After a season of hard racing it all comes down to Laguna Seca - two drivers with one race to decide who will become the 2004 Toyota Atlantic champion.

From the very beginning of the 2004 season, Jon Fogarty and Ryan Dalziel have shown themselves to be the cream of a talented crop of young open-wheel racers that have showcased their skills on ovals, road and street courses over the last six months.

This weekend, the tug-of-war between the two series veterans will be decided in the Atlantic season finale – the Argent Mortgage Toyota Atlantic Championship of Monterey.

The battle between Fogarty and Dalziel has been kept fans on the edge of their seats and it's almost a shame that it has to end. But end it will on Sunday, in Round 12 of the Atlantic schedule and it's Dalziel who has to make up ground on his rival's home turf if he is to capture his first Toyota Atlantic Championship.

The 22-year-old Scot trails Fogarty by five points entering the weekend and with 35 points still available to be earned, that's not a big deficit to overcome. However, the tussle between the two has been so tight all season, with the lead swinging from one to the other, that it won't be easy to get those points back either.

Of the 387 race laps run in Atlantic competition so far this year, either Fogarty or Dalziel have led all but 35 of those laps. Each driver has won five pole positions this year, capturing all but one pole available in '04 (Danica Patrick having take pole at Portland in round five) and between them they've accounted for nine of the series' eleven victories (Alex Figge won in round two and Ronnie Bremer was victorious in round ten).

With the battle being so close between Fogarty and Dalziel, it's tough to tell who has the advantage entering the final race.

Fogarty already has one title under his belt, having won a close competition for the 2002 Atlantic crown and he has the five-point cushion. He was also born in Palo Alto, California so he certainly knows the 2.238-mile Laguna Seca road circuit pretty well. However Dalziel could argue that he has a better history at Laguna. He finished fourth in 2002 and was on the podium with a second-place result last season compared to Fogarty's 22nd place finish due to mechanical problems in his lone Atlantic start at the classic road course in '02.

Dalziel also has proven adept at slicing into Fogarty's lead. He trailed the former champ by 19 points after round seven and rallied all the way back to tie the championship two weeks ago in Montreal. Fogarty reclaimed the lead after winning the final pole and round 11 of the series at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, but does that just mean it's Dalziel's turn to shine this weekend in this back-and forth fight to the finish?