At IRL finale, others mindful of title contenders

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — In two rounds of practice and then in qualifying, three names stayed atop the leaderboard all day on the eve of Saturday’s Indy 300.

Fitting, because the same three names — Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti and Ryan Briscoe — are the only contenders left for the IRL title.

“They’re on their own little plane this year,” said Danica Patrick, who’ll start seventh. “They’re much further ahead than the rest of us.”

Indeed, that triumvirate have been the class of IndyCar all year, combining to win 12 of the 16 races entering Saturday’s season-finale. Franchitti will start on the pole, his one bonus point putting him four points behind Dixon, the defending IRL champion who qualified second and will start on the outside of Row 1.

Briscoe qualified third and starts on the inside of Row 2, eight points back of Dixon.

“I was trying to get the pole,” Briscoe said. “But third’s a good starting point. The point aside, third’s a fantastic place to start the race.”

It’s almost like there will be simultaneous events going on at Homestead-Miami Speedway; there’s the three-man race for the series championship and $1 million bonus, and the race within that race.

All 23 drivers will aim to win, of course, although 20 drivers will also enter with the mindset of not wanting to make a mistake that could cost any of the three contenders their title chance.

“It’s great that the championship’s going down to the last round,” said Justin Wilson, who’ll start 13th. “It’s a very tough, challenging race track. It’s going to be a tough battle. … But you won’t see pack racing. You will see some good, close fighting, but you don’t want to get into the mix and determine the outcome of the championship. Let the best man win.”

Dixon and Franchitti are both assured the title by winning the race. Briscoe would also win the championship if he prevails in the Indy 300, unless Dixon leads the most laps and finishes second. That scenario would give both Briscoe and Dixon exactly 612 points for the season, and IRL officials said Dixon — by virtue of more wins in 2009 — would claim the championship.

“I do believe that the top three are in a league of their own,” reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Helio Castroneves said. “They seem to be much faster than the rest of the field. So it might happen in the race that they just take off, and it’ll be a decision that no one can interfere with. But it’s a long race. Let’s see what happens.”

Taking off from the pack might be the safest thing for Dixon, Franchitti and Briscoe.

Castroneves wrecked in practice Friday, when something broke in the rear of his car. He spun it into a wall, banging his neck and knee on impact, but no other cars in the field were involved.

Imagine something like that happening Saturday, taking out a contender. In racing, it’s a plausible scenario, one no one wants to see.

“That’s not my focus for the race,” said Sarah Fisher, who’ll start 16th. “If the three of them are racing together and come up on me, or if there’s a situation where I can make it a little easier on them, then I’m going to do that. I think everybody’s going to be courteous to some extent, but everybody has their own races within the thing.”

Tony Kanaan, who’ll begin Saturday’s race 15th, said much of the decision on how much to avoid the contenders will be situational.

If he’s running 10th midway through the race with little to gain when one of the title hopefuls pulls alongside, Kanaan said he’ll likely back off a tiny bit if the situation seems risky.

If he’s running second with a chance to win and a lap or two to go, all bets are off, he said.

“Not everybody thinks the same way,” Kanaan said. “I’m not there to help any of them win a championship, but I’m not there to cost them one, either. That being said, I’m looking for my first win. We’ll all need to be careful.”