They don't give out a "Most Improved Driver" award in the IndyCar Series, but if they did, Ryan Briscoe would likely win it for the second year in a row.

Not that the Australian, who turned 28 just a couple of weeks ago, had much room for improvement.

Briscoe had a breakthrough season in 2008, winning two races (plus an unofficial exhibition contest in his homeland) and finishing fifth in the IndyCar Series standings. This year, he's upped the victory tally to three heading into the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and he's third in the championship, just eight points behind leader Scott Dixon.

More importantly, he's added consistency to his repertoire, with a string of second-place finishes and fewer mistakes.

"We always knew Ryan was quick," observed Dario Franchitti of Target Chip Ganassi Racing, who sits between his teammate Dixon and Briscoe in the standings. "He's just kind of calmed down. I think Roger [Penske] has helped him a lot and he's become very consistent.

"We all make mistakes. At this stage, I still make mistakes even with a bunch of experience. His mistakes are getting fewer but the pace is still there. He's a challenge."

Briscoe had a 25-point championship lead prior to the recent race at Motegi, Japan, but made one of his rare errors this season by crashing into the pit wall. Ryan's Team Penske running mate Helio Castroneves said he believes Briscoe has put the gaffe behind him and will be mentally strong for Homestead.

"As I see it, after Japan, Ryan was able to turn the page and focus on what he needs to be doing now," Castroneves said. "That's pretty big. Sometimes you keep asking yourself 'Why this or why that?' But I noticed he already moved on and that's good. That's the right attitude you have.

"He's young, but he has a lot of experience in different cars and different scenarios. He's faced a lot of ups and downs. I feel it's going to be a very interesting finish to the championship."

For his part, Briscoe is satisfied with his season and the job he has done for Team Penske -- to a point.

"You know, it really has been a fantastic year for me," he remarked. "Mistakes have been made on my part, but I feel I'm still improving and getting stronger and need to improve on some areas. But it's just a phenomenal feeling being where I am right now. I wouldn't have thought it a few years ago. [The championship] would be unbelievable. I don't think I've ever wanted something so much.

"I'm just really graceful for the opportunity that's been given to me, especially by Roger Penske and [team president] Tim Cindric getting me to where I am now. It's just amazing. And to win the championship is really just an added bonus for everything that's happened. But win or lose, it's been a great year and I'll be back next year to try to do it again."

He's anticipating an exciting battle between himself and the Ganassi drivers at Homestead. Of the three championship contenders, Briscoe has the best record on 1.5-mile speedways in 2009, with an average finish of fifth. He won recently at Kentucky Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway, both in photo finishes.

"I think the three of us have raced very closely throughout the whole season," he said of himself, Franchitti and Dixon. "We have a bit of confidence and faith in each other's abilities at this point and I think that's got to continue. I don't really see anything different happening in this race. We've got to be smart and aggressive, but safe as well. And certainly take it to the line. We've sort of worked up a certain amount of respect between the three of us, which we're going to need going into this race.

"Otherwise the approach going into the race is the same. We've all been doing a great job at all of these races this year. And there is no reason to change up what we've been doing. There's just a bit more on the line there as you come down to the final stages of the race."

If anything, Briscoe said he thinks he could have an advantage because the Ganassi drivers will be racing each other for the title, whereas Castroneves will be working to Team Penske's benefit if he manages to find himself racing with the championship contenders.

"I think we're all feeling the same pressure going in," Briscoe said. "I'm sure Scott and Dario will still be working together to try to get the best performance out of their car, but in the same way, I'll be working with Helio moving into the race, trying to get the best setup as well. I think we're all in the same boat.

"I've been spending time with the team, trying to be 100 percent prepared for this week and we tested down at Homestead with Dario. Aside from that, I've just being sort of doing my day-to-day life at home. It's actually been quite easy. I've been really excited and motivated and really just can't wait for this weekend to come. So I'm happy we're finally here."

Dario Franchitti returned to the IndyCar Series in 2009 after a brief foray into NASCAR, and it looks like he never missed a beat.

Franchitti won four races and won the 2007 IndyCar championship while driving for Andretti Green Racing, and after switching to Target Chip Ganassi Racing this year he has matched that victory tally to date in 2009. He's five points behind teammate Scott Dixon heading into the season-ending Firestone Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, with Team Penske's Ryan Briscoe just three points behind Franchitti.

The 2007 championship was a two-man battle between Dixon and Franchitti, resolved in Dario's favor when Dixon ran out of fuel on the final lap at Chicagoland Speedway while leading. Now they are racing for the same team, but Dario insists that the dynamic between the championship protagonists hasn't changed.

"It's different because I know Scott better and we're in the same equipment," Franchitti said. "But when you get out on the track it's the same, really. We've always raced each other pretty clean and with the same level of respect. Obviously now being teammates, that increases, but once we get out there, whoever does the best job at Homestead is going to win it.

"It's kind of cool, isn't it? We're all going to go out there and it comes down to this."

