Scott Dixon has indicated that he and McLaren have not engaged in extensive discussions about the possibility of him contesting endurance events beyond his commitments in the NTT IndyCar Series.
Dixon inked a deal with Arrow McLaren’s IndyCar squad for 2027 after a 25-year tenure with Chip Ganassi Racing, with his appearance in the most recent Motul Petit Le Mans aboard Meyer Shank Racing’s Acura ARX-06 marking his final drive in a Honda-powered car.
The 46-year-old New Zealander has competed in the Rolex 24 at Daytona with Ganassi from 2004 through 2024, before switching to MSR for the last two editions.
He has also accumulated 11 starts in the Twelve Hours of Sebring and six at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
McLaren’s MCL-HY is set to debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship next year, fueling talk that Dixon could be considered for a role within the program, though the Le Mans date next year conflicts with an IndyCar round.
“I can’t say I’ve really looked into it too much,” Dixon told Sportscar365 during last weekend’s Motul Petit Le Mans. “I know they’re in full swing and getting the most out of that program.”
“They’ve got a fantastic lineup of drivers. I think down the road, once they kind of get into more of a happy space, they can look at doing additional races.”
“Whether you know, for example, that could be Daytona and maybe running an additional car or something like that. So no, I haven’t really even spoken about that prospect. I think later on, if it’s something that we can agree on, then it’s definitely a possibility.”
“I think with some of the situations, they may want the driver that does Daytona needs to also do Le Mans. It factors in a little bit like that.”
“It would be sad if I don’t get to do it, I haven’t really looked deeply into it yet. [They’re] just a couple of good deals that I think are possible, but hinge on doing those bits.”
Dixon hopes that the FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA and IndyCar can prevent any future schedule conflicts, particularly with key endurance races, as next year’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring is set to clash with an IndyCar round.
“Obviously, Le Mans is a favorite of mine,” he said. “It’s kind of frustrating that IndyCar keeps putting dates on top of it, which I get.”
“You know they’ve got to focus on their program, and obviously TV windows and stuff like that are pretty tough.”
“But I think when you look at sports car racing, you should really steer clear of Daytona and Sebring, Petit, obviously Le Mans, which is probably the biggest one to stick clear of.”
“There are opportunities there, but again, it’s got to be agreeable on everybody’s front. If it’s working, then that’s great.”
“If it’s not, then there’s no point in doing it. But for me, the focus is really [on IndyCar] right now. There’s no point looking two, three, four years down the road or anything like that.”
Should Dixon not secure a drive for the Rolex 24, it would mark the end of a two-plus decade run of contesting the Florida endurance classic.
“Next year might be the first year in 24 years that I haven’t done Daytona,” he said. “I love endurance racing, always have.”
“Since the first race I did [at Petit Le Mans] in 1999 with Stefan [Johansson] in the Ferrari 333 SP, I was like, ‘holy cow, this is fantastic.’ Even though we didn’t finish the race. I love any kind of racing, but the endurance stuff is a ton of fun.”
