IN SIGHT World, meet Brian France. FOCUS: AL UNSER JR. Most eyes are on the five-driver battle atop the IndyCar points race, but the guy in sixth is having a decent season. Al Unser Jr. isn't within reasonable striking distance of the top five, but he does have a 21-point cushion over the seventh spot in points. And despite not having had much success at Fontana -- where the IRL races this weekend -- Unser is looking forward to Sunday's Toyota Indy 400. "I've always loved racing at the California Speedway, and that is mainly because it is a big, fast two-mile oval," said Unser Jr., who will be making his 50th career IRL start on Sunday. "We run very fast at California, and the draft is a huge part of every race at this track. We run two and three abreast all day long, and it's a very exciting race." In three CART and IRL races, Unser Jr. never has finished better than 11th at the fast two-mile oval. But a ninth-place result at Michigan this year has Unser optimistic. "I think the Corteco team will be in pretty decent shape this weekend since we ran well at Michigan, the sister track to California. I'm looking forward to a good weekend." Unser has one win this season (Texas), which has been a solid if not spectacular follow-up to his tumultuous 2002 campaign, during which he finished seventh in points despite missing two races. And don't think this season's performance -- which includes competing in an IRL field with names like Dixon, Kanaan and Brack added to it -- doesn't have anything to do with Unser being sober. "(Being sober) helped me quite a bit. I mean, when I'm away from the racetrack it's really the most time that has helped me in, so my life is extremely good, and I'm enjoying it. ... And then that has kind of been a snowball effect, I would say, as far as when I get to the racetrack, my mind is so much clearer, and then when I get out of the race car, I physically feel better and I'm mentally stronger at the end of the races." At 41, Unser Jr. is an old man compared with the rest of the IndyCar field. But he's not about to hang up his helmet. "I'm enjoying what I'm doing. I love driving these cars. And as long as I enjoy it and I'm competitive, then we're going to keep doing it." Not even his battle with alcoholism can take away Unser's drive to stay on track. "I never considered giving up driving race cars. I love doing what I'm doing. And I really feel very fortunate and lucky to be able to do for a living what I truly love doing, which is driving cars." PIT PASS Since his boo-inspiring victory at the Sharpie 500 in Bristol, Winston Cup bad-boy Kurt Busch has had a bit of a rough run. In the three races since Bristol, Busch has finished 13th, 24th and 15th. Considering he has four victories, eight top five's and 11 top 10's this season and is sitting at seventh in the points race, those finishes are disappointing. But Busch and his Roush Racing Rubbermaid crew are pulling out a tried and true chassis for Dover, and they're expecting big things. "We're bringing one of our 'money' cars here to Dover -- it's the one that we used during both Bristol wins," crew chief Jimmy Fennig said. "This car tends to respond to changes very predictably, and it doesn't dart around very much in the corners. I think we have a good plan for this weekend; but it looks like Mother Nature has some plans of her own, so we'll see who wins that one." So long as Hurricane Isabel doesn't wreak havoc on Dover International Speedway, Busch thinks he can make some noise again in the series after hitting a rough spot. "Dover is a great racetrack that allows some real racing to occur," Busch said. "You can run up high when you need to and dive down low when the time calls for it. You basically need to plant that chassis to the bottom of the racetrack and get good forward bite off the corners. If you can accomplish that for 400 laps, you'll be smiling when it's over." Matt Kenseth has just one win, but he's got a huge lead in points. Many are questioning whether NASCAR should change the rules -- never mind the fact that Kenseth has finished worse than 14th just twice and worse than 22nd exactly zero times. That's spectacular -- he deserves a championship with those kind of numbers. So instead of proposing a points overhaul, let's take a look at just one small aspect of the NASCAR points system: being awarded five points for leading a lap. How important is getting to the front? Well, that's where you need to be in order to win ... we get that. But it's not at all uncommon to see a driver leading a race pull aside to allow his teammate (or even some other driver) to pass and lead one lap in order to collect those five bonus points. Nor is it uncommon for a driver with a mediocre car that hasn't competed all day to stay out while other cars have pitted to take the lead for a lap and collect those five points before heading to the pits himself. Is that what NASCAR really wants to reward? A fluke, one-lap appearance at the front of the field? Five points for leading the most laps makes sense. It rewards what one could consider to be the most dominant driver that day. But rather than tossing points at everyone who shows up at the front, why not reserve the other five-point award for drivers who lead several laps -- say, 5 percent. For instance, Sunday's Cup race at New Hampshire International Speedway was 300 laps, meaning, under our proposal, that a driver would need to lead 15 laps to pick up those five points. So instead of the 11 different drivers who received bonus points for leading one lap, the points would only be awarded to those who led 15 or more laps. On Sunday at Loudon, that would have been five drivers: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (120 laps led), Bill Elliott (55), Ryan Newman (47), Ricky Rudd (26) and Michael Waltrip (18). Want to tighten the belt even more? Restricting the award to leading 10 percent of the laps (30 at Loudon) would result in just three drivers receiving the bonus. Five percent seems to make more sense. In the last 10 events, a total 21 drivers have led either one or two laps during a particular race. While not all of those 21 fall into the aforementioned "fluke" categories, it still stands to reason that picking up five bonus points should be at least a little more difficult. Leading one lap doesn't prove anything. Leading 15, on the other hand, carries much more weight -- weight worth rewarding. EXHAUST FUMES After 27 races this season, no one has been able to collect the Winston Leader Bonus, which has ballooned to a record $280,000. The only driver eligible to win that huge bonus pot is Matt Kenseth because the payout goes to a race winner who also leads the Winston Cup points. The bonus starts at $10,000 and increases in $10,000 increments each week it isn't collected. Sterling Marlin (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge) was the last to win the bonus, in March 2001 at Darlington Raceway. "Dover has always been my favorite racetrack on the tour," said Kenseth, who leads the points race by 404 over Dale Earnhardt Jr. "I got my first start here, and the DEWALT team always seems to run really well here. We qualified fourth back here in June and that's been our best starting spot all year and I'm not really a good qualifier. I'd like to win one here Sunday, but right now I think most people are wondering if we're going to have a race this weekend." Said his crew chief, Robbie Reiser: "Matt really likes the place and he got his first career start here in 1998 and I think it's always been special to him. It makes it easy when you've got a driver that's as smooth as Matt is. We're bringing the same car, so no worries there. I want to get back to victory lane just as bad as Matt and this whole team does, so maybe this will be the week." No easy weekends: There's no room for error in the IRL series battle, and that's fine with Team 7-Eleven's Tony Kanaan. As the series heads to California Speedway in Fontana, Kanaan likes his chances of closing on series leader Helio Castroneves or Scott Dixon, who sit just 14 points and two points ahead, respectively. Kanaan has raced at the California track since 1997, clinching an Indy Lights title in his California debut before going on to make five more Champ Car starts at the track in the years that followed. He sat on the pole in his final Champ Car race there last season. "I have a lot of good memories from racing at California. I won my Indy Lights championship there in '97 and was on the pole there last year, so it brings me good vibes," Kanaan said. "What is going to happen there? We obviously don't know. But, it's good to go to a place where you have had a lot of good memories from before. I'm looking forward to it. "It's a very important race. The championship could be decided right there. You could get out of there with a chance to win the championship at Texas, or you could leave there saying, 'That's it.'" MAILBAG

I disagree with the comments regarding fighting in the Gas and Go segement. To quote: "Ratings might go up because of a fight or two, but NASCAR is about racing." NASCAR has nothing to do with racing. NASCAR is strictly focused on one thing: money for the Frances. The teams and fans are about racing. NASCAR is about making a buck. NASCAR historically will not do anything unless they can make a buck from it or seriously risk losing a buck. Why is there no traveling safety team like every other top racing series in the world? They can't make money on it, it will only cost them money. John Balestrieri Mingo, Iowa We could have been more clear here. By referring to NASCAR, we meant the league, its drivers and its teams -- not just the sanctioning body. But your point is valid. Actions taken by NASCAR very often are motivated by the bottom line of making a buck. Unfortunately, that's just the reality of major league sports. They are all businesses first and a bunch of athletes second. This is true for baseball, the NFL, NBA, NHL -- and the late WUSA, among others. As for the traveling safety team, well, NASCAR needs one. That move is way overdue. They need the fighting and wrecking for entertainment, because the aero-dictated "racing" is boring. William E. J. Heffner San Diego NASCAR realizes that too much reliance on aero-balance and aero-downforce isn't good for race action. It has been reported that the modifications to the cars (particularly the rear spoilers) set to kick in next(el) season will help to rectify this. Got your own questions about what's happening in the pits? Ask away, and we'll answer a question or two in the next Gas&Go. Name: E-mail address: City, state: Your comment: OVERHEARD Jacques Villeneuve On fighting to keep his ride at BAR. "I have never worked so hard in my life. If my attitude is a problem, then there is no attitude change that could convince (team boss David Richards)." Brian France On taking over for his father Bill France Jr. "From now on, I have to make the big decisions. If it wasn't that way, why not just leave it the way it was?" Jimmie Johnson After his win at New Hampshire. "I'm very fortunate to get to do what I do. I love it, and every week I want to get better. If we win a title, that's what it's about."

RPM.ESPN.com's Gas and Go appears each and every Tuesday on ESPN.com.