Still, Franchitti believes that no matter what happens Saturday, the championship will not have been determined by one race or one moment -- even though that's what the focus was after the dramatic last-lap conclusion to the 2007 season.

"A lot of factors throughout the year have gotten us to this point," he noted. "We've lost points at some races through mistakes or bad luck, and we've also gained some through making the right choices and having some good luck.

"A championship doesn't all come down to one race or one point," he continued. "The last lap at Chicago is the moment that everybody remembers, but it was a long season and a lot of things got us there. Each day you have to make the most of the car you have, and that day our car wasn't quick enough to win it. So I had to use the only weapon I had, which was fuel mileage. There were many points that year where we had the quickest car and got screwed."

The key difference to this year's championship decider is that the venue has changed from Chicagoland to Homestead. Franchitti believes that could change the complexion of the action.

"Homestead is a much tougher track to drive," he noted. "Chicago is a much more banked track and the corners are so open; it's more about speed than handling. Homestead is really a handling track, and we've noticed that this year especially."

All three of the championship contenders tested within the last week at Homestead.

"It was just the three of us, so it was kind of weird," laughed Franchitti.

Win or lose on Saturday, Dario plans to walk away with his head high, comfortable in the knowledge that 2009 was one of the best years of his 14-year career in American open-wheel racing. Aside from his 2007 IndyCar Series title, he tied Juan Pablo Montoya on points for the 1999 CART Champ Car World Series crown, but lost out to the Colombian on a tiebreaker.

"It's got to be pretty close to my best," Franchitti said. "Certainly it's up there with '07; 1999 and '98 were good years too. It's always clouded, though. Some years you're in really good stuff; in '07 the car was very good and obviously this year the car was very good. In 2000, I think I drove a good season but the car wasn't really that good.

"I think the one difference this year is we let Indy slip away with the pit stop and we let a couple of others slip away that we probably could have won. So to be in this situation, it's been a pretty strong year."

Helio Castroneves is out of contention for the 2009 IndyCar Series championship, but the 34-year-old Brazilian could play a crucial supporting role to help his Team Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe win the crown this Saturday in the Firestone Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

With eight points separating championship leader Scott Dixon and third-placed Briscoe -- and a 10-point difference between finishing first and second in the race -- Homestead is shaping up as a winner-take-all affair. Yet if Castroneves wins the race, it could still benefit Briscoe because every point he takes away from Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Dixon and Dario Franchitti (who trails Dixon by five points) will be critical.

Castroneves has two victories this season (at Texas and the Indianapolis 500), and the Miami resident knows how he would like to see Saturday's 300-miler play out.

"If I have the opportunity to win the race right in my backyard, it would be great," Helio remarked recently during a break from tire testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "The perfect scenario would be for me to finish first and Ryan to be second so we can have a great celebration party at the end of the season.

"Certainly, I want to be in the mix," he continued. "The two Ganassi guys are going to fight each other to clinch the championship, and I'm sure each one is looking out for their own interest. The beauty for us is that I don't have to look in that direction. But you want to make sure everything is fair and square."

Castroneves could make things difficult for the Ganassi duo if he qualifies well and races at the front. Briscoe would like nothing more than to see his Penske teammate run interference on the Target cars so that he can drive away to win the race and the championship in one fell swoop.

Helio knows he can help out in that way, but he insists he'll play it clean, even if it means backing off like Vitor Meira did in the closing laps of the 2002 IndyCar Series finale when Castroneves and eventual champion Sam Hornish Jr. were disputing the title.

"There is a way of helping and there is a way of being stupid as well," Castroneves remarked. "You don't want to do anything stupid to anybody, including yourself. If you're going to take a chance, it's got to be a good risk and not an unnecessary one. If I can do anything, I will do it, obviously. But you have to think about the whole scenario."

Franchitti said he believes that Castroneves will behave in an appropriate manner if the championship hangs in the balance as the laps wind down at Homestead.

"You never know those things, but in Japan, when I was leading, we lapped Helio when he was having a bad day and he was great," Dario said. "He played absolutely fairly by all of us."

It's been a disappointing second half of the season for Castroneves in terms of results following his victory at Texas in early June. Now 10 years into his career with Team Penske and wrapping up his eighth IndyCar Series campaign, the three-time Indy 500 winner is still in search of his first overall championship. It's a goal he refuses to give up on, even if it won't happen in 2009.

"You always want to achieve your goals, and a championship has always been one of my goals," he said. "Along with that I want to win races, finish well in races and collect as many points as I can. But at the end of the day, you want to collect a championship.

"The good news is we keep ourselves hungry. When I come back next year I'm going to be as hungry as ever, because there will be more opportunities. There is an opportunity to be a four-time winner at Indy, and there is a championship as well. If it wasn't meant to be, it wasn't the right time. The Indy 500 this year is proof. We didn't finish three years in a row and now it happened. Now we know why."

