Scott Dixon insists that the pressure is firmly off both him and Chip Ganassi team-mate Dan Wheldon as the IRL season reaches its conclusion in Chicagoland this weekend.

The pair are currently fourth and third in the standings – 21 and 19 points respectively off series leader Helio Castroneves – as they chase a second title, Dixon having taken the crown in 2003 and Wheldon last season.

Kiwi Dixon is the only person in the field to have finished all of the 13 races run so far and the 26-year-old admitted the team is now running at a level where anything less than a win isn't good enough.

“Straight out of the box we had good speed. I expected to be back at the top, once we had the right equipment,” he said. “Throughout every race weekend, one of the cars could have won the race, but I don't think we finished where we should have a few times. I guess it's good to be disappointed with finishing second, because the last few years, second was like a win.”

From the opening test of the season, the Target drivers have shown they would be a force to be reckoned with, with the pair pacing open tests at Phoenix and Homestead-Miami Speedway, and Dixon claiming top-ten finishes in every event through Texas.

Included in that stretch was a repeat win at Watkins Glen International, one of his undoubted highlights of the season.

“Watkins is an easy one to pick out because it was back-to-back [wins],” he continued. “The conditions that day were pretty crazy. In qualifying, I didn't get what I wanted out of it. We went from provisional pole to fourth in the top-six shootout, but I love that circuit, and I love all the road courses we go to.”

Dixon also captured a win at Nashville Superspeedway, although he feels like he could be in control of the title race if things had gone his way at a number of other races during the season.

“There are two or three races that pop up in my head that I think we could have won, and I think there are three or four races that Dan thinks he could have won,” he said. “The Indy 500 was a race we were looking forward to capturing. Dan had a fast car and mine was pretty decent. I still don't understand how we didn't come away with that one.”

Although the Penske duo out front start the weekend as the favourites for the crown, Dixon added that he is still in a good position to go for his second title and the pressure was firmly off – hinting that the season finale could be similar to in 2003 when he took his first title.

“The situation that I see at the moment is Dan and myself have no pressure,” he said. “The two Penske cars have to make sure they finish. We've got to try to win the last race, but if we don't, we tried our best. They need to be very careful.

“In 2003, when I won, two of the contenders took themselves out by hitting each other and falling back. I don't think it will be any different this year. There's no doubt this championship will come down to a few inches and right down to the wire.”