MOTORSPORT: Power ice-cool for Indy decider

His challenge came up a fraction short last year and it's even tougher this time because he's trailing archrival Dario Franchitti ahead of the final race on Monday morning, Australian time, in Las Vegas.

The gap is 18 points -- 573 to 555. Last year Power went into the grand final in Florida 12 points ahead but crashed mid-race and saw Franchitti coast to the title by five points. The venue in Las Vegas is a 1.5-mile (2.4km) oval. Neither of the contenders has raced an Indy car on it before.

Power has won more races this season and improved greatly on ovals, but Franchitti is a proven oval specialist with 15 wins from 126 starts on ovals.

Ana Beatriz colliding with Power in the pitlane at the Kentucky speedway two weeks ago may yet prove to the most crucial moment of Power's season after he had dominated the first quarter of that race and thought he had the car to notch his second oval victory. He's the underdog, but he says he's more relaxed than he's ever been before a race.

Also this weekend Mark Webber is back at South Korea's Yeongam circuit where his Formula One World Championship tilt faltered last year, while younger Aussie Daniel Ricciardo is racing on the track for the first time.

The GP late Sunday afternoon is largely a dead rubber, except for Red Bull Racing's opportunity to clinch its second constructors' title and the tussle between Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso and Webber to be runner-up to the now dual world champion Sebastian Vettel.

In America it's also the fifth round of NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup at Charlotte, another 2.4km oval, Sunday morning, Australian time.

Ford driver Carl Edwards heads Chevrolet man Kevin Harvick in the standings by a single point, yet neither has won in the Chase yet this season.

Jimmie Johnson, champion the past five seasons, is just four points off the lead after his victory at Kansas last weekend and has a fabulous record at Charlotte.

Australia's Marcos Ambrose is not among the dozen drivers contending for the title -- he's sitting 20th in the points -- but has had consecutive top 10 finishes the past two rounds, including ninth at Kansas in his Richard Petty Ford. And Ambrose was sixth in the longest race of the season -- 600 miles or 960km -- at Charlotte at the end of May.

Barring Ambrose or Webber victories, the Indy race will be of most significance to Australians. It is a defining event for IndyCar, which is again projecting itself as "a world championship".

Apart from the battle between Power and Franchitti for the title it will be Danica Patrick's swansong in the series before she goes to NASCAR full-time.

It also is the last race before a new generation of American openwheelers, with Team Penske one of three teams to use twin-turbocharged Chevrolet V6s in the series next year as General Motors returns to the series. And Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon has a chance to land a $5 million prize in Las Vegas on Monday morning if he wins as a wildcard entry.

He'd have to split that bonus with a fan but would still end up making four or five times as much money for the year from two races as Franchitti or Power from the whole season, even including the $1 million bonus as the series champion.

IndyCar may be starting to rebound under its dynamic new chief executive Randy Bernard, who came to the sport from a rodeo promotion background.

But Associated Press writer Jenna Fryer pointed out this week the series was still bedevilled by "small crowds, terrible television ratings, and insulting purses at major events".

And, from an American fan's perspective, having a Scotsman and an Australian fighting out the championship for the second year in a row is a lot less enticing than seeing a couple of Americans go head to head.

Fryer observed that Power "can't seem to get over the hump in pursuit of the championship and tends to let his emotions get the best of him".

"This season Power referred to Alex Tagliani as 'a wanker' in a television interview, called Franchitti 'princess' in a Twitter rant (after a collision in Toronto), and picked up a $30,000 fine for a double-barrelled obscene gesture directed at race control and aired during the live broadcast at New Hampshire," she said.

That New Hampshire incident ended with Power calling IndyCar competition director Brian Barnhart "a circus clown".

The Las Vegas entry list has 34 cars -- an IndyCar record for a race other than the Indianapolis 500, where only 33 are allowed to start anyway.

Power says it will be "very much a pack race" and that "the safest place in these pack races is out front -- that's the best possible spot to be".

"I kind of like the idea we've got 34 cars, but -- like we saw in Kentucky -- anything can happen at any time," he said. "That's the beauty of the sport too -- you don't know, it's not over till it's over.

The atmospheric pressure of Vegas will sap the Honda engines of 40 horsepower, "so that makes it even more so like a pack race".

Franchitti, driving for Chip Ganassi, is assured of becoming the first driver to win America's premier open-wheeler series three years in a row if he finishes second on Monday.

It would be his fourth IndyCar title in five years -- his first, in 2007, came with Andretti Green Racing and he might now be eyeing five straight had he not tried NASCAR full-time in 2008.

Power is intent on winning the 300-mile (480km) Las Vegas race -- and wants his fellow Penske drivers, Aussie Ryan Briscoe and Brazilian Helio Castroneves to steal the other podium spots ahead of Franchitti.

"We need to win the race. Whatever else happens is totally out of our control," Power said. "So we're just focussed on doing that and also getting the other two (Briscoe and Castronves) up there as well because if we finish one, two, three as a team we win the championship.

"I don't know why but I've never been so relaxed... I guess it's because we've put in all the hard work... We've put everything we can into this.

"I feel as though that's the difference from this year to last... If you've done everything you can preparation-wise there's nothing more you can do -- and that's what we've done.

"I haven't thought about it much (since Kentucky). I've just gone about my fitness regime... I sometimes think, 'Should I be more tense?' I feel very relaxed and confident."

Roger Penske, the always relaxed and confident team boss, said this week: "Look, we were ahead in the championship the last couple of years and didn't win it, so maybe you've got to come from behind. If that's the case, we're in the right spot."

Strange logic perhaps, but Penske is a man never to be underestimated.

Power and Franchitti have grudging respect for each other but are far from being mates, although they acknowledge it will be easier to be friendly once they've retired.

Power believes he's been the quickest driver in Indy racing the past couple of years and that Franchitti has had more than his share of good fortune.

"The guy has been unbelievably lucky," he said.

Franchitti's teammate, New Zealander Scott Dixon, said that "it's like he (Franchitti) has little angel wings or something because even on a bad day they seem to pull it through... But he's winning races and he's very consistent."

The Scotsman has led 884 laps this year to Power's 518. But the Aussie has won six races this season to Franchitti's four. Two of Franchitti's victories were on oval tracks, while Power's breakthrough oval win came in one half of the split "double-header" at the Texas round.

Franchitti is "definitely glad at this point that I don't have to find those points that I did last year (to overhaul Power)".

"This puts us in a stronger position, but I think the easiest way to win the title is to try to win the race," he said. "If we can do that, it will take care of everything else... I'll just do very much what I'm told (by the Ganassi team)."

Power's best shot at becoming Indy champion is to win and Franchitti finish fourth or worse. Only if Franchitti finishes worse than eighth can Power take the title without winning this final race. If the Aussie is second the Scotsman must be ninth.

Power needs to finish at least sixth to have any hope of overhauling Franchitti. Even if Power is sixth Franchitti would need to be classified 25th or worse -- and he's only finished outside the top 10 twice this year.

Power can be champion if he wins on Monday and Franchitti is third, but in that case the Aussie would need to collect the maximum three bonus points from scoring pole position and leading the most laps in the race as well.

So there are lots of permutations. But if it's a tie, Power wins on account of more race wins for the season.

IndyCar CEO Bernard asked Power mid-week how much pressure he had on him -- 50 pounds, 500 pounds or 5000 pounds?

"Zero pounds of pressure," Power responded. "I'm just going to show up and do my job the best possible way I can... My job is simple -- I need to win the race.

"We're going to do everything we can to win the race - the other stuff is out of our hands... If it works out, great. If not, we still had a good season."