Juan Pablo Montoya bullish over IndyCar title as Graham Rahal gains
Juan Pablo Montoya believes he is "in good shape" for the IndyCar title run-in despite having his lead cut to nine points with just two races remaining

The Colombian has led the championship all season, but he has been outscored by Graham Rahal in each of the last four events to tighten up the points race.
However, with just races at Pocono and Sonoma remaining over the next two weekends, Montoya believes he will finish the year strongly.
"We're in good shape," he said. "We won at Pocono last year, and we should run pretty good going to these next races.
"You can't really know what's going to happen, but I think we'll be fine. Honestly I do feel we're going to be OK.
"We've done a really good job all year, like everybody else, had ups and downs, and we'll see what it brings."
With the Sonoma finale offering double points Montoya's team boss Roger Penske is prepared for a championship showdown, but he believes his team has the right man for the job.
"It's going right down to the wire," said Penske, who also has Helio Castroneves and Will Power still in contention.
"[Scott] Dixon is very good out there, and Rahal is on a bit of a roll right now.
"We just have to keep our head on, and Montoya is the kind of guy you want on your team when it comes down to a fight."
WHAT HIS RIVALS SAID
GRAHAM RAHAL (2nd, 9 points behind)
"I feel like my job is to stay close to Juan in Pocono, and if we can do that, we'll be in a pretty good spot come Sonoma. The double-points throws a huge curveball into the mix.
"The championship is right there, we're close, we feel like we're capable, and we're ready to capitalise on it."
SCOTT DIXON (3rd, 34 points behind)
"Obviously we'd like to be ahead going into Sonoma, but those chances are slim. For us, you're going to hope for a little bit of bad luck or a mechanical issue with Juan, but those are generally not seen too many times.
"We've been in this situation before, we've won a lot of races together, so you don't want to change things up too much."
HELIO CASTRONEVES (4th, 58 points behind)
"I'm excited. We've got to do something different, we've got to take chances if it's a strategy or a risk out there on the track.
"We've got to do something, and be aggressive to win the championship. I don't have much to lose."
WILL POWER (5th, 59 points behind)
"If you're in the position Montoya is in, you definitely feel the pressure, because sometimes it's unclear what you have to do to win the championship.
"If you're in the position I'm in now it's very clear: you have to win two races. Juan has won a championship before, so he knows how it goes."
Follow the IndyCar title run-in on AUTOSPORT Live - with commentary from the Pocono race from 7.30pm UK time on Sunday

Andretti Autosport settles lawsuit from Andretti Sports Marketing
Pocono IndyCar: Charlie Kimball leads Ganassi one-two in practice

Latest news
NASCAR bans Chastain Martinsville wall-ride manoeuvre
NASCAR has decided to ban the wall-ride manoeuvre made famous by Ross Chastain at Martinsville that secured him a place in the Championship 4.
Gasly: Mindset for Alpine is "completely different" to Red Bull F1 move
Pierre Gasly says he has a "completely different" mindset for his Alpine Formula 1 move thanks to lessons taken from his failed stint at Red Bull in 2019.
GTD Pro win a “proper send-off” for retiring IMSA stalwart MacNeil
Winning the GTD Pro class at the Daytona 24 Hours was a fitting way for Cooper MacNeil to retire from racing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, says team-mate Jules Gounon.
The all-French F1 partnership that Ocon and Gasly hope to emulate
Alpine’s signing of Pierre Gasly alongside Esteban Ocon revives memories of a famous all-French line-up, albeit in the red of Ferrari, for BEN EDWARDS. Can the former AlphaTauri man's arrival help the French team on its path back to winning ways in a tribute act to the Prancing Horse's title-winning 1983?
Nigel Mansell’s greatest F1 and Indycar drives
It’s 30 years since Mansell won the Formula 1 world title and then headed off to do battle in America. Here are his best races – and the Briton’s memories of them
How Ericsson achieved Indy immortality as Ganassi's main man stumbled
Chip Ganassi Racing team was strong again in the Indianapolis 500, with poleman Scott Dixon and reigning champion Alex Palou leading almost three quarters of the race between them. But when dominator Dixon was penalised for pitlane speeding, ex-Formula 1 driver Marcus Ericsson stepped up to score the biggest win of his career and seize the IndyCar points lead
Ranking the top 10 IndyCar drivers of 2021
In an enthralling 2021 IndyCar campaign, the series bounced back from its COVID-19 truncated year prior and Alex Palou defeated both the established order and his fellow young guns to clinch a maiden title. It capped a remarkable season with plenty of standout performers
How F1's other IndyCar exile finally unlocked his potential
Romain Grosjean's swashbuckling rookie year in IndyCar captured the imagination of many in 2021. But another ex-Formula 1 driver whose potential was masked by five years of toil in, at best, middling machinery also enjoyed a breakout year in 2021 - winning twice and finishing sixth in points. Here's how Marcus Ericsson finally delivered on his promise
How Ganassi's relentless new champion outfoxed IndyCar's best
IndyCar sophomore Alex Palou stunned by overcoming team-mate Scott Dixon and the rest of a white-hot field in 2021. He was consistently fast and crucially showed a level head, rebounding well from setbacks to put himself in a near unassailable position entering the final round
Have Harvey and RLL formed IndyCar’s next winning match-up?
Despite appearing to have an IndyCar job for life with Meyer Shank Racing, Jack Harvey’s departure and move to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing sparked plenty of debate. However, Harvey's and RLL's combined strengths could prove to be a winning combination - if they get the balance right
Remembering Dan Wheldon and his last and most amazing IndyCar win
Saturday 16 October marks the 10th anniversary of Dan Wheldon’s death. David Malsher-Lopez pays tribute, then asks Wheldon’s race engineer from 2011, Todd Malloy, to recall that magical second victory at the Indianapolis 500
Why Kyle Kirkwood is America's new IndyCar ace-in-waiting
Kyle Kirkwood, the record-setting junior formula driver, sealed the Indy Lights championship last weekend. But despite an absurdly strong junior career and scholarship money, his next move is far from clear
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.