Auto123.com - Helping you drive happy

IRL: The Oval Championship Trophy up for grabs

|
Get the best interest rate
Khatir Soltani
Team Penske's Will Power received the road/street course trophy from Andretti at Infineon Raceway last month but the inaugural A.J. Foyt Oval Championship Trophy is still up for grabs.

Dario Franchitti takes a 27-point lead over Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon and 29 points over Team Penske's Helio Castroneves into the Indy Japan 300 -- the final race to determine the A.J. Foyt Oval Championship winner.

Dixon won the race last year, and Franchitti was 1.4 seconds behind in second. Franchitti has accumulated 228 points from victories at Indianapolis and Chicagoland plus top-five finishes at Kansas, Texas and Kentucky while Dixon won at Kansas and had top-10 finishes at the other five ovals.

Dixon and Andretti Autosport's Tony Kanaan are the only drivers to complete all 1,278 laps on ovals this season. Panther Racing's Dan Wheldon is three shy.

The oval title-holder will be decided in Japan, but will be formally presented the trophy at Homestead-Miami Speedway in two weeks.


Khatir Soltani
Khatir Soltani
Automotive expert
  • Over 6 years experience as a car reviewer
  • Over 50 test drives in the last year
  • Involved in discussions with virtually every auto manufacturer in Canada