Scott Dixon has acknowledged he must “get my head down” for the remainder of the IndyCar series if he is to clinch a record-equalling seventh title.
Dixon is currently third in the driver’s standings after eight races and only has a sole win to his name.
It is a far cry from last season’s start when Dixon scored a hat trick of victories in the first three races.
Those wins set the foundation for what ended up being a championship-winning campaign.
But while the Kiwi suggests this year has not been the dream start to his title defence, he remains optimistic in his pursuit of the championship leaders.
“There’s lots of positives, but when last year’s start was three wins in the first three races, that’s a great way to start the year, obviously this season hasn’t started that way,” Dixon told NewsHub.
“[I’m] still third on points, [and] I think [if] you look back on previous years, that’s still a strong start for us.
“But it’s definitely time to go head down, and hopefully chase another championship.”
Besides a 17th place finish in the Indy 500, Dixon has been in the top ten at the chequered flag in every race.
The Kiwi’s pace has often been top-five through practice and qualifying. Still, he lamented poor luck in a handful of races leading to disappointing results.
“I think we’ve had decent showings, but I don’t know, I think we’ve had a bit of rough luck,” Dixon said.
“If you look at Indy, it just took us out of the running for the race, which was very early on.
“And once you fall a lap down, we spent 90 per cent of the race trying to get the lap back, which no one else was able to do.
“And then Detroit, I think it was stuff that was out of our hands. It didn’t create opportunities.
“I feel like we’ve been knocking on the door, had it rolled our way a little bit. I wouldn’t say we’ve had major issues or lack of speed or anything like that.”
Dixon heads to Road America this weekend for the ninth race of the championship.
He claimed a win at the Wisconsin circuit last year and has three podium finishes there since 2017.