’s an amazing driver, certainly among the best of this generation. He’s also a good man, just watch his interviews. Even more disappointing to me is that he gets no hobby love. Part of that is IndyCar’s fault. Part of it is Panini’s fault. I’ve tweeted to some of Panini’s product development people. Not shockingly, all I heard were crickets. If you’ve read other posts, you know how I feel about Panini. Add this to the list of why.
If you shop online and haven’t signed up and used ebates yet, you’re missing out on FREE MONEY. I also use it on eBay to get money back from purchases there. Between referrals and cash back, I’ve gotten over $300 since I joined in October 2016 between purchases and referrals. FREE CARDS!
I would love to buy packs of Indy Car cards! It’s getting harder and harder to find cards to bring with me for signing to Indianapolis every year… most of the drivers represented on cardboard have retired by now. It’s a damn shame that no one has taken up the mantle yet, especially when I see some of the drivel that has been produced in the last decade.