While the majority of observers reckon that it is too late, Helio Castroneves will be doing everything he can to at least push the IndyCar Series title battle all the way to the last round of the season.
The Brazilian trails season-long championship leader Scott Dixon by 78 points with just three rounds remaining, beginning with the road course event at Infineon Raceway this weekend, and believes that he can make some inroads into the Kiwi's advantage in California.
With Team Penske's strong performances on road and street courses this season, the next two races - at the former Sears Point facility and on Detroit's Belle Isle Raceway - could be just what Castroneves needs to stay in the hunt, but the double Indy 500 winner admits that he will also need more than a little luck to close the gap on the consistent Dixon.
“Infineon Raceway is one of the most technical tracks we run on all year,” he explains, “It has big hills, big turns and high speed, so it makes running well there very difficult.
"Fortunately, we've been quick in Sonoma on each visit, but we haven't been able to bring home a win. We've finished in the top five for the past two years, and I really want to take it to the next level this season in order to keep the championship battle going. We're not out of it, but we're going to need a strong run to be able to stay in the fight.”
In the four races run on non-ovals so far in 2008, Penske has achieved one victory - courtesy of Ryan Briscoe in Mid-Ohio - three poles, two front row sweeps and most laps led three times, and the team also has some history at Infineon, having earned its first-ever open-wheel pole there in 1970 with Mark Donohue. However, while Castroneves has completed 99.9 per cent of the laps in his three starts at the Californian venue, it is one of only two tracks on the 2008 schedule where he has never led a lap.
