Andretti Autosport IndyCar driver Alexander Rossi believes it’s a “privilege” to race against Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon.

Rossi also believes that Dixon, a four-time Verizon IndyCar Series champion and the third-winningest IndyCar driver of all-time with 44 wins, sets the benchmark for race drivers and for his character as a man.

Rossi is battling Dixon for the 2018 IndyCar Series championship. He is just 46 points behind Dixon heading into Sunday’s ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway.

“I feel like it’s a privilege to race against Scott Dixon, 100 percent,” Rossi told Autoweek. “I tell that to him to his face. If you can beat him, you know you are doing a great job. It’s just an honor to compete with him, not just on the same racetrack, but actually going wheel-to-wheel with him and racing him for a championship.”

Rossi has a tremendous respect for Dixon and the way he carries himself as a race driver and as a man. Dixon is third on the all-time list behind Mario Andretti’s 52 and AJ Foyt’s 67.

Dixon exudes a self-confidence but is certainly not cocky or arrogant. That humble attitude impresses the 26-year-old Rossi.

“Yes, Scott Dixon is the benchmark for everything,” Rossi said. “He is the benchmark IndyCar driver. He is someone we all aspire to in our own ways. He is good at everything behind the wheel of a car. He is great at everything out of the race car. His fitness capacity is monumental. He has a cool wife and two beautiful daughters. He is the epitome of a successful IndyCar driver. We all have to take a small page out of his book and apply it to our own lives and careers in our own way.

“Scott is the man. Him and RHR (Ryan Hunter-Reay) have the two coolest lives in and outside of IndyCar.”

Rossi believes he has plenty of time to make up the 46-point deficit and win the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series championship. However, he’s not squaring off against just another IndyCar driver -- he’s battling one of the all-time greats.

“It does give me a little solace,” Rossi said. “I was talking to my engineer this week and he said, ‘You know, he’s done this four times already, right?’

“I would be a lot more disappointed if I was 46 points behind Josef Newgarden.

“I know there are areas where we can beat Scott and there are some areas where he is exceptional, and you have to try not to lose to him too much. I know there are a couple areas we have on the 27 car where we are a bit better than them and we have to maximize it.”

There are four races remaining in the Verizon IndyCar Series season, but the season finale at Sonoma Raceway pays double points.

“I don't expect him to make a mistake,” Rossi said of Dixon. “The pressure is on me to deliver the results, to deliver under pressure. I have the team to do that. It's all about taking it each day, each lap at a time. Sonoma brings in so many different possibilities, being double points. Scott is excellent at what he does, but you got to capitalize on your good days and his not-so-good days, which unfortunately are slim.

“If we keep running the pace we've had all year, the rest will take care of itself. That's all we're focused on right now. By no means is he going to be easy to beat. By no means do I expect to go to Pocono and win again, with him finish fifth (what happened in the most recent race at Mid-Ohio).

“We have to keep chipping away at it, improve on the areas we're weak.”

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io