Defending IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon doesn’t want to wait for 2018.

The three-time series champ scored his first title in 2003, again in 2008, and one more time in 2013, but as the Kiwi tells RACER, he’s had enough of the five-year intervals between earning the IndyCar crown.

“To hell with waiting another five years, man; I’m ready for another championship right now and I know the Target team is ready as well,” he declared. With the forced retirement of his close friend and teammate Dario Franchitti, Dixie’s preparing for a title run with former rival Tony Kanaan sitting alongside him on the grid.

Ganassi Racing’s move from Honda to Chevy power during the off-season has added another variable to the 33-year-old’s championship bid, but with experience on his side, he isn’t concerned about new faces and different engines heading into St. Petersburg.

“Of all the things I think we need to do, I would choose having a decent start to the year,” he revealed. “I think if we can hit the ground running it would make the rest of the season a lot easier. It seems like we’ve almost fallen into this habit of starting slow, or getting behind in the points early and then needing to dig our way out. We can’t always do like we did last year and close strongly.”

The solution to the problem is something Dixon and his No. 9 Target team can influence, but with the unpredictable nature of the sport, no one has complete control over their race results.

“We need to be more consistent and understand every race pays out point,” he surmised. “I think last year was crazy just because we didn’t really have a car that could contend before the Indy 500. It was much more difficult. But I think as far as midway and through last year we really made the best of the car.

“We were qualifying on pole on street courses in the last part of the year. We qualified in the top four on road and streets and recovered, but you don’t want to be forced into that direction where a bad start taints the entire season. I’d rather have an average start to the year if it means we don’t have a bad one.”

Dixon is among the most self-contained drivers in the Verizon IndyCar Series. He knows what he wants from the car, has an incredible bond with his engineer Eric Bretzman, and doesn’t get caught up in self-doubt or bouts of nervous energy.

His uncomplicated, just-climbed-out-of-bed-and-won-the-race style manages to confound some of his rivals, but it’s just part of how Dixie goes about his business. It also balanced Franchitti’s more solemn approach, which made the two such a complementary set of drivers. The two also had similar thoughts on chassis setup, although Dixon’s love for oversteer was countered by Franchitti’s need for a more stable rear.

Where he knew Dario’s engineering preferences after a close-knit partnership that lasted five years, it will take Dixon a little while to figure out what makes Kanaan tick inside the No. 10 car.

“At this point, it’s kind of hard to tell how we’ll work like that,” Dixon admitted. “I think once you get into the season and the middle part, things will be more definable. At this point I’d say Dario and I were quite similar, compared to TK and myself. I think the engineers did a good job in formatting a consensus of knowing if Dario likes this, then it would tend to me liking the other. So there was a good sort of parallel, or a translation you could say, of what a change on my car would probably mean to Dario on his.

“We were quite similar on big setup things; it was just the final trimming where I would typically like a more active rear, and Dario wanted a car that was definitely more neutral. But a lot of the big pieces were achieved at the start at that foundation and then it was the fine-tuning defined the balance of the car. At the minute, I think with testing and stuff TK has probably tried an array of things to find the direction to see where he kind of fits in with how we do things.”

Dixon has found his former (and returning) teammate Ryan Briscoe, who pilots the No. 8 Ganassi Chevy, is an ally in the setup category, and the fourth member of the Ganassi squad, Charlie Kimball, is following suit in the No. 83 Chevy.

“I would have to say right now Briscoe and myself are quite similar,” he added. “Probably more similar than Dario and myself, so right there’s a good thing. And then Charlie has also been going in that direction. I think once you get to the mid-part of the season it’ll be really interesting to see where it’s going.

“But right now, with Tony in the sister Target car, it’s too early to say whether we’ll end up liking similar or dissimilar things. One thing is for sure: TK is a big personality, he’s very excitable and he has a huge passion for racing so I think that’s important. You can build off of that.”

Just as Dixon enters 2014 as a champion with some new teammates to learn from and jell with, the Ganassi team is also set to undergo some changes as it looks to strengthen its engineering teamwork at the track.

“I’m not sure when we’re going to get our new trucks but for the first time, the entire engineering group will be in one truck which will be a challenge in its own,” he said. “We need to make sure that runs smoothly; a group of 20 engineers and drivers in one truck will be interesting, to say the least, but it should help us to get more out of each other. We have a lot of smart guys, so having them there next to each other as they all try and solve the same problems should benefit all of us.”

Opening practice for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg starts on Friday, giving Dixie a chance to start the season off properly and, if he has anything to say about it, kick off his pursuit of a second consecutive title in style.

“Man, I’d love to do a back-to-back…I’ve been very close a few times, but I’ve never been able to get it done,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve gone second after winning a championship, but never back-to-back. I’m telling you, man, I’m determined to break that five-year cycle!”​