2003–2006 Dixon and CGR switched from CART to the
IndyCar Series before the
2003 season, partly due to financial incentives and a desire to compete in the
Indianapolis 500. he quickly adapted to ovals. Dixon won his debut race, the
Toyota Indy 300 at
Homestead–Miami Speedway, after leading the final 53 laps. Dixon took successive wins at
Pikes Peak International Raceway and
Richmond International Raceway and four second places in the next ten races. Dixon finished second, ahead of all other title contenders, to win the championship with 507 points. In the second round of the
2004 championship, he finished second at
Phoenix International Raceway, followed by a fifth-place finish in the following round at Motegi. The remaining twelve races saw him achieve seven more top-tens with his best performance during that period being a fifth place in the final round, the
Chevy 500 at Texas, for tenth overall with 355 points. particularly when IndyCar implemented a rule change lowering engine sizes from 3.5 L to 3.0 L at the
Indianapolis 500. Dixon, according to Smith, would occasionally overdrive his car, causing handling issues entering corners. He had implants installed in the corner of his left eye to restore it to optimal sight for oval circuits, and focused fully on IndyCar following F1 testing for the
Williams team in Europe and racing in the
International Race of Champions (IROC) early the previous year. The beginning of the year saw him struggle in comparison with his previous two years in IndyCar with CGR. At
Watkins Glen for the
Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix, Dixon led an event-high 25 laps for his first series victory in forty races. He finished thirteenth in the drivers' championship with 321 points. He concentrated on improving his abilities on oval tracks, and learnt from teammate
Dan Wheldon how to improve his performance on ovals. Dixon began 2006 with consecutive second-places in
St. Petersburg and
Motegi. He went on to achieve victory in the
Firestone Indy 200 at
Nashville Superspeedway four races later by 0.1176 seconds over Wheldon after leading the final 67 laps. Going into the season-ending
Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 at
Chicagoland Speedway, Dixon was one of four drivers mathematically eligible win the championship; however, he finished second and was fourth overall with 460 points. lowering
Dario Franchitti's points advantage from 65 to 24. Dixon won the
Motorola Indy 300 at Sonoma three rounds later, passing Franchitti's damaged car late in the race to take the championship lead from the latter. He was second overall with three fewer points than Franchitti going into the season-ending
Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 in Chicago, and one of three competitors who could mathematically claim the drivers' championship. Late on the race's final lap, Dixon was leading when his car ran out of fuel, causing him to finish runner-up to Franchitti with 624 points. in
2008 The
2008 season saw Dixon return to CGR, winning the season-opening
Gainsco Auto Insurance Indy 300 at Homestead from pole position. After two third-places at Motegi and
Kansas Speedway (from pole position), and then the rain-shortened
Firestone Indy 200 in Nashville. He achieved consecutive wins in the
Rexall Edmonton Indy at
Edmonton City Centre Airport and the
Meijer Indy 300 at Kentucky in which he led 151 laps from pole position after Castroneves ran out of fuel on the final lap. Dixon led Castroneves by thirty championship points entering the season-ending
Peak Antifreeze Indy 300; he won his second series title after finishing 0.0033 seconds behind race winner Castroneves in the series' second-closest finish. meant he surpassed
Sam Hornish Jr.'s all time IndyCar series wins record For his title defence in the
2009 season, Dixon raced for CGR. Following two subpar races, Dixon won the
ABC Supply Company A.J. Foyt 225 at Milwaukee for the championship lead two races later. At Richmond for the
SunTrust Indy Challenge, he led 161 laps in his third victory of 2009, equalling
Sam Hornish Jr.'s series record career wins with his nineteenth. Following his finishes at Watkins Glen and Edmonton, His fifth and final victory of 2009 was the
Indy Japan 300 at Motegi, leading 139 laps from pole position. Dixon entered the season-ending
Firestone Indy 300 as one of three drivers eligible for the championship. With 605 points, he finished third in the race and was championship runner-up to teammate Franchitti. Dixon's
2010 season began with three top-seven finishes in the first four races before leading 167 laps of the
RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300 to win the event for the second consecutive year in Kansas. Following four top-eight finishes, he won the
Honda Indy Edmonton after Castroneves was deemed to have blocked his Penske teammate
Will Power. Dixon finished no lower than eighth in the five rounds that followed, including a second-place finish at
