Marcus Armstrong was a Scott Dixon fan his entire life. When he was 8, the aspiring young racer asked his fellow New Zealander to autograph a helmet visor that he hung on his bedroom wall.
Next year, Armstrong will be Dixon’s teammate.
Armstrong on Friday was named the fourth IndyCar driver in the Chip Ganassi Racing lineup and will pilot the No. 11 next season on road and street courses. A driver for the five oval races on the 17-race schedule will be named later.
The No. 11 is essentially the No. 48 that seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson drove the past two seasons, with Chip Ganassi making the change to run four cars numbered in sequential order. Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson drives the No. 8, six-time champion Dixon drives the No. 9, and 2020 IndyCar champion Alex Palou drives the No. 10.
Armstrong, 22, spent the past three seasons in Formula One feeder series F2 and was a Ferrari development driver in 2021. He is the former roommate of Callum Ilott and former teammate of Christian Lundgaard — both of whom just completed their rookie IndyCar seasons.
“I’ve always been attracted to the IndyCar championship because it’s one of those championships that’s been really well televised in New Zealand since I was young, mainly because of Scott and his success,” Armstrong told The Associated Press. “As time progressed, as I got closer to F1 and single-seaters, the attraction to IndyCar grew just because of how competitive the championship is. I like to challenge myself, and the level of competition in IndyCar is remarkably high.”
Armstrong, from Christchurch, New Zealand, was set to travel from his current home in London to Indianapolis this weekend to meet his new team. He won’t need an introduction to Dixon, the 42-year-old considered the best IndyCar driver of his generation and Armstrong’s unequivocal childhood hero.
Dixon last season won his 53rd career race to pass Mario Andretti for second on the all-time list. Dixon has driven for Ganassi in all but 23 of his 345 career starts.
“For a long time I’ve been a Scott Dixon fan. I don’t want to make him cringe with our age difference,” Armstrong told the AP.
Despite the two-decade age difference, Armstrong never considered someday racing with Dixon a fantasy.
He convinced his father after winning five national karting championships to allow him to leave New Zealand for Italy at age 14, where he moved by himself to purse a racing career. Armstrong said as soon as he received parental…
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