To say that the last two years of Dakota Dickerson’s life have been a crazy ride might be an understatement, as the 20-year-old Californian earned three scholarships in rapid succession that took him from karts to cars. Dickerson talks about the accident that changed his career, what it means to be a Mazda Scholarship Driver and how his love of racing can be traced back to his kart-driving grandma.
How was growing up in San Diego?
I was a typical West Coast kid, going to the beach every other day and hanging out with friends outdoors. We have a lot of cool trails that we can go to during the week so lots of running and biking in places like Torrey Pines then going to the beach to cool off. And San Diego is 90 minutes from the desert, so you can ride motor bikes.
What first got you interested in racing?
My grandma grew up in Japan and was into karting when she was young. She met my grandpa when he was in the military in Japan during the Korean War. They got married and ended up in California when my grandpa got stationed here. They loved watching racing – Mario Andretti was my grandma’s favorite driver – so my dad got into karts as well. When I was 6, a friend had his birthday party at a karting track and we stayed the entire day. I remember how much fun it was, because I was kind of fast, too! That really started my love of racing.
Take us through your karting career, and the decision to get into cars.
That karting track is five minutes from my house, so I did that for a year. I moved outdoors, at Apex Karting, which is about 90 minutes from me. I did local karting, then regional events and then I did my first national event when I was 8. I did that until I was 16, when I had a pretty bad accident. I broke my arm and my wrist and had to have surgery. I was out for six months but in that time, I realized that I wanted to get into cars. I had been thinking about it, but that helped make the decision.
How did you make the transition to race cars?
We knew some people who had gone from karts to Skip Barber, so we tried the Karts to Cars Scholarship Shootout. We finished second and got a scholarship from that, but I also won the Bryan Herta Career Enhancement Award. We knew Bryan because we raced against his son Colton, who is a year younger than me. Bryan evaluated all the drivers over the three-day program and called when I was on my way home to tell me I’d won. He’s been a great help to me, giving me advice and help with racing.
You looked at both the Mazda Road to Indy and the Mazda Road to 24?
We didn’t know which direction we wanted to go, and Mazda’s program – whether it be on the sports car side or the open-wheel side – had great ladder programs that would get me where I wanted to be. So I ran Spec Miata and I did the Skip Barber Summer Series, figuring that I might get a scholarship in one of them. Skip Barber was the priority because of the scholarships we had, but we also ran the Teen Mazda Challenge in the Spec Mazda series. The open-wheel side took off and my goal really became the Mazda Road to Indy and USF2000.
Was getting the Team USA scholarship a key moment in your progression?
I knew from the history of the scholarship that a lot of the winners came from Skip Barber so I knew I had an opportunity to get nominated as long as I acted professionally and performed well. Keep in mind, all this is happening in my first year in cars; getting the scholarships from Skip Barber and Bryan Herta and racing Spec Miata. Getting the call from Jeremy Shaw about the Team USA Scholarship was one more amazing experience. It was hard to take in fully at the time. Getting the Scholarship was a huge step in my career.
It was a great learning experience – it was the first time I’d ever left the country. Michai Stephens was a great teammate, having been there the year before. We had a lot of responsibilities on and off the track, which was a great precursor to what I’m doing now. The racing is so crazy, with 30 cars on track, everyone attacking and all the cars running so close. You’re 100 percent the whole time. I finished fifth in the Formula Ford Festival which was a great achievement.
Did that experience help you in the Mazda Shootout for the USF2000 Scholarship?
The confidence I gained in England, with the race craft and the amount of aggression you have to have to succeed really helped in the five races of the Shootout. And it rained every other day in England, which helped when it rained at Road Atlanta! But I knew what was at stake, that winning was my only option if I wanted to get into USF2000.
Some of the big names in racing have been Mazda Scholarship Drivers, like USF2000 driver coach Joel Miller. I so appreciate having the Soul Red car in the series and all the help that Mazda gives me on and off the track – I’m so proud to be a part of the Mazda family.
What appeals to you about the Mazda Road to Indy?
There is no way I could get to IndyCar without the Mazda Road to Indy. It would be so, so difficult to reach the top tier of motorsports in the U.S. if the Mazda Road to Indy wasn’t there to help with the preparation, the scholarships and the training in the summits with Mazda and Cooper Tires.
What are your expectations for 2016?
I’d hoped for top-five finishes at St. Pete, but coming up to sixth place on the first lap was great. I was told that there’s often a big crash in Turn One, so I went to the inside and went from 16th to eighth. But there are so many good drivers in the series I would be happy to be consistently in the top five, grab a few podiums and a few wins. I would love to win the championship and continue to be a Mazda Scholarship Driver but if I don’t, we’ll be back to try and win it next year.
If I wasn’t driving a race car, I'd be ___________________________.
I’d like to be an engineer, still working on a team, whether it be as a mechanic, an engineer or an aerodynamicist – anything on a race team. I go to Miramar College now and I’d like to eventually transfer to a four-year college, one that has a good reputation for having mechanical engineering – and a Formula SAE program.
What do you do to relax?
I still like to go to the beach to relax. That’s my off time, when I’m not working on business relations, social media or training. I’d like to go surfing, but I’m terrible at surfing!