Dixon feeling 'no pressure'

Penske's Helio Castroneves currently leads the standings, one point ahead of teammate Sam Hornish Jr.

Dixon and his Ganassi teammate Dan Wheldon are 19 and 21 points behind Castroneves respectively.

With the IRL scoring system awarding 50 points for a race win, all four drivers still stand a chance. Dixon's 19 point deficit is equivalent to an 11th place finish.

"The situation that I see at the moment is Dan and myself have no pressure," said Dixon.

"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."

Dixon claimed his sole IndyCar title in a similarly close decider in 2003. On that occasion he went into the season finale at Texas sharing the championship lead with Helio Castroneves, and seven points ahead of Tony Kanaan.

In the race, a brush of wheels between Kanaan and Castroneves delayed them both, and Dixon's second place behind Gil de Ferran earned him the championship title.

Dixon sees echoes of that situation in this year's denouement.

"In 2003, when I won, two of the contenders took themselves out by hitting each other and falling back," he said.

"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."