Three still chasing Lloyd with four to go: Four drivers remain mathematically eligible to win the Indy Pro Series championship. While none of them will claim possession of the Firestone Firehawk Cup at Kentucky Speedway on Aug. 11, all four seem to agree that Alex Lloyd’s 111-point lead over rookie Hideki Mutoh is nearly insurmountable.
“From my point of view, if we can stay pretty much where we are and not lose too many points, even if we don’t gain any, we’ll be in a position where we just have to finish the next few races, ” said Lloyd, who has won seven of 12 races this season in the No. 7 Lucas Oil/Isilon Systems car for Sam Schmidt Motorsports.
“We saw in Mid-Ohio when we didn’t finish we’d need another four of those really before it becomes an issue. I’m not really thinking too much about it. We’re just trying to have a good race and make up for the disappointment of the last couple of races, and if we do that, the championship will sort itself out. ”
Lloyd’s finishes of 11th at Nashville and 22nd at Mid-Ohio allowed Mutoh to make up only 27 points in the standings.
“This is my first year racing in Indy Pro Series and all the races have been a great learning curve for me, ” said Mutoh, who won on the road course at Indianapolis in June and who will make his IndyCar Series debut with Panther Racing at Chicagoland on Sept. 9. “It would be great if I were leading, however I will continue to do my best in each race and try to win as much as possible in the rest of the season. I was able to test in Kentucky at night, so I am hoping that will help me in the race this weekend. ”
When the series leaves Kentucky, any driver more than 158 points behind Lloyd will be eliminated from championship consideration. That could leave Wade Cunningham (-166) and Bobby Wilson (-188) on the outside looking in.
“Mathematically there might be a chance but practically we’re not, ” said Cunningham, the 2005 Indy Pro Series champion who has five career victories, including a flag-to-flag win at Watkins Glen in July in the No. 27 Automatic Fire Sprinklers, Inc. entry. “But definitely we can finish second in the championship, and that’s our goal at the moment. We just have to continue to provide strong results and continually beat Hideki. He was really consistent at the start of the year, but his results have been a little bit patchy these last few events, which has really helped us close the gap. ”
Cunningham has five consecutive top-five finishes, including three seconds. In two previous starts at Kentucky, he’s finished second and third.
“I’m really looking forward to Kentucky, ” Cunningham said. “We were the strongest car there last year, we led the most laps, and I was leading on the white flag until I had contact and we got crashed out of contention.
“I’m going back with confidence. I think we’ve improved the Andretti Green package a lot since the start of the year. I think we’ve got a really strong superspeedway package, and I definitely think I will be one of the top two or three cars battling for the win there. ”
Wilson, whose two Indy Pro Series victories have come on road courses, finished seventh at Kentucky last year.
“I’m not even counting points anymore, ” Wilson said. “I’m just going to go out and do the best I can in the last four races and see what happens. You can never predict what will happen. ”
The Kentucky 100, the first night race in Indy Pro Series history, is scheduled for 9:