From: Michael Powell 

INDYCAR SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP TO BE SETTLED AT CHEVY 500

INDIANAPOLIS, Monday, Oct. 6, 2003 – One of the best championship battles
in the history of motorsports has an incredible list of scenarios that will
determine which driver will take home $1 million and the coveted 2003 IRL
IndyCar Series Championship Cup.

The IRL IndyCar Series Champion will be honored at the Championship
Celebration Oct. 25 at EPCOT at Walt Disney World Resorts.  

With one race remaining, the Chevy 500 Oct. 12 at Texas Motor Speedway,
five drivers are eligible for the IndyCar Series Championship. The
standings are the closest they have ever been heading into the final race
of the season, with two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves and
Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon tied for the lead with 467
points. Andretti Green Racing driver Tony Kanaan is third with 460,
followed by two-time IndyCar Series Champion Sam Hornish Jr. at 448 and
2003 Indianapolis 500 winner Gil de Ferran at 437.

Some drivers control their own destiny, while others need some help in
order to win the IndyCar Series Championship. For a complete 2003 IRL
IndyCar Series Championship scenarios sheet and points possibility chart,
log on to www.indycarseries.com.

***

IndyCar Series Points System:	

Per race, for both driver and entrant championships. 50 points - 1st, 40 -
2nd, 35 - 3rd, 32 - 4th, 30 - 5th, 28 - 6th, 26 - 7th, 24 - 8th, 22 - 9th,
20 - 10th, 19 - 11th, 18 - 12th, 17 - 13th, 16 - 14th, 15 - 15th, 14 -
16th, 13 - 17th, 12- 18th, 11 - 19th, 10 - 20th, 9 - 21st, 8 - 22nd, 7 -
23rd, 6 - 24th, 5 - 25th, 4 - 26th, 3 - 27th, 2 - 28th, 1 - 29th thru 33rd.

Two bonus points are awarded for the most laps led.

***

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Marlboro Team Penske Dallara/Toyota/ Firestone,
Tied for first, 467 points): Castroneves controls his own destiny in the
points chase. If he wins the Chevy 500, he wins the championship. He can
finish as low as 21st and still win, depending on where the other four
drivers finish. 

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Panoz G Force/
Toyota/Firestone, Tied for first, 467 points): Dixon also controls his own
destiny in the points chase. If he wins the Chevy 500, he wins the
championship. He can finish as low as 21st and still win, depending on
where the other four drivers finish. 

TONY KANAAN (No. 11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone, Third place, 460
points): Kanaan, like Castroneves and Dixon, controls his own destiny. If
he wins the Chevy 500, he wins the championship. Kanaan can finish 14th and
still win, depending on where the other four drivers finish. 

SAM HORNISH JR. (No. 4 Pennzoil Panther Dallara/Chevrolet/ Firestone,
Fourth place, 448 points): Hornish doesn’t have to the win the Chevy 500, a
race he has won the past two years, in order to have a chance at his third
consecutive championship, but it would help. Even if Hornish wins the race
and leads the most laps, earning the two bonus points to claim 52 total
points, he still needs Castroneves and Dixon to finish no better than
fourth in order to win the championship. Should that happen, even if Kanaan
finished second, Hornish would win the championship.  

If Hornish wins and does not earn the two bonus points for leading the most
laps, Castroneves, Dixon and Kanaan must finish outside of the top three.
Hornish can finish in seventh and lead the most laps and still win,
depending on where the other four drivers finish.

GIL DE FERRAN (No. 6 Marlboro Team Penske Dallara/Toyota/ Firestone,
Fifth-place, 437 points): De Ferran needs to win the Chevy 500 and needs a
lot of help in order to win the IndyCar Series Championship in his final
season. If he wins the race, he needs Castroneves and Dixon to finish no
better than 10th, Kanaan to finish no better than seventh and Hornish to
finish no better than third. De Ferran can mathematically win if he
finishes second, but should he finish third or worse, he will not win the
championship. 

