Fontana IPS: Taylor takes race and title

Earlier in the season, Taylor predicted his Panther Racing team would win the championship. "I felt confident enough to say I was going to win the championship just because we couldn't seem to do anything wrong," Taylor said. "The car was great every time I've been able to get into it."

Taylor was challenged intermittently by Carpenter, who pulled alongside the Briton on several occasions. However, Taylor resisted his charges to lead all 50 laps.

"I couldn't have done this without Pancho," Taylor said of former Indy-car star Pancho Carter, who serves as Taylor's spotter. "He's helped me learn a huge amount this year. If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have won all of these races."

Taylor, one of the drivers being considered to replace Sam Hornish Jr. in Panther's IRL car next season, will test the IndyCar next weekend. Dane Carter, Pancho's son, will join Taylor in a two-car Infiniti effort at the finale.

Taylor also praised rival Carpenter, who is making the transition from the Infiniti Pro Series to the IndyCar Series with the PDM team.

"All I can do is learn from him," Taylor said. "Hopefully I'll be able to join him in Indy cars in the near future."

Thiago Medeiros finished third, G.J. Mennen was fourth and Billy Roe fifth. Gary Peterson his the wall in turn two on the 10th lap, the only incident of the race. Peterson was not injured.