Helio disputes the notion that he hit an emotional wall in the aftermath of his third Indianapolis triumph, which came on the heels of his acquittal from federal tax-evasion charges.

The previous year also was an emotional roller coaster for Castroneves. He gained a new legion of fans by winning ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" in late 2007, but went through most of 2008 riding out the longest winless streak of his IndyCar career before rallying with two late-season victories to nearly steal the IRL title from eventual winner Dixon. That's when the federal government came knocking with the tax-evasion indictment.

Since winning in Texas, Castroneves has racked up four DNFs and has achieved only one podium finish. He also crashed heavily in qualifying for the most recent IndyCar race, at Motegi, Japan.

But he insists he's ready to give his best for himself and his team Saturday near his adopted hometown.

"We're human beings, we always have ups and downs," Castroneves said. "Unfortunately we had some races where a lot of things happened outside of our control. Thank God it happened to my car, because if it happened to Ryan's car, it would have been goodbye to his challenge for the championship.

"It's one of those things. Sometimes we hit the right setup, sometimes we don't. Certainly, I'm ready for a nice race at Homestead, then I'll go home and recharge the batteries and have a great next year."

The IndyCar Series championship will go down to the wire for the fourth year in a row, but the Firestone Indy Lights title has already been settled. And for the first time since 2002, the Lights champion is an American -- J.R. Hildebrand, a 21-year-old from Sausalito, Calif.

Hildebrand has been considered a top American open-wheel prospect since he won the Team USA Scholarship in 2005. His progression through the fractured American ladder system since that success has been rapid. Hildebrand cruised to the 2006 Formula Ford 2000 crown, raced in the Champ Car Atlantic Series and made his Indy Lights debut in 2007, and broke into the Lights winner's circle with Andersen/RLR Racing in 2008, finishing fifth in the standings.

For 2009, J.R. moved to AFS/Andretti Green Racing's Lights efforts, and he set the bar high for himself. With four wins and six poles, Hildebrand accomplished his goals with relative ease, and now he faces the challenge that has stumped almost every Lights champion since the Indy Racing League took over the developmental series in 2002: making the jump to the IndyCar Series. Of the seven Lights champions who preceded Hildebrand, only 2008 titlist Raphael Matos had a full-time IndyCar Series ride this year.

"I went into this year feeling like it was my turn to put the rubber to the road and really show I can make it happen," Hildebrand said. "After driving against Rafa last year, I knew the equipment was good and the team was quite good. Certainly the AGR Lights program is a well-oiled machine.

"Even with a little bad luck here and there with freak mechanical failures, I think we were the car to beat almost everywhere we went," he added. "We were certainly the team to beat. I'm extremely happy with how the year went and what I got back from the team. It couldn't have gone much better, really."

Hildebrand's signature victory came at Watkins Glen, where after qualifying fourth, he methodically picked off the cars in front of him to win going away. His other victories came at St. Petersburg, Edmonton and Infineon Raceway, the circuit he considers his home track.

He's delighted with the way his season with AGR has gone. With Andretti Green's IndyCar team suffering the worst season in the seven-year history of the organization, Hildebrand and Lights teammate Sebastian Saveedra (who is third in the championship, just five points behind James Davison of Vision Racing) have provided most if not all of AGR's 2009 highlights.

"I was made to feel like part of the AGR family since even before I signed up," Hildebrand said. "I've had a great relationship with everybody at the shop and the management of the team. Everybody is happy to talk to you if you have any questions … Michael [Andretti], Tony [Kanaan], Marco [Andretti], anybody … they're all willing to give you helpful advice and it's a very welcoming atmosphere for a guy like me trying to come into the scene."

While he was growing up, Hildebrand and his father often attended races at nearby tracks Infineon and Laguna Seca Raceway. Despite not racing competitively until he was 14, Hildebrand has made a smooth, rapid ascent and he has put himself in position to be the next American IndyCar star.

Of course, as former champions Alex Lloyd, Jay Howard, Wade Cunningham, Thiago Medeiros, Mark Taylor and even A.J. Foyt IV can attest, winning the Lights crown isn't an automatic entry into Indy cars. Hildebrand maintains a realistic outlook in that regard. He's already tested one of AGR's Indy cars on two occasions, and he remains in the mix as AGR reorganizes under the sole leadership of Michael Andretti.

"It's always hard to say what a championship will translate into," Hildebrand said. "More than anything, it means a lot to me because I knew at the beginning of this year that it had to be my end result. If I was going to have a shot at continuing as a professional race car driver and get into the IndyCar Series eventually, I really had to win the championship. I knew that I had the tools and the team to do it; the people were in place and all my cards were stacked up just right. It was my job to make sure that I took full advantage of that. So I prepared as best as I could and worked hard at it. I'm sort of relieved in a way, but happy that we were able to put it all together. To do that at this level, winning a championship and gaining that momentum, hopefully we'll turn it into something good for next year.

