Dixon's win 'among top 10 Kiwi feats'

Sports historians Keith Quinn and Ron Palenski are divided on the significance of Scott Dixon's victory in the Indy 500.
Dixon supporters celebrate historic win

Quinn, who calls himself "no petrolhead", rates Dixon's victory "well inside" the top 10 sporting feats by a New Zealand sportsperson.

But Palenski, chief executive of the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame, is more circumspect, though he singles it out as the No1 performance in motor racing by a New Zealander, ahead of Denny Hulme, who won the 1967 Formula One world championship.

Quinn said of Dixon's win: "[Peter] Snell, [Jack] Lovelock, other great Olympic wins, the All Blacks winning in South Africa in 1996, Michael Campbell's US Open victory - it comfortably sits alongside the top of that echelon.

"I'm no petrolhead at all, I didn't get my driver's licence till I was 29 so I have zero interest, but I understand the significance of the event. It has to be up there as one of the all-time Kiwi performances.

"We have honoured Denny Hulme in the past with the highest accolade - induction into the Hall of Fame - and this has to be as good as winning the Formula One series, but probably bigger because of its audience grab in the US and the significance over there."

Palenski said his reluctance to put a number on where Dixon's feat sat was threefold. First, he needed more time to assess it; second, the Indy 500 got little traction outside the United States and third, the car and the crew played a huge part.

"I wouldn't put him anywhere near Snell and Lovelock, but I'd rank it ahead of the America's Cup [1995 win in San Diego] purely because it is more a blue-collar sport, a sport that a lot of us can follow," Palenski said.

"But in terms of motor racing it is probably the greatest achievement by a Kiwi, because Indianapolis is a much bigger deal in the United States than Formula One is.

"A lot of Americans would know Dixon won Indianapolis but bugger all would know Denny Hulme once won the world championship."

- © Fairfax NZ News