In an audio track when you engage play and there is no currently existing automation event, DP will chase forward to the first event in the track.
Event Chasing is necessary, if chasing didn't occur, each time you rewind and hit play you would get inconsistent results as to the tracks event automation.

Midi tracks handle event chasing differently. With automation enabled, midi events chase backwards to the previous automation event.
With Automation disabled and event chasing on, DP will playback the current fader or pan position status for any track.

To disable Event Chasing, go to the Basics menu>Set Event Chasing. In this window you can enable and disable what events you want DP to chase.