"I'm optimistic about things moving forward," he added. "This last year, with the economic climate changing as much as it did, I wouldn't say it helps my cause. I'm just trying to make sure I have as many options as possible when things do come around and trying to come up with some money on my own. There's no rhyme or reason to how guys get rides a lot of the time, they're just in the right place at the right time. While I'd certainly like to be a lot more in control of my own future than that, hopefully I can get something lined up so when the planets do align, I'll be able to take full advantage."

Hildebrand is one young driver potential sponsors would be wise to get behind. He's handsome, articulate and brainy -- his high school GPA was 4.12 -- and if the racing gig doesn't pan out, he earned a two-year deferment after being accepted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

And let's not forget, he's American -- which for many open-wheel drivers has been a double-edged sword. But again, Hildebrand has a healthy attitude about the road ahead.

"I think at this time in particular, being from the USA is something that could help my cause quite a bit," he said. "There are American companies that need a boost, and certainly American drivers and teams that are looking to make a bit of a splash and get things going again. Hopefully I can be one of the guys to help do that.

"I certainly know Graham Rahal, Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick as American drivers, but at the same time, they are also Graham Rahal, Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick. They are all extremely talented drivers that deserve what they have been given, but at the same time, there is a part of all three of them where their star power is in their name, and obviously Danica is a female. That's a big part of the draw to those individuals, and there is nothing they can do about it.

"I feel being just the American kid, maybe there is something more to that than originally meets the eye."

Dario Franchitti might not win the IndyCar Series championship Oct. 10 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. But in his open-wheel comeback season, he cemented his status as a champion for American motorsports.

To most, Franchitti's brief foray into NASCAR in 2008 was not a success. The obvious lows included an ankle-breaking accident in a Talladega Nationwide Series race and an embarrassing Sprint Cup DNQ at the Infineon Raceway road course.

It's easy to miss the highlights: a Nationwide pole at Watkins Glen, and many laps led in the same series at Bristol. In fact, Franchitti showed more promise in his handful of stock car appearances than any of the recent open-wheel transplants currently racing in NASCAR.

Although things didn't work out the way he wanted in NASCAR, Franchitti's perceived failure in stock cars only strengthened his resolve and desire to drive Indy cars. He admitted those were lacking in the latter stages of his 10-year tenure with Andretti Green Racing, even during his IndyCar championship and Indy 500-winning season of 2007.

In a fresh environment at Target Chip Ganassi Racing, alongside a teammate he likes and respects in Scott Dixon, Franchitti adjusted back to open-wheelers as if he had never been away. His 2009 season has been every bit as competitive as his 2007 championship campaign, with four race wins and only five points separating him from Dixon's championship lead.

"Yeah, I'm having a blast," he said, smiling, after finishing second in the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi. "I'm really enjoying it again. I thought at one point I would have retired maybe by the time I was 35. But I'm still enjoying it. I still love it. The fact I can still be competitive, I'm still out there winning races and challenging for championships, it's just for fun. It's just because I enjoy it.

"For me, a big part of enjoyment has been being in the position to win races. I've got to thank Chip and those guys for inviting me back."

He won't want to hear it, but at age 36, Franchitti is a standard-bearer -- if not an elder statesman -- of the IndyCar Series. Despite his success on the track -- and the fact that he is married to one of the world's most-admired women, Ashley Judd -- Franchitti remains as unpretentious as he was the day he arrived in America to race in the CART series in 1997.

He knows there is a point coming when the wins aren't going to come as frequently. There's plenty of statistical evidence to show that Indy car drivers start to lose a fraction of their pace in their late 30s, the latest example being Franchitti's old pal Paul Tracy.

But Franchitti insists he's not there yet, which has allowed him to race in lockstep this season with Dixon, who at age 29 is already a two-time IndyCar Series champion with the potential to go down as one of the sport's all-time greats.

"It depends day to day, but I feel similar to what I did when I was 30, but maybe smarter," Franchitti said. "I think there's definitely a crossover. You improve as a driver and you improve your race craft and your sort of race smarts. You become a bit smarter. At the same time, your reactions start going a lot. I don't think I've reached that crossover point yet, and hopefully it doesn't come for a while."

With 50-year-old Mark Martin leading the Sprint Cup Series in wins and points, there's obviously time for Franchitti to eventually make the transition into stock cars if he still wants to. Sports cars are another option; he's a favorite at Honda and is co-driving Patron Highcroft Racing's Acura prototype in this weekend's Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.

For the time being, he is happy to watch Juan Pablo Montoya -- his former rival from the CART series -- fly the Ganassi flag in the Chase for the Cup.

Or maybe a little envious.

"I wish they'd been that good last year!" he said. "It's brilliant for the whole team. Chip puts a lot into his racing and gives every team everything it needs to do their job. I mean, to see the improvement there, to see JPM is not only in the Chase but stuck it on the pole down there in Loudon is really great to see.

"Hopefully we can keep our end of the bargain."