***

Tickets, TV and Radio: The season-ending Chevy 500 at Texas Motor Speedway
is Oct. 12 and will be broadcast live at 3:30 p.m. (EDT) by ESPN and the
IMS Radio Network. For tickets, log on to www.texasmotorspeedway, call
(817) 215-8500 or go to any Ticketmaster location.

-----------------

IRL IndyCar Series

Chevy 500

At Texas Motor Speedway

3:30 p.m. (EDT) Sunday, Oct. 12, 2003

ESPN/IMS Radio Network (live)	 

Car	Driver	Hometown	Car Name	C/E/T	Entrant	Chief Mechanic

2	Vitor Meira	Brasilia, Brazil	Menards/Johns Manville	D/C/F	Team Menard	Roy Wilkerson

3	Helio Castroneves	Sao Paulo, Brazil	Marlboro Team Penske	D/T/F	Marlboro
Team Penske	Rick Rinaman

4	Sam Hornish Jr.	Defiance, Ohio	Pennzoil Panther	D/C/F	Panther Racing	Simon Morley

6	Gil de Ferran	Sao Paulo, Brazil	Marlboro Team Penske	D/T/F	Marlboro Team
Penske	Matt Jonsson

7	Dan Wheldon (R)	Emberton, England	Team 7-Eleven	D/H/F	Andretti Green
Racing	John Cummiskey

8	Scott Sharp	Norwalk, Conn.	Delphi	D/T/F	Kelley Racing	Paul Harcus

9	Scott Dixon	Auckland, New Zealand	Target Chip Ganassi Racing
	G/T/F	Target Chip Ganassi Racing	Ricky Davis

10	Tomas Scheckter	Cape Town, South Africa	Target Chip Ganassi Racing
	G/T/F	Target Chip Ganassi Racing	Dave Higuera

11	Tony Kanaan	Salvador, Bahia, Brazil	Team 7-Eleven	D/H/F	Andretti Green
Racing	Jeff Simon

12	Tora Takagi	Shizuoka, Japan	Pioneer Mo Nunn Racing	D/T/F	Pioneer Mo Nunn
Racing	Don Lambert

13	Greg Ray	Plano, Texas	TrimSpa Racing	G/H/F	Access Motorsports	Jamie Nanny

14	A.J. Foyt IV (R)	Hockley, Texas	Conseco/A.J. Foyt Racing	G/T/F	A.J. Foyt
Enterprises	Bill Spencer

15	Kenny Brack	Arvika, Sweden	Pioneer/Miller Lite	D/H/F	Team Rahal	Ricardo Nault

18	Ed Carpenter (R) 	Indianapolis	Metabolife Ultra	D/C/F	PDM Racing	Paul Murphy

21	Felipe Giaffone	Sao Paulo, Brazil	Hollywood Mo Nunn
Racing	G/T/F	Hollywood Mo Nunn Racing	Tom Vasi

23	Sarah Fisher	Commercial Point, Ohio	GMAC/AOL/Dreyer &
Reinbold	D/C/F	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Dan Miller

24	Robbie Buhl	Detroit	Purex/Aventis/Dreyer & Reinbold	D/C/F	Dreyer
& Reinbold Racing	Brian Franzosi

27	Bryan Herta	Valencia, Calif.	Archipelago/Motorola	D/H/F	Andretti Green
Racing	George Klotz

31	Al Unser Jr.	Albuquerque, N.M.	Corteco	D/T/F	Kelley Racing	John Worth

52	Alex Barron 	Menifee, Calif.	Red Bull Cheever Racing 	D/C/F	Red Bull
Cheever Racing	David Meehan

55	Roger Yasukawa (R)	Los Angeles	Panasonic ARTA	D/H/F	Super Aguri
Fernandez Racing	Steve Ragan

91	Richie Hearn	Las Vegas	Metabolife/Delta Faucet/Life
Fitness	D/C/F	Hemelgarn Racing	Dennis LaCava

Legend: Chassis: D=Dallara, G=Panoz G Force. Engine: C=Chevrolet, H=Honda,
T=Toyota. Tire: F=Firestone. (R)=Rookie. Issued: 10/6/03



--- Internet Rex 2.29