Hornish still expecting close fight

With Chip Ganassi Racing struggling all day at Milwaukee and teammate Helio Castroneves crashing out, Hornish came from a lap down to finish in second. That moved him from a five to a 25-point lead in the drivers' standings with just four races to go.

With yesterday's race winner Kanaan seemingly out of the title running, Hornish is now in a strong position to capture his third series crown this season.

However, he believes that that with only 32 points covering the top four cars, every point will make the difference at the end of the year.

He used the example of teammate Castroneves getting his car repaired following his crash to continue to try and pick up points in case there were any more retirements.

"It shows just exactly how close this championship is," Hornish said. "The team put the car back together; he went out there and ran some more laps. That's the thing that you're going to have to do, because a small amount of points this way or that way is probably what's going to determine the championship.

"We were able to get out of here with a second-place finish on a day when a lot of our competitors in the points championship didn't have very good days. Days like today where you have to stick in there and just keep working away on it are the ones that are going to win you the championship."