Danica Patrick still hasn't actually told anyone what her plans are for 2010 and beyond, but it's taken as gospel that she will remain an IndyCar Series driver for the next three years. The Indianapolis Star reported Thursday that Patrick signed a contract extension to remain with Michael Andretti's team, and Andretti all but confirmed the signing in Curt Cavin's follow-up story.

What does it mean? Mostly that a lot of people in a lot of places -- the Indy Racing League, the league's television partners ABC/ESPN and Versus, the team currently known as Andretti Green Racing, and what's left of open-wheel racing's fan base, to name a few -- can all breathe a big sigh of relief now that Indy car racing's most recognizable star is not leaving for NASCAR.

Although the IndyCar Series can boast of several world-class drivers, including Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan and the rapidly emerging Ryan Briscoe, none of them captivate racing fans of all ages like Danica does. As Americans, Graham Rahal and Marco Andretti have the potential to build a massive fan base to rival Patrick's, but they'll have to start winning a lot more races for that to happen.

It's ludicrous to think that a driver with one career race win could be so critical to the future of Indy car racing, but that's the power that Danica -- the driver, the business and the brand, by her own description -- holds over America. You can be sure that Jeff Belskus, the man who took over from the ousted Tony George as the leader of the IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corp., is sleeping a bit easier knowing that Patrick will be racing in the Indianapolis 500 for the foreseeable future.

"She's great for our series, an important part of our series, and we hope to see her as a part of it," Belskus said. "I won't sit here and say it's absolutely necessary, but on the other hand, we'd prefer to have her a part of it.

"It's understandable that she's considering all the options available to her, and if I was advising her, I'd suggest the same thing. My hope is that she's going to continue to be an Indy car driver first and foremost. She has said the Indy 500 is important to her and it's a lifelong dream for her to win that event."

The TV partners must be thrilled that they will have Patrick to promote, and re-signing her was no doubt a key part of Michael Andretti's business plan as he moves forward as the sole owner of Andretti Green Racing. The 2009 season is the third out of the last four that AGR has compared poorly to the IRL pacesetters, and the nine wins that Franchitti and Kanaan combined for in 2007 are a distant memory. In fact, the team's victory tally in 2006 and 2008-09 is just four. It remains to be seen whether rebuilding under Andretti's watch will restore the team to the level of competitiveness Patrick will demand.

Ultimately, it doesn't really matter if Patrick is running third or 13th; people are going to be watching her anyway. The challenge for the IndyCar Series and its partners is to get those people paying attention to Danica Patrick to start caring about the true long-term stars of the sport -- from Andretti, Briscoe and Rahal to Dixon, Kanaan, Castroneves and Franchitti -- to be prepared for the day when Patrick eventually does depart.

A couple of weeks ago on a spectacularly sunny September day, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum broke out the 1980 Chaparral 2K that Johnny Rutherford drove to victory in the 1980 Indianapolis 500.

Now 71, Rutherford showed up, suited up in his pristine original overalls from 30 years ago -- imagine A.J. Foyt trying that -- and drove a couple of ceremonial laps to kick off ticket sales for the 2010 Indianapolis 500.

Alighting from the bright yellow racer, JR was beaming. "This is what the next Indy car should be," he exclaimed. "With all the modern safety features, of course."

Many observers include the 2K among the most beautiful racing cars of all time. It was designed by John Barnard, who went on to greater fame designing the McLaren Formula One cars that won a series of championships for Niki Lauda and Alain Prost in the 1980s. Those cars pioneered the carbon fiber chassis construction that is still the basis of modern open-wheel cars, and Barnard also invented the paddle shift operation common in most racing cars today.

Unfortunately, that kind of innovation is unlikely to be found in the next generation of Indy cars that will replace the Dallara chassis used since 2003. The best Indy car fans can hope for is that there will at least be competition in terms of engines and chassis manufacturers.

What the next Indy car will look and sound like is still conjecture. But it appears that it is on track for a 2012 debut, likely as an evolutionary chassis powered by a turbocharged V-6 engine.

Brian Barnhart, president of the Indy Racing League's competition and racing operations, hopes to have the package finalized by Thanksgiving.

"We expect the engine and chassis specifications to be announced in the fourth quarter," Barnhart said. "Four [engine] manufacturers have expressed interest to participate in the series beginning in 2012 -- which in this environment we feel very good about. We're maintaining dialogue with them and hope to have some final word from them in the next couple of months."

It's a given that Honda -- which is contracted to the IRL to provide engines to the IndyCar Series through 2013 -- is one of the four. The other three are assumed to be three Volkswagen Group brands.

Erik Berkman, president of Honda Performance Development, would not confirm the V-6 turbo layout. But he seemed confident that was the configuration that would prevail.

"That's what we have been proposing all along," Berkman said. "I wouldn't want to jinx it, but I'd like to think we could go that route."

