Franchitti, Power in heat race for title

Dario Franchitti and Will Power challenged for the IndyCar championship until the final race last year, with Franchitti clinching his second straight points crown when Power hit a wall at Homestead.

The stars of rivals Chip Ganassi and Penske Racing are back vying for the lead heading into Saturday night's race at Iowa Speedway. They've won a combined six of the eight races so far and have distanced themselves so far ahead of the field that they'll leave Iowa ranked 1-2 no matter the outcome.

Franchitti, who won the IndyCar title by just five points over Power in 2010, pulled even with Power by taking Milwaukee on Sunday for his third win of the year. Franchitti also took back the points he lost in the second race of a doubleheader in Texas - which Power won for his first oval victory - when the field was set by a contentious blind draw.

''I was definitely angry at the situation,'' said Franchitti, who said he later received an apology from IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard for a draw that placed him 28th in a 30-car field moments after he won the opener.

''I absolutely believed that, if we did our job right, that we could win at Milwaukee, the same as we believe we can win at Iowa this weekend if we do our job. What happened at Texas just served as extra motivation.''

Franchitti's got reason to be optimistic about Iowa.

He's won more than he's lost at Iowa Speedway's .875-mile oval, with wins in his first two starts (2007, 2009) before a fluky gear box issue ended that streak a year ago. The Rusty Wallace-designed track also wraps up a four-race stretch of oval tracks that would seem to give Franchitti the chance to put some distance between himself and Power.

Given Power's prowess on road courses, Franchitti could surely use some quality points from Iowa as the season approaches its midway point.

Power has won a staggering seven races on road/street courses since the start of last season, including Sao Paulo and Birmingham this season. Franchitti's no slouch himself, ranking second to Power in the race for the road course championship with four top-fives in five events and a win at St. Petersburg in March.

''Will's done a great job on the road and street courses. But we beat him in St. Pete this year, and we working very hard to put ourselves in a position to beat him in this next road-course stretch coming up,'' Franchitti said.

Though Power is still best known for his record on road courses, he's starting to figure out ovals - and having more fun in the process.

Power bounced back from a 14th-place finish at Indianapolis with a third-place finish and a win at Texas, then maneuvered his way from a poor qualifying spot of 17th in Milwaukee to cross in fourth, his third top-five in a row.

Power scored his first oval pole at Iowa in 2010. But after leading for 32 laps, the No. 12 car proved to struggle in traffic and he finished fifth.

''I knew going into that season it was going to be a weak point, just because of a lack of experience. This year I come back with more experience, and I feel as though every oval we go that I'm going to be a front-runner,'' Power said.

Iowa could prove to be more critical for Franchitti, who'd surely like to build a bit of cushion with Toronto, Edmonton and the road course at Mid-Ohio coming up.

Power knows that Franchitti's No. 10 car likely will be the one to chase come Saturday night.

''He's definitely strong around this place. He's just strong on short ovals all together,'' Power said of Franchitti. ''He'll be, as usual, very strong. He's good.''