2012 IndyCar championship fight

[NaBUru38]

It's time to open a thread for the championship fight.

Standings after 9 rounds:

1. Will Power (Penske), 286
2. Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti), 283
3. Scott Dixon (Ganassi), 271
4. Hélio Castroneves (Penske), 261
5. James Hinchcliffe (Andretti), 256
6. Simon Pagenaud (Schmidt), 246
7. Tony Kanaan (KV), 235
8. Dario Franchitti (Ganassi), 216
9. Ryan Briscoe (Penske), 205
10. Graham Rahal (Ganassi), 193

There's at least 6 races left:
o- Toronto and Edmonton next July.
o- Mid-Ohio and Sears Point in August.
o- Baltimore and Fontana in September.
That's three street races, two road course races, and one superspeedway.

It seems to me that the champion will come from one of the top 6 drivers, and most likely one of the top 3.

I mean, Power has been dominating in road/street courses, but in 5 races anything can happen: a pitstop mistake, a misplaced yellow flag, a stupped lapped driver, etc.

The top 8 drivers are virtually locked. ServiÃ* can pass Wilson, Rahal and perhaps Briscoe now that he's running with a Chevrolet, but not further: it's Kanaan and Franchitti in 7th and 8th.

Andretti is 13th and I'm sure we will sink further in the standings (he's 18th in the Maio Andretti Road Trophy standings). I'm pretty confident that Barrichello can climb from 15th. Tagliani should also pass Sato, Viso and Carpenter from current's 20th place.