Barnhart did reveal that all the manufacturers are in agreement about the basic engine architecture. The Volkswagen Group was previously believed to be in favor of a turbocharged inline 4-cylinder power plant.

"The manufacturers are in agreement in terms of engine specifications and the direction they want to go," Barnhart said. "We're not ready to announce that yet, but the groups we've been talking to are pretty consistent about what spec they want to go with. We haven't narrowed it down to the devil and the details, but the general specs have been agreed upon."

At least two design studies have been commissioned to help shape the look of the new Indy car. But Johnny Rutherford had it right when he said that maybe they should just copy the looks of the iconic Chaparral 2K.

"It was quite a jump what this car would let you do -- it was amazing," he recalled. "That was the best season I've ever had in championship racing. The Chaparral was a great race car and the beginning of what we still see today. Barnard came across something that worked really well and I was just fortunate to reap the benefits and drive it."

MOTEGI, Japan -- Here's one of life's rich ironies: On a weekend when Danica Patrick actually should be the center of attention, she's not.

Patrick scored her first -- and only -- IndyCar Series race win last year at Twin Ring Motegi. She led the last three laps when five of the six cars running in front of her had to stop for fuel, and Helio Castroneves didn't conserve enough of his to stay out front all the way to the checkered flag.

At a venue where she is the defending race champion, Danica might expect to gain the lion's share of attention. But she's playing second fiddle to the native drivers in Saturday's Japan Indy 300 -- her Andretti Green Racing teammate Hideki Mutoh, as well as part-timers Kosuke Matsuura and Japanese-American Roger Yasukawa.

Not to mention the IndyCar Series championship battle being waged by points leader Ryan Briscoe of Team Penske and pursuers Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon from Target Chip Ganassi Racing.

After a strong start to her season topped by a third-place finish in the Indianapolis 500, Patrick has faded from championship contention. She's still a career-best fifth in the standings, but she has achieved only one top-5 finish in the past two months. The Andretti Green team has been in a perpetual state of implosion in that period, and Danica may be distracted by all the speculation about her possible long-term future in NASCAR.

Patrick was reportedly rebuked by her team following the IndyCar Series race at Infineon Raceway for revealing too much about her contract negotiations to remain with AGR and the IndyCar Series, and she was very testy when pressed about the subject at the next race at Chicagoland Speedway. At Motegi, on the setup day for the Japanese race, a member of the small American media contingent on hand who shall remain nameless (but who is often associated with a famous brand of cookie) took a bullet for the team and asked whether the Japanese fans could expect to see her back at Motegi for next year's IndyCar event.

"You'll know when I tell you," she snapped, in a manner reminiscent of her apparent new mentor, Tony Stewart.

Or maybe it was just Danica being Danica.

She was also unhappy when another reporter asked about the fact that her sole IndyCar victory was the result of a fuel-mileage gamble.

"Obviously I think that's unfair," Patrick said. "You have to be running well to win any race you go to. There have been a lot of people who have won on strategy; strategy is a huge part of it.

"Everybody wants to win in a record photo finish, or by a lap over the second-place car. I'm proud of the win and the way we achieved it."

Meanwhile, at the front of the field, Briscoe arrives in Japan with a 25-point lead over Franchitti and with 33 points in hand over defending series champion Dixon. The Australian Penske driver hasn't been the dominant driver in the IndyCar Series this year -- he has three race wins compared with four apiece for the Ganassi duo -- but he has been the most consistent, with seven second-place finishes padding his points total.

Unless Franchitti wins the last two races of the season (at Motegi and Homestead-Miami Speedway on Oct. 10) and also leads the most laps, another pair of second-place finishes will be enough for Briscoe to claim the championship crown.

Briscoe is coming off a thrilling victory at Chicagoland Speedway over Dixon, and he has compiled the best record in the series on 1.5-mile ovals in 2009.

"I'm really excited about going to Japan and have always enjoyed the atmosphere of racing there," said the Sydney native. "Team Penske has done an amazing job all year long, and I'm hoping to continue our streak of 1.5-mile circuit performances going into the final two rounds of the championship."

Briscoe will be hoping for an assist from his Penske teammate Castroneves, who like Patrick has faded in the second half of the season after he scored race wins at Indianapolis and Texas Motor Speedway.

Mathematically ineligible to win the title, Castroneves knows he is playing a support role this weekend.

"Those guys are having the battle," Helio observed. "I'm not in the mix so I will do everything I can to help Ryan out and get him the title. The Ganassi boys are battling each other for the title. If that becomes an issue, it would be a good issue for us."

Neither Dixon nor Franchitti has ever won at Motegi, despite the fact that both have competed at the Japanese oval for many years, dating to when the race was a round of the CART series.

Dixon suffered one of the biggest crashes of his career at Motegi, breaking his wrist during the IndyCar Series' debut at the track in 2003. He has finished fourth and third in Japan the last two years, leading 101 of 200 laps in 2008.

"It's completely different and definitely one of the toughest tracks we go to," Dixon said. "You have half the downforce you would have at a short oval and it's really on the edge. It's been a bit of a thorn in my side for some time. You need to have a lot of confidence on that track and you have to stay committed."

IndyCar Series officials are quietly hoping that at least one of the Ganassi drivers dominates at Motegi so that the championship fight will not be settled until the finale back in America. The last time the IRL title was clinched prior to the last race of the season was 2005, when Dan Wheldon locked it up with two races remaining.

Given the unpredictable nature of the Japanese round, dating all the way back to the CART era, it would hardly be a surprise at all if the points race was extended for a couple more weeks.

CLERMONT, Ind. -- I've been to something like 350 Indy car races in the past 30 years as a fan, reporter or PR man, and have witnessed many other forms of racing, from Figure 8s to Australian V8 Supercars. But I had never attended a professional drag racing event until this year's Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park.

I can't say I experienced the same kind of joy I get from standing trackside at Road America, Toronto or Bathurst. Yet I can certainly see why drag racing has such a fervent fan base and is one of the few forms of motorsports in the world that is growing instead of fading.

Given the nature of the competition, today's blog is presented in the form of a series of short, sharp observations. To wit:

• Drag racing is every bit as loud as everyone says it is. Actually, it's even louder than you could imagine. If the wind is blowing the right way, you can hear the ORP action from my home some 30 miles away. And yes, the ground really does shake.

• The races are only 4 to 10 seconds long, but there are hundreds of them, back to back to back to back to back … you get the idea. The action is literally nonstop.

• The NHRA likes to say "Every ticket is a pit pass," and you certainly can get closer to the cars and stars at a drag race than in any other form of professional motorsport.

• I'm amazed that the engines, the chassis and the Goodyear tires are capable of holding together for 5 seconds, given the forces they are subject to.

• It's impressive when an Indy car or NASCAR team performs an engine change within the space of an hour or two. Top Fuel and Funny Car crews rebuild the top end of an engine in 40 minutes … several times a day.

• Drag racing definitely attracts a blue-collar crowd -- much more NASCAR than IndyCar and a world apart from Formula One. Think beer and cigarettes, not wine and cheese.

• New respect for John Andretti. He might have never scored an outright win at a major drag racing event, but at least he had the guts to try.

• With race fixing a hot topic in F1, it sure looked as though the fix was in when John Force smoked the tires in his semifinal against his hired driver (and son-in-law), Robert Hight, which allowed Hight to sneak into the NHRA's Countdown to 1 playoffs. "Force cheats," snapped longtime rival Cruz Pedregon, who was the driver left out of the playoffs. "He manipulates the outcome of these races, and he should be ashamed of himself."

• The subsequent shouting match that broke out between Force and his ex-driver Tony Pedregon (Cruz Pedregon's brother) was must-see TV. "I was there for eight years and, unfortunately for John, I know what is going on," Tony Pedregon said.

• You know a guy loves racing when he shows up at the track on a day off. Guys like Al Unser Jr. and Tony Stewart. "I don't know what else I would do … this is what I live for, whether it's in a straight line or 500 miles at Atlanta," said Sprint Cup points leader Stewart.

• Speaking of Stew, I used to think NASCAR was the only form of motorsport in which you can win if you're old and/or fat. There are at least a dozen drivers older than 55 on the pro drag racing circuit, though, and in the Super Gas category, there was a 75-year-old in a Ford Anglia that was just about as old as its driver.

• Nice to see Linda Vaughn, as always.

• Best race of the day: The Pro Stock final, in which Jeg Coughlin beat Greg Stanfield by 0.0018 second -- or about 7 inches.

• No sign of that obnoxious bald guy from "Pinks." I naively thought he'd be out there doing his little start-line routine for every race.

• Does John Force need Propofol to sleep at night?

• Lastly, the Force sisters are hotter in person than IndyCar Series star Danica Patrick. Waaaaay hotter …

Wow! A full weekend of racing for the Oreo man.

Last Friday and Saturday were spent at Chicagoland Speedway, where the IndyCar Series delivered up a clean and exciting race with one of those trademark photo finishes the series has become famous for.

Just a few hours later, it was time to head south to catch the second running of the Red Bull Indianapolis GP on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Although not as close, this was a much less predictable affair, with pole winner Dani Pedrosa and MotoGP maestro Valentino Rossi both crashing out to open the door for Jorge Lorenzo to score a dominant victory.

What made the weekend double more difficult than it needed to be was the unusually late starting time at Chicagoland. At the behest of the Versus network, the green flag did not fly for the Indy cars until 9:06 p.m. local time, or 10:06 ET.

This isn't the time or the place to get into a debate or commentary about what happens when television dictates the start time of an event. Let's just say that the 9 p.m. start wasn't very fan-friendly; the race ended at 10:50 local time, which means anyone traveling from Chicago's northside suburbs were probably not going to get home until well after midnight.

That late start time surely had an adverse effect on attendance.

