Have any IndyCar drivers been knighted?

Six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon was recently knighted for his services in motorsports in New Zealand's New Year's honors list. Multiple F1 drivers, including Sir Lewis Hamilton, have received knighthood in the past. But have any IndyCar drivers been knighted? No, Dixon is the first IndyCar driver to receive knighthood. Let's have a detailed look at the same.

Scott Dixon, the first IndyCar driver to receive knighthood

Knighthood is awarded to a person for their impact in their field as well as away from it. However, the IndyCar series is an American open-wheel racing series with most of the grid primarily hailing from North America. Many greats of the sport, including AJ Foyt, Mario Andretti, Bobby Rahal, and Al Unser, all hail from the US.

However, the IndyCar has no native system for knighthood, hence neither of these greats was knighted. Some of the most successful IndyCar drivers to hail from outside of the US are Scott Dixon with six championships, Sebastian Bourdais (France), Dario Franchitti (British), and Alex Palou (Spanish) with four.

France has multiple levels to honor, with Chevalier (Knight) being the lowest level, and the system was set up by Napoleon in 1802. Spain and the UK also have a knighthood system in place. Unfortunately, Dario Franchitti passed away when he was still in his prime years.

As for Alex Palou, he's been dominating the sport for the last half a decade and might be knighted in the future for his contributions. However, as of now, Scott Dixon is the only IndyCar driver to have received the honor of knighthood.

The Chip Ganassi Racing star won the 2008 Indy 500, six IndyCar titles, has been racing in IndyCar for well over two decades, and only now has received knighthood.

NTT INDYCAR Series BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland - Source: Getty

On the contrary, multiple F1 personnel have hailed from the UK, which includes Sir Lewis Hamilton, Sir Jackie Stewart, Sir Jack Brabham, Sir Sterling Moss, and Williams F1 founder Sir Frank Williams.

Scott Dixon thought the knighthood email was spam

Scott Dixon was born in Australia to parents with New Zealand nationality, who moved back to Auckland, where the IndyCar spent most of his childhood. Dixon reacted to the knighthood as his Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (KNZM) was revealed.

The six-time IndyCar driver initially thought that the knighthood mail was spam, as he said,

“For me it's just a massive honour, not something I would ever expect or even thought was ever going to be a possibility. We live in the digital world, so it came via email. I'm like, 'maybe this is spam', so I send it to my wife, and I'm like, 'do you think this is legit?' Then you have to kind of accept it.” “I think what is truest to it is that I just love flying the flag, on the world stage. When I win a race, I'm holding that Kiwi flag, and to me, it's where I came from, it's where I grew up,” added Dixon.

The 2026 IndyCar season will be Scott Dixon's 26th season in the American open wheel racing series

Edited by Pranay Bhagi