Sonoma Raceway. but he finished the season by winning the
2010 Cafés do Brasil Indy 300 at Homestead to finish third overall with 547 points.
2011–2015 In the
2011 championship, Dixon again returned to drive for CGR. He led 62 laps of the
Indy Japan: The Final at Motegi to win the event from pole position three races later. Dixon's third-place finish in the following
Kentucky Indy 300 at Kentucky allowed him to beat Franchitti to the A. J. Foyt Oval Trophy despite having no oval victories in 2011. He was third in the Drivers' Championship with 518 points. engine reliability problems affected his performance that year. Three second-place finishes in the season's first five races came at St. Petersburg, Barber, and the
Indianapolis 500. Six races later, he qualified fourth for the
Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, where he won his second race of the season. Dixon was one of four drivers eligible for the drivers' championship after finishing fourth in the
Grand Prix of Baltimore on the streets of Baltimore. He was 53 points behind championship leader Power. He finished third in the season-ending
MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships at
Auto Club Speedway for third overall with 435 points. Dixon signed a three-year contract extension to remain at CGR for the
2013 season and through to the end of the
2015 championship in mid-2012. His Honda engined car had less power than
Chevrolet engined vehicles. Dixon finished second at Barber and four other times in the season's first ten rounds. Dixon won both races of the
Honda Indy Toronto doubleheader (leading 81 laps in the second event from pole position) and moved into second place in the championship standings one week later. He won the first race of the
Shell-Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston doubleheader and finished second in the second race to overtake Castroneves (who had mechanical issues) as the season-ending
MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships at Auto Club Speedway approached. Dixon won his third series title with 577 points after finishing fifth at Auto Club. Dixon drove a Chevrolet-powered car for the first time in the
2014 season, after CGR switched from Honda to have both the IndyCar and NASCAR teams partnered with the same engine manufacturer. His engines had a power delivery issue that slightly exaggerated shock/damper setup issues, and changes in centre of gravity and weight distribution caused traction issues exiting corners, requiring him to accelerate more cautiously. Dixon finished third once at Barber and had seven top-ten finishes in the first fourteen races of the season before winning the
Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio after starting 22nd. He overtook
Mike Conway to win the
GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma two races later. He finished third in the final championship standings with 604 points after finishing second in the season finale at Auto Club. He took pole position for the
Indianapolis 500 and led 84 laps before finishing fourth due to a lack of speed late in the race. Dixon started seventh in the
Firestone 600 at Texas three races later and led 97 laps in his second victory of the season. He finished fifth five times in the next six races, including a pole position at the Iowa race. securing the race victory and his fourth championship title.
2016–2020 Dixon drove for CGR in the
2016 season after signing a three-year contract extension with the team in mid-2015 and was outperformed by Penske engineering-wise. Dixon started seventh and led the final 155 laps of the
Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix at Phoenix International Raceway for his first win of the season, breaking a series record for wins in consecutive seasons with 12. He won the
IndyCar Grand Prix at The Glen after starting on pole and leading 50 laps. With 477 points after finishing seventeenth in the season finale at Sonoma, he finished sixth in the Drivers' Championship, the first time he finished outside the top three in points since 2005. CGR returned to Honda engines before the
2017 season after three seasons with Chevrolet. Dixon finished third at St. Petersburg, Barber, and the Indianapolis road course in his first five races. He took the championship lead from Castroneves by finishing second in the first race of the
Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader, and won the
Kohler Grand Prix at Road America three races later. He finished no lower than tenth in the next six races, including consecutive second places at
Gateway Motorsports Park and Watkins Glen, and was three points behind championship leader
Josef Newgarden heading into the season-ending
GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. Dixon finished fourth, putting him third in the final championship standings with 621 points. Dixon drove a car equipped with a new universal aerodynamic car package for the
2018 season and had no technical disadvantage to Penske. He took five top-ten finishes, including consecutive podiums at the Indianapolis road course and the
Indianapolis 500 in the first six races. and he led the final 119 laps of the
