Montoya was a bit miffed at Dixon usurping him suggesting he didn't deserve to win as the Kiwi had "had a s**t season" and it was unfair that "the last race had been worth double points".
"Yeah, man it was a crazy race and I still don't believe we did it [win title]," said Dixon.
"We didn't qualify well [ninth] and that was the real downer for us so it was going to have to be down to strategy.
"The pitstop where we jumped those cars [mid race] was the turning spot and I knew right then that we had a good chance. I was shocked how good the team was as I [drove] past the other cars still getting serviced - we destroyed them.
"Then when Montoya hit Will [Power] I thought 'wow'. I've been in the same situation before when Dan [Weldon] and I were going for the championship in 2006 and the same thing happened with Dario in 2009.
"This year it was the Penske guys fighting and not Ganassi and the golden rule is you don't crash into your teammates.
"My teammates this year were fantastic and it was a huge advantage.
"I know Montoya was angry after the race as he'd been leading the championship from the start. To lose on a count-back is a pretty jagged knife to take.
"If there were no double points during the season [Montoya got double points for winning the Indy 500] we would have won the title by three points anyway."
This season has been one of Dixon's more random ones with his results oscillating all over the place.
He was punted off by a teammate, had mechanical dramas and a car that at times just wasn't good enough.
For example he finished 20th in Detroit, then bounced back with a win in Texas and then dropped to eighth in Toronto.
Although in 2013 when he won his last title Dixon was a long way out of the championship with just a few races to go but managed to finish the year with a hiss and roar to grab the title by just 27 points.
Hanging tough, as he always does, Dixon hovered inside the top five all this season and grasped every opportunity given to him.
What made it even harder going into the last race of the season, was the loss of his friend Justin Wilson after his freakish accident at the preceding race at Pocono.
"Obviously it was a hard week before the race with all the stuff going on.
"I think I was only home for one night before I left for Sonoma. I was at the hospital with the other drivers.
"On race day I wasn't really feeling it and Emma told me I could still do this and I thought she might be right. The good thing was having a race after Justin's death and not ending the season on that sort of note.
"The tough part is losing Justin and it was somewhat comfortable to be back with your peers after losing him. You're with the people who are in the same environment, which makes it a bit easier.
"When Dan [Weldon] died it was really tough because it was the end of the season and everyone went in their own direction. You didn't have that IndyCar family vibe.
"It was tough over the weekend but there were lots of smiles and stories, but it still just plain old sucks man."
Not only did Dixon feel the pain and distraction of the loss, so did his wife Emma Davies Dixon.
Their two children are similar in age to Wilson's. And Wilson's wife Julia and Emma Davies Dixon were close friends having both come from the UK.
"It was really, really hard in the run-up to the race. Scott had been with Justin for three days beforehand, and then had to try and get ready [mentally] to race again," said Davies Dixon from their Indianapolis home.
"It was a horrible time. I don't know what it was and it was really hard [to get motivated to race].
"Scott was pretty upset about it all and after one day at home had to get up, pack his bag, fly out and put his race head on.
"I knew it rocked him and then he went out and performed so well. I'm just as shocked as everyone else. I was not expecting him to win the championship after everything he's been through."
It's hard on this side of the world to understand just what a supremely accomplished single-seater racer Dixon is.
Most motorsport fans default to Formula One as looking to the home of great drivers.
They shouldn't.
IndyCar drivers have to negotiate ovals, super speedways, street tracks and conventional racetracks all in one season and at speeds on occasion greater than F1 drivers.
In the US Dixon is a sporting hero and at just 35 is already inside the top five of all time race winning open wheel racers.
If that's not good enough he's also a pretty handy sports car endurance racer having finished first and second at the prestigious 24 Hour of Daytona.
Dixon relishes the dogfight of winning championships and the competition's damn fierce.
Some of his toughest rivals - Montoya, Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves - all turn 41 this year so Dixon's the young pup comparatively.
Mix that in with a few of the younger drivers challenging the established order means the flying Kiwi isn't ready to hang up the helmet just yet.
"We're already thinking about getting that fifth title next year and that's what the team is aiming for. I've got the Le Petit Le Mans in October and some other stuff coming up as well.
"The one I do want to race in though is the Le Mans 24 Hour ... "
Whenever Dixon is interviewed there is never a hint that he thinks his work is anywhere done, and he'll be flinging various types of machinery around for a good while yet.
By the numbers
14 years in IRL (includes CART)
215 races
23 poles
37 wins
82 podiums - most podiums for a non-US driver in history
4 IndyCar titles
1 Indianapolis 500
5th all time National championship race winners list (back to 1920)
3rd all time National championships
1st IndyCar winners list
1st= all time IndyCar championships
