Series: IndyCar. Date: Saturday, October 10.
Race: Firestone Indy 300. Site: Homestead-Miami Speedway. Track: 1.5-mile
oval. Start Time: 5:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 200. Miles: 300. Last year's winner:
Scott Dixon. Television: VERSUS. Radio: IMS Radio Network/SIRIUS XM Satellite.
Eight points, three drivers and one race remaining.
That's the point separation among the top-three drivers -- Scott Dixon, Dario
Franchitti and Ryan Briscoe -- heading into the final race of the season at
Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Last month, Dixon won in Motegi, Japan and moved atop the championship
standings. He now holds a five-point lead over Chip Ganassi Racing teammate
Franchitti and an eight-point advantage on Briscoe from Team Penske. The 1-3
margin is the second-closest in the IndyCar Series' 14-year history.
Should there be a tie for the points lead after the checkered flag waves at
Homestead, the championship would then be determined by number of victories.
Dixon has notched five wins, while Franchitti has four victories and Briscoe
three.
The series restructured its bonus points system this year, and it's been a
major factor in deciding the title. During the previous eight seasons, all
three bonus points were awarded to the lap leader of each race. This year, the
pole winner of each race receives one point, and the driver who leads the most
laps picks up two points.
Of the 46 bonus points awarded so far this year, the three championship
contenders combined have taken 35 of them. Dixon has received 13 bonus points,
while Briscoe has earned 12 and Franchitti 10.
After hosting the season-opener for the past six years, Homestead now holds
the season-finale. Chicagoland Speedway held the finale from 2006-08, with the
championship decided on the final lap there each of those years.
Saturday's race at Homestead should be a heck of a shootout, with the title
likely decided again on the final lap.
"Fun, isn't it," Franchitti said. "That's the way it should be. We'll just
keep our heads down an do the best that we can."
In 2007, Franchitti, who drove for Andretti Green Racing at the time, led
Dixon by just three points heading into the season-ending race at Chicagoland.
The two battled all the way to the final lap, with Franchitti picking up the
win and taking the championship.
Dixon held the lead on the last lap, but gave it up to Franchitti when he ran
out of fuel on the backstretch. Dixon coasted across the finish line in second
and lost the title by 13 points.
After a brief stint in NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series competition,
Franchitti joined Ganassi's IndyCar team and his return to America's most
popular open-wheel racing circuit has been nothing short of success.
Dixon won the championship in 2003 and '08. If he wins it again this year, he
will join Sam Hornish Jr. as the only drivers with three titles in the series.
"It's going to be a crazy race," said Dixon, who won last year's race at
Homestead. "Obviously the three of us are going to be pushing to the maximum."
Briscoe, in his second full season with Penske, is looking to capture his
first major championship in motorsports. The Aussie took over Hornish's seat
at Penske when Hornish left IndyCar for NASCAR in 2008.
"It's really exciting," said Briscoe, who finished fifth in points last year.
"At this point, it's a highlight in my career. It's going to be close, but the
team's been doing an unbelievable job, and I feel as though I've stepped it up
this year."
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