DXC Technology 600 at Texas for the championship lead two races later. Three races after Texas, he won his third and final race of 2018, the
Honda Indy Toronto. Dixon finished no lower than fifth in the year's final five races and took pole position at Gateway. He won his fifth IndyCar championship finishing second in the season-ending
Grand Prix of Sonoma, scoring 678 points. Dixon signed a multi-year contract extension with CGR through to the end of the
2023 season after rejecting an offer from McLaren CEO
Zak Brown to join the brand's IndyCar team for a rumoured three seasons before the
2019 championship. The season's first seven races yielded four podium finishes in St. Petersburg, Barber, Long Beach and the Indianapolis road course. Following four top-five finishes, he held off teammate
Felix Rosenqvist to win the
Honda Indy 200 from eighth, his second and final victory of 2019 and sixth at Mid-Ohio. Dixon finished fourth in the final Drivers' Championship standings with 578 points after finishing on the podium twice more at Pocono and Laguna Seca. and Indiana's lockdown required Dixon to prepare at home for the return to racing. Dixon then won the
GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis road course and the first race of the
REV Group Grand Prix doubleheader at Road America. He finished second in the first race of the Iowa doubleheader and led a race-high 111 laps in the
Indianapolis 500. Dixon took his 50th career win in the opening round of the following
Bommarito Automotive Group 500 doubleheader at Gateway. He finished no lower than tenth in the final five races, and won his sixth drivers' championship by 16 points over Newgarden in the season-ending
Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, finishing third.
2021–present Dixon started the
2021 championship by finishing third at Barber and St. Petersburg. He started third for the first race of the
Genesys 300 doubleheader at Texas, leading 206 of 212 laps in his first and only victory of the year to take the championship lead and surpass Foyt's record of winning a race in the most seasons during his 19th season. Dixon took two pole positions in the second Genesys 300 round and the
Indianapolis 500 but lost the championship lead to teammate
Álex Palou after finishing seventeenth in the latter event. He took three more podiums and four top-tens and was fourth in the final season standings with 481 points. Four races later, he started second in the
Honda Indy Toronto and led 40 laps to claim his fourth Toronto victory. Dixon won the
Big Machine Music City Grand Prix four races later on the streets of downtown Nashville. He was one of five drivers mathematically eligible to win the championship heading into the season finale, the
Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at Laguna Seca. A lack of speed in the race restricted him to twelfth and he was fourth in the championship standings with 521 points. Dixon started the 2023 season improving his performance in qualifying from the year before, and securing a third position at St. Petersburg and top ten finishes in the three of the next four races as a result of a byproduct of an engineering and strategy team reshuffle. A rare retirement following contact with
Pato O'Ward at Long Beach put Dixon in a deficit for championship points. After Dixon and his crew began developing more and he and his timing team began understanding their own needs, Dixon's results improved. Dixon then led 82 laps of the following
Bommarito Automotive Group 500 to win and become teammate Palou's only championship rival after Newgarden crashed. He was mathematically eliminated from title contention after finishing third at the
BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland, which Palou won, but he did secure second in the Drivers' Championship. He overcame a drive-through penalty for contact on the first lap to end the season with a victory in the
Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey. in 2024 At the second round of the
2024 season, the
Grand Prix of Long Beach, Dixon employed a fuel-saving strategy for more than half the race following a
yellow flag caution period to win the event for the second time. After two more top six finishes in the following three races with sub-par performances in qualifying, he won the
Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix through another fuel-saving strategy and holding off
Marcus Ericsson to take the championship lead from teammate Palou. Although he lost the realistic prospect of winning his seventh drivers' title after an accident at the
Grand Prix of Portland, his second-place finish in the second race of the
Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s moved him past
Mario Andretti for the record of most career IndyCar podiums with his 142nd. Dixon was sixth in the points standings with 456. Dixon achieved five more top ten finishes over the course of the next eight races. The rest of the season yielded five more top-ten finishes in the final seven races, which included a second-place finish in the second race of the
Sukup IndyCar Race Weekend. Dixon was third in the drivers' standings with 452 points. ==Sports car career==