Power conquered the courses, but can he survive the ovals?

Autoracing Betting Lines

08/23/2010 - Sonoma, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Will Power has undoubtedly established himself as the king of the road/street courses in the IZOD IndyCar Series this year, but can the Team Penske driver hang on to win the series championship with the last four races of the season contested on ovals, beginning with next Saturday night's race at Chicagoland Speedway?

Power won five of the nine road/street course events this season, widening his championship lead to 59 points over defending series titleholder Dario Franchitti after winning Sunday's race at Infineon Raceway at Sonoma in dominating fashion. Power started on the pole for the record eighth time this season, then led all but two of the 75 laps in the final road/street course race of the season.

While Power celebrated his win by toasting the fans with the customary wine goblet in Sonoma's victory circle, he also received the Mario Andretti Road Course Championship award. Two weeks ago, Power finished second at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and clinched the series' first-ever road/street course title.

Earlier this year, the series sanctioning body, Indy Racing League, announced it would expand its championship format, with the highest-scoring oval and road/street course drivers winning separate titles, beginning this season.

The oval title will be decided in the penultimate race of the season on September 19 at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan. The October 2 season-finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway likely will determine the overall IndyCar champion.

Even though Power showed he was the best on the courses this year, he is not as dominant on the ovals. His best finish in 16 career oval starts is fifth, which came three times, most recently in the June 20 race at Iowa Speedway.

"We've just got to keep going hard, and we can't relax," Power said. "We've got a bit of a buffer now going into those last four ovals, but I'm going to race like I want to win it. I'm going to be like I have been all year -- no mistakes, just get everything right."

Power drove for KV Racing Technology during his 2008 rookie season, but emerged as a superstar in IndyCar when he came on board with Penske for a part-time schedule during the 2009 season. Power first served as substitute driver for Helio Castroneves until his federal tax evasion problems were resolved. Castroneves returned to racing for the second race of the season on the streets of Long Beach, CA, with Power moving to a third Penske entry and running a limited schedule thereafter. He notched his first IndyCar win on the Edmonton street/airport course in July '09.

His successful 2010 came soon after his career nearly came to an end one year ago at Sonoma, where he sustained multiple injuries during a practice crash. He suffered two broken vertebrae and a concussion when his car hit the stalled car of Nelson Philippe, who spun exiting the blind, downhill corner.

Power sat out the remainder of the '09 season, but after making a full recovery, he was elevated to full-time status with Penske for 2010. It's been a remarkable comeback for the 29-year-old Australian, who kicked off this season by winning the March 14 inaugural IndyCar race in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He's the only driver who has led in the championship standings so far this year.

Can Power protect his points lead at Chicagoland, Kentucky Speedway, Motegi and Homestead to capture his first series championship? That will depend on how well Franchitti and his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Scott Dixon, perform in the last four races. Dixon, the 2008 IndyCar champion, currently is 95 points behind Power, but remains in the title hunt.

Dixon and Franchitti have dominated the ovals lately. The duo have combined for eight oval wins since they paired at Ganassi at the conclusion of the 2008 season.

"It's a fairly large [points] deficit, but it's four tracks we've run well on," Franchitti said. "We've won at Chicago. [Dixon] won in Japan. We both won at Homestead. We won at Kentucky as a team. I haven't won at Kentucky personally. There's places we can do very well at.

"I don't underestimate the challenge at all. Will is going to be quite strong. People are writing him off because of his lack of experience on the ovals, but he'll be right up there. We have to do a better job. We'll be pushing 100 percent."

After the first four oval races this season -- Kansas Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and Iowa -- Dixon holds a slim three- point advantage over Franchitti in the oval championship battle.

"Both Dario and myself have done extremely well on the one-and-a-half-mile circuits, especially the ones we have left," Dixon said. "I think I have five second-place finishes at Chicago. Hopefully, we can turn that into a win for a change, and try and just keep Will back in the pack and take some points off him."

Dixon and Franchitti have won the IndyCar championship for Ganassi the past two seasons, but is this the year that Penske has the "power" to take the title? The quest to answer that question will sure make things interesting for remainder of the season.