2016 IndyCar Preseason Power Rankings

1. Scott Dixon

No one should ever bet against Scott Dixon. The now four-time Verizon IndyCar Series champion isn’t just the best driver on the grid right now, but he’s one of the best in the history of the league.

Dixon continued to add to his resume in 2015 by winning his first ever Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and then muscling his way to defeat Juan Pablo Montoya for the championship at Sonoma. Critics who blame that on double points aren’t looking at how hard Dixon drove to make that a reality – in 16 races last season, he was within the Top 10 in all but four of them. Only twice did he finish outside the Top 15. And that was considered a slow start for the perennial contender.

But it gets better: since joining Chip Ganassi Racing in 2007, the New Zealander has never finished lower than third in the IndyCar championship standings. He’s also won at least two races in each of the last ten seasons. In every season and every race, Dixon always finds a way to be there at the end. That consistency is something that you’d be hard-pressed to find in any sport, not just IndyCar.

And Dixon does it all with a cool head and laser focus that would make robots jealous. Not only is he talented, but he’s got the personality to get it across the finish line. He’s the epitome of an IndyCar driver, both on and off the track – and smart money says that Dixon delivers a fifth IndyCar championship in September.