Check out a short list of favorites for Sunday's The 500 presented by Toyota at California Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

Michael Andretti

	Andretti

Winner of two 500-mile races at Michigan Speedway, but none at California Speedway; scored points in all but three races on the circuit this season, his last in CART; announced he will compete in the IRL next year; won Grand Prix of Long Beach in California this season; finished seventh in The 500 last year.

Patrick Carpentier
One of three drivers with a realistic chance to finish second in the points standings and collect a bonus of $500,000; with two races left, trails Bruno Junqueira by 13 points and Dario Franchitti by four; has earned just 26 of his 105 points on ovals this year.

Christian Fittipaldi
Winner of this long race in 2000, prevailing in a late battle with Roberto Moreno and Gil de Ferran; it was his second career victory but has not taken the checkered flag since; finished on the podium five times this year, most recently in Miami; failure to score any points in six races were costly in his title aspirations; 116 points puts him fifth going into the penultimate event of the season.

Dario Franchitti

	Franchitti

Was in contention for the championship at various stages of the season but could not capitalize on some opportunities; despite three wins, one runner-up and three third-place finishes, did not finish six events; remains in the battle for season runner-up with Bruno Junqueira and Patrick Carpentier for a $500,000 bonus; nine points behind Junqueira and four ahead of Carpentier.

Michel Jourdain Jr.
A 10th-place finish in the eventful and rain-shortened Honda Indy 300 in Australia was his 17th straight race to earn points in; looks to score points in the remaining two races to become the first driver since Al Unser Jr. in 1992 to score points in every race; joining Team Rahal turned to be the right decision as the Mexican driver is having the best season of his seven-year CART career; the 26-year-old has established career highs in points (105), top-five results (5) and top-10 results (14); leads the series in laps completed and miles logged.

Bruno Junqueira
Second-year driver having a breakthrough season; has wins in Japan and in dominating fashion last month in Denver, where he led all 100 laps; second in the standings with 144 points; a runner-up finish in the standings awards a $500,000 bonus which he is determined to get with two races left; a better driver on street/road course circuits to ovals, although he did finish fourth in this race last year.

Cristiano da Matta Clinched the 2002 CART championship two races ago with win in Miami; with seven victories this year, the Brazilian looks to break the CART record of eight wins in a season if he can win in California and season finale in Mexico City (Michael Andretti accomplished feat in 1991 and Al Unser Jr. matched it in 1994); good news is he is the 2001 champion of The 500 as he led 53 laps.