Preview: Brack aims to strike back

Brack trails championship leader de Ferran by just 10 points as the teams move to the famous Laguna Seca raceway this weekend. And while the Swede has taken all of his four wins this year on ovals, he is hoping to lead from the front on the undulating Californian road course.

"We are ten points behind and that's not good," said the Team Rahal ace. "But we're going to keep fighting for this championship. This thing is not over until it's over. We've got three races to go and I believe that the team can give us a good car for each of those races. We are working hard to make some changes and be ready for Laguna Seca."

De Ferran has the advantage of momentum heading into this weekend's race having taken wins at the previous two rounds at Rockingham and at Houston last weekend, but the Penske driver knows the pressure will be on.

The Brazilian led a Penske one-two at Laguna last year and team mate Helio Castroneves, who is third in the standings 30 points behind, is expected to be hot on de Ferran's heels again this year.

"As we get to the end of the season, every race takes on extra importance," said de Ferran. "The title chase is not finished and we cannot underestimate the opposition - we need to execute and put points on the board."

A strong showing from Dario Franchitti netted him second place behind de Ferran at Houston and underlined his frontrunner status even though the Scot's championship chances have all but disappeared - he currently lies fifth, 58 points behind the leader with only 66 available.

Despite being an outside bet for the title, Franchitti is still intent on taking the fight to the leaders, but knows that the weekend is likely to be decided during qualifying due to the difficulty of overtaking at the Monterey track.

"Laguna Seca is a tough, tough track to race on, which makes qualifying especially important," said Franchitti. "I've qualified well there, and not so well, and believe me, it can make a big difference. It's certainly a very challenging place to get the car working properly. We need to keep the momentum going and earn as many points as we can to try to put some pressure on the points leaders."