Estimated at 25,000, the crowd was by far the smallest to witness an IndyCar Series race at Chicagoland -- which is a shame, because three of the four closest finishes in Indy Racing League history occurred at the 1.5-mile cookie-cutter oval in Joliet.

The late start also meant the race ended too late to make the Saturday night local news and Sunday newspapers. I haven't seen the television ratings for the race yet, but I can't imagine they will be anything for Versus or the IndyCar Series to celebrate.

From my own narrow perspective, after writing three stories to file after the race, I got to sleep around 2 a.m. ET and was on the road to Indianapolis by 7:30. That put me at IMS just in time for the noon start of the 125cc support race. The MotoGP main event flagged off at 3:00.

It was shocking, to say the least, to see Rossi lay his Yamaha down and lose half of his MotoGP championship lead in the process. The other surprise at Indy was the less than robust attendance. MotoGP promoter Dorna announced the race day crowd as 75,130 -- a good crowd by any standard, but one that looks pretty sparse in a venue that has more than 250,000 permanent seats.

For a series like the World of Outlaws, a pair of races 250 miles apart on consecutive days is par for the course. In Indy-style racing, even when there were two competing series from 1996 to 2007, it didn't happen that often. The Chicagoland/Indy pairing got me thinking about some of the other notable race weekends on which I pulled double duty, including:

2000: Nazareth Speedway, May 27/Indianapolis 500, May 28

The CART race at Nazareth had originally been scheduled for April 9, and almost predictably, it was snowed out. The only feasible makeup date was the day before the IRL Indy 500 -- which really complicated things for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, the first CART team to break ranks and race at Indy since the 1996 open-wheel split.

Juan Pablo Montoya was in his second and final season of CART. After leading 110 laps from pole position but finishing fourth at Nazareth, he appeared totally relaxed despite the busy weekend. Maybe that's why he now seems so well-suited to NASCAR.

"I'll go back to Indy and have some fun tomorrow, no matter what happens," he said then. "Hopefully we'll have better luck. But I'll really start thinking about tomorrow tomorrow."

The Colombian indeed had better luck and some fun at Indianapolis. He dominated the 500, winning easily, setting the table for the rush of CART teams that returned to Indy over the next four years.

Ironically, Montoya's Indy win diverted attention from the man who usually expects to be celebrating victory in the 500. Gil de Ferran scored Roger Penske's 100th Indy car victory at Nazareth, the first win for Penske's open-wheel team in more than three years.

2005-06: Richmond and Cleveland

I managed to accomplish this one two years in a row. Richmond to Cleveland is just under 400 miles; my game plan was to dash at the Richmond checkered flag to beat the traffic, get a couple of hours up the road, then write and send a Richmond story before copping a few hours of sleep prior to an early departure for Cleveland.

Richmond was always one of my favorite places to watch racing, but you can practically mail in your report because there generally isn't much action. Helio Castroneves won over Dario Franchitti and Patrick Carpentier in 2005 in a race that was most notable for all three Target Ganassi cars crashing out individually; Sam Hornish Jr. led the last 212 laps in '06.

Meanwhile, Cleveland produced its usual mayhem. Paul Tracy won over young upstart A.J. Allmendinger in '05, and there were no fewer than five leaders in the '06 race, one of five Champ Car events won by Allmendinger during that glorious summer when he was the hottest thing on the American open-wheel scene.

2004: Motegi and Long Beach

Believe it or not, I was on site for both races, green flags separated by about 40 hours and 7,000 miles. This was my most optimistic double, and pulling it off depended on lots of cooperation from Mother Nature and the airline industry. But the Japanese race was not rained out for a change, and it was an emotional Saturday at Twin Ring Motegi, where Honda finally won an Indy car race at its home track after seven years of futility. Dan Wheldon will forever be a hero at the Honda Motor Corporation.

I departed Tokyo at 5 p.m. local time Sunday, about 26 hours after the IRL race ended. We then landed at LAX at 11 a.m. local Sunday following a 10-hour flight. By 12:30, I was enjoying lunch at the Newman/Haas hospitality area, having just missed out on rubbing elbows with celebrity guests Paul McCartney and Tom Cruise.

The race was decent enough; the highlight came at the start when Paul Tracy debuted Cosworth's push-to-pass system by blasting past the front row consisting of Newman/Haas Racing teammates Bruno Junqueira and Sebastien Bourdais with a most audacious move.

Aside from the brutal travel schedule, what made this weekend difficult for me was playing double duty for National Speed Sport News. That meant supplying approximately 3,000 words of copy from Motegi and Long Beach, plus ESPN.com columns.

How was it? Tiring to say the least. But it was also educational and often fun. Typing stories into the wee hours of the morning is a small price to pay for getting to see the other side of the world while on the job.

By the time I got home from Long Beach on Monday evening, I was ready for a rest and I think my sleep schedule was out of whack for the better part of a week. But it all made for a pretty satisfying memory to look back on.