The New Zealand motorsport community is today mourning the loss of Ron Dixon, father of legendary Kiwi IndyCar driver Scott Dixon.
Ron Dixon, along with wife Glenys, was an avid motorsport enthusiast, a former competitor, and also previously owned a dirt Speedway in Townsville. He was also an original member of the Northland Car Club and maintained varying levels of involvement in the sport over time.
The family spent a decade living in Australia, where Scott was born in 1980, before returning to New Zealand after Ron was involved in a severe accident.
“Dad raced a bit of everything, whether it was rally cars or circuit racing,” Scott Dixon said in a 2021 interview with Fox 2 News.
“My earliest memories were when they owned a track in Townsville, and my mum would do some of the races there as well.
“Then, moving back to New Zealand was when I got my first taste of racing go-karts.
“It was definitely a family atmosphere that we would do every weekend, and still, to this day, they are some of the happiest memories I have.”
With support from Ken Smith, Scott branched out to explore the Australian scene in the late 90s before venturing to the United States in 1998, with the financial help of a group of investors, including Sir Colin Giltrap, a move which has since snowballed into the Kiwi becoming one of the most successful racing drivers in the sport’s history.
Ron remained a very proud father of Scott and his racing career until the very end.
“I was yelling and jumping up and down, he was yelling too, going ‘we did it, we did it!’ – it was just an unbelievable feeling. I am very, very proud – it’s just an incredible thing,” he told the NZ Herald following Scott Dixon’s Indy 500 win in 2008.
Scott Dixon is expected to arrive in New Zealand today ahead of a family memorial service on Friday.
