Check out a short list of favorites for Sunday's Delphi Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway:

Kenny Brack:
After scoring top-seven finishes in five straight races, he failed to even finish in three; an oil leak forced him out after 146 laps at Kentucky while an electrical problem on lap 86 ended his day at Gateway in the previous race; bounced back with a fine fifth-place effort at Nazareth two weeks ago; best result this season was second in Japan; scored six more top-10s; seventh in standings with 309 points; won the 1998 IRL championship before jumping to the CART series; returned to the IRL this season.

	Castroneves

Helio Castroneves:
Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner took the checkered flag in the Firestone 225 at Nazareth and took over the points lead by 25 over Gil de Ferran; also at Gateway from the pole; registered eight top-three finishes this year, including four runners-up; earned over $1.6 million this season; was fourth at this speedway last year.

Scott Dixon:
Still in contention for the title despite not finishing race at Nazareth; winner of three races and four poles this year; also has another runner-up at Nashville, where he started from pole; most impressive win came at Richmond, where he led every lap of the rain-shortened SunTrust Indy Challenge; also won at Pikes Peak on June 15 and the season opener at Homestead-Miami in his IRL debut; led series-high 625 laps this year.

Gil de Ferran:
Fourth-place run at Nazareth puts him 25 points behind Helio Castroneves in second place; has not finished lower than ninth in last 10 races, including victories at Indianapolis 500 and Nashville; has seven top-three finishes in 12 races this season; earned over $2.1 million this year.

	Herta

Bryan Herta:
Consecutive results of third place at Kentucky and Nazareth were impressive and looks to continue that at Chicagoland; will make first start at the fairly new track; in eight races this year, has victory at Kansas Speedway and four top-five finishes.

Sam Hornish Jr.:
After announcing the decision to leave Panther Racing at end of season, the two-time series champion came up with a second place effort at Nazareth; won the Belterra Casino 300 at Kentucky Speedway in dominant fashion; was first win of season and ninth of IRL career, most in series; fifth place in the standings with three races remaining; IRL's all-time career laps leader with 1,729; finished out of the top 10 in just eight of the 41 races with Panther Racing; defending champion of this event.

Tony Kanaan:
An accident ended race at Nazareth on lap 119 and also the top position in the points standings; dropped 32 points behind Helio Castroneves in third place; has 10 top-10 finishes this year; winner of March race in Phoenix and also posted eight top-five finishes; started from pole three times and twice more from front row; won from pole at Phoenix, finished fourth in Miami and second at Colorado; other notable results were third at Indianapolis and second in Texas.

	Sharp

Scott Sharp:
Set to make 80th career start and 72nd in a row in the series; it is his sixth season with Kelley Racing; only driver with at least one victory in each of the IRL's eight seasons; this year's victory came in April in Motegi, Japan; 280 points accumulated this year puts him in eighth place; started 16th and finished seventh at Chicago last year; had three 13th-place finishes in last five races.

Al Unser Jr.:
Sixth in the championship with 319 points after 13 races; victory at Texas Motor Speedway on June 7 was third in IRL Series and 34th career; finished fourth and sixth in last two starts at Kentucky and Nazareth; in this race last year, started third and finished second, while in the inaugural race here was third after starting 12th; won Indianapolis 500s in 1992 and 1994; also won two open-wheel championships (CART) in 1990 and 1994.