HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- The Indy 300 -- the IndyCar Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway -- is Saturday. For the fourth consecutive season the last race on the schedule will decide the drivers championship.New Zealander Scott Dixon leads his Target Ganassi teammate Dario Franchitti by four points in the standings. Australian Ryan Briscoe, of Team Penske, is eight points behind Dixon. The three dominated the practice speed charts and will start in front of the grid today -- Franchitti on pole position, Dixon next to him and Briscoe on the second row.
The three men have accounted for 12 wins in 14 races and traded the championship lead 14 times. This is the second closest championship battle in the series history.
Dixon, 29, is trying to earn his third championship and join Sam Hornish Jr. as the IndyCar Series only three-time champs. He won trophies in 2003 and 2008 and ran out of gas on the last turn of the last lap of the 2007 finale as Franchitti blew past to take the crown.
The Scot, Franchitti, 36, is technically trying to win back-to-back titles since he left open-wheel in 2008 to race in NASCAR. His stock car career never got a fair shake as he suffered an injury and his car lost its sponsorship. He hasn't skipped a beat since returning to open-wheel winning four times.
Briscoe, 28, is enjoying the most successful season in only his second true full season of competition. A former Formula One test driver, he finished second in the American Le Mans Series sportscar championship in 2007 before being hired last year to take over the No. 6 IndyCar seat.
Not only is the title up for grabs. Only 27 points separate fifth place Danica Patrick through eighth place Tony Kanaan. Fifth place would Patrick's highest career finish.
