ONE OF THE ALL-TIME GREATS.

By Peter M. De Lorenzo

Detroit. As many longtime readers know, I consider Scott Dixon to be one of the finest drivers ever to don a helmet. He has been my driver of the year more than once, and he has starred in several of my columns about which driver I'd prefer - as an owner of a fictional racing team - with a race on the line. With his 40th Indy car victory coming last weekend in the Verizon IndyCar Series race at Watkins Glen International, Scott Dixon is now fourth on the all-time Indy car victory list behind A. J. Foyt (67), Mario Andretti (52) and Michael Andretti (42). And I wouldn't be surprised if the 36-year-old Dixon doesn't surpass Michael and approach Mario's total before he retires from driving.

Dixon's run last weekend was as dominant of a performance as you'll ever see in any form of racing. He was quickest in all four IndyCar practice sessions, capturing the pole position, then he went on to win the race in a highly competitive field by more than sixteen seconds. Dixon was pretty much untouchable all weekend, a fact that was acknowledged by several drivers in post-race interviews.

The point of this column is not just an appreciation of Dixon's immense talent, but to remind racing enthusiasts to appreciate what Dixon is doing right now, because we're witnessing one of racing's all-time greats. The sport of racing seems to do an excellent job at honoring the greats of the past - both alive and dead - but sometimes I think we tend to take for granted the greatness unfolding before our eyes in real time. Scott Dixon is simply one of the best ever, and if you have a chance to go out and see one of racing's all-time greats drive in person over the next couple of seasons, I would certainly recommend it.

And that's the High-Octane Truth for this week.

(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Scott Dixon in Victory Lane following his 40th Indy car win at The Glen.

Editor's Note: Many of you have seen Peter's references over the years to the Hydrogen Electric Racing Federation (HERF), which he launched in 2007. For those of you who weren't following AE at the time, you can read two of HERF's press releases here and here. And for even more details (including a link to Peter's announcement speech), check out the HERF entry on Wikipedia here. -WG

Publisher's Note: As part of our continuing series celebrating the "Glory Days" of racing, we're proud to present another noteworthy image from the Ford Racing Archives. - PMD

(Courtesy of the Ford Racing Archives)
Indianapolis, Indiana, 1965. The great A.J. Foyt Jr. sits in the No. 1 Ansted-Thompson Racing Sheraton/Thompson Lotus-Ford during practice for the 1965 Indianapolis 500. He remains the only driver to win the Indianapolis 500 (four times), the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Daytona 500 and the 24 Hours of Daytona. His 67 Indy car victories is a record that may never be broken.