Castroneves trailed Marlboro Team Penske teammate Sam Hornish Jr. by 30 points heading into the Firestone Indy 400. A victory at Michigan International Speedway on July 30, coupled with Hornish’s mechanically-forced exit, vaulted Castroneves past Scott Dixon and Hornish to first.

“The way things are going, the consistent guy from now on is going to be very important,” he said after edging Vitor Meira by 1.6229 seconds at the 2-mile oval on July 30. “I guess whatever team is going to work together, drivers be patient, be in the right spot at the right time, (is) probably going to win. That’s it.”

Kentucky Speedway (Aug. 13) and Chicagoland Speedway (Sept. 10) — 1.5-mile ovals – book end the road-course race at Infineon Raceway in California (Aug. 30) to end the season.

The championship battle – much like all IndyCar Series races – will go down to the wire. Only 56 points separate first place through fifth, and there is an eight-point difference between Castroneves (376) and three-time race winner and two-time series champion Hornish (368).

Reigning IndyCar Series champion Dan Wheldon has 359 points, while Dixon, his Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, is fourth with 345. Meira is fifth with 320. Actually, the top 13 in the standings are mathematically eligible for the title.

It’s the tightest championship race since point calculations were adjusted for the 2001 season. In 2003, Castroneves also led with three events remaining. Hornish, in fifth place, was 61 points back. Dixon was fourth, but claimed the championship with three consecutive runner-up finishes at Chicagoland, California Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway.

Two years ago, Wheldon was 72 points behind then-Andretti Green Racing teammate Tony Kanaan with three races remaining. He remained second in the final tally. Last year, the St. Petersburg, Fla., resident had a comfortable 79-point lead over Kanaan with three left.

As demonstrated for most of the season, any of the top five could be atop the standings coming out of the Meijer Indy 300 presented by Coca-Cola and Secret on Aug. 13.

“With three races to go in 2003, I was in fourth place in the driver standings with a 42-point deficit behind Castroneves,” Dixon said. “There were five of us in the hunt, and it was consistency, the Target team’s “never give up” attitude and teamwork that won us the championship that year. We are nowhere near ready to give up on that now. The last two races were very frustrating for us but with three races left, we still can do this. We have all the elements to be successful.