Michael Andretti certain Ryan Hunter-Reay capable of IndyCar title if he doesn't change approach

Andretti Autosport racer Hunter-Reay has now won the last three IndyCar rounds and opened up a 34-point lead over Penske's Will Power, who took three victories earlier in the season. Dario Franchitti, winner of the previous three IndyCar championships, is back in eighth place, 105 points adrift of Hunter-Reay.

Hunter-Reay's wins came on the short ovals at Milwaukee and Iowa, and the Toronto street course, and Andretti believes his versatility will be key to the title run-in.

"As a team owner, that's something we liked about Ryan, that we could be competitive on all types of tracks," said Andretti. "We're looking forward to the next how many races we have. I don't think there's a weak track for him.

"I don't think Ryan should do anything different. I don't think the team should do anything different. We should just continue to do our job. If everybody does their job, we should be OK. If there's no mistakes made the rest of the year, I think we have a good shot at winning the championship."

But 31-year-old American Hunter-Reay reckons he might have to raise his game even further to fend off the Penske and Ganassi drivers.

"To beat Will, Dario, [Scott] Dixon, a lot of these guys, it's just going to be really tough week in and week out," he said. "It's going to take something special from us - maybe something even more special than we've already done."

The Andretti team's last title came with Franchitti in 2007. The last time an American driver won the IndyCar championship was when Sam Hornish Jr triumphed in 2006.