Finishing in the top four at California Speedway this weekend will assure Brazilian driver Tony Kanaan of winning the Indy Racing League series title.
He wants that and more.
"I know I have a good chance to clinch, but first I want to win the race," he said on Thursday.
With Sunday's Toyota Indy 400 the next-to-last event on this year's 16-race Indy Racing League calendar, Kanaan leads Andretti Green Racing teammate Dan Wheldon by 75 points.
Kanaan has been a model of consistency this season, winning three times and finishing in the top five in his last 13 races. The only time he was outside the top five was an eighth at Homestead, Florida, in the first race of the year.
Even if Wheldon wins the race at California Speedway, he will be eliminated from the points championship race if Kanaan finishes fourth or better.
Although Wheldon's chances to overtake Kanaan in the points standings are slim, he is not conceding anything to his teammate.
"I try to never think about the negative side of things. We've had a good year and have run off five straight top-four finishes, so I do think there's a chance," Wheldon said.
Kanaan will eliminate third-place Buddy Rice simply by starting the race.
Although Kanaan has never won at California Speedway's 3.2km track, he finished ninth in the Indy Lights 100 in 1997 to take the points championship over Helio Castroneves.
Kanaan, who won earlier this year at Texas Motor Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway, likes to race on superspeedways, especially the Fontana track.
"California Speedway is fast, wide and where I won my first major championship, so I have good memories about Fontana," he said.
So does Sam Hornish Jr.
The two-time defending champion, Hornish set a record for the fastest open-wheel race ever when he averaged 333kph over the D-shaped oval last year.
"I'm not really sure what it is about California that has been so good for me. But one of the things about it is, it's kind of a real patient race track," Hornish said.
"You have to bide your time, wait around and make the right move at the end of the race. It's all about positioning yourself for the last 10 laps or the last five laps."
His patience paid off in the victory two years ago, when he drafted behind leaders to conserve fuel and went a bit longer on pit stops than competitors.
"When it came up to the end, a couple of guys had taken themselves out of the race by mistakes," Hornish said.
Also figuring to be among the leaders in the 644km, 200-lap event are Rice, who escaped injury in a scary crash in the Delphi Indy 300 last year; 1999 California Speedway champ Adrian Fernandez; and Castroneves.
Rice, who received US$1.8 million for winning the Indianapolis 500, tops this year's earnings list with US$2.6 million, followed by Kanaan at US$1.7 million.
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