INDYCAR: Dixon bucking slow starter tag

Defending Verizon IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon is off to the second-best start of his career. Through three rounds, the Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver holds second in the championship standings thanks to a win at Phoenix, a second at Long Beach, and a seventh at St. Petersburg.

Now 16 years into the game, Dixon has earned a reputation as a slow starter – a driver who builds toward a late-season peak – and only on rare occasions has the native New Zealander found himself in the championship mix so early in the season.

The last time it happened was 2007 where Dixon had an average finishing position of 2.6 after three rounds. Since 2007, Dixon's average across the first three races – and the corresponding position in the championship – has created a notable deficit heading into the Indy 500.

Spanning 2008 (8.6) 2009 (10.6), 2010 (8.6), 2011 (12), 2012 (9), 2013 (5.3), 2014 (6.3), and 2015 (9), Dixon and the TCGR team have rallied to overcome their slow starts and capture three of his four championships (2008, 2013, 2015).

Based on the 3.3 average the No. 9 Target Chevy team has produced leading into this weekend's race at Barber Motorsports Park, and the Kiwi sitting only 15 points out of the championship lead, the Ganassi squad has the opportunity to race without playing from behind.

Dixon's race strategist Mike Hull (with Dixon, left) says that despite their strong form to open 2016, no adjustments have been made to how they will approach Barber or any of the 12 races that follow.

"The way we have always looked at the races is we have always taken them one at a time," Hull told RACER. "I don't know if we have been aggressive necessarily when we've been behind in points, but we have always been steadfast in racing without thinking about points. From time to time when somebody says, 'Do you realize how many points we will have if this happens or that happens?' you hear silence. We try to get rid of that immediately because it is too sidetracking. That is how we do our best work as a team."

Hull's 'c'est la vie' attitude helped guide Dixon to win his first Indy Racing League championship in 2003, and has been present for all the wins and title that have followed.

"In 2003 when we won [the championship], we won the first race and we didn't quite know what to think about that because it was our first year with Scott in the IRL series," he continued. "So maybe that put us in that mindset that we still have: Let's just get the most out of what we have. I have come to believe as time has gone on, that is the way you need to live your life. You need to get the most out of every day and that is how we race. Focus on the day instead of the year."

Dixon will have a chance to overtake points leader Simon Pagenaud on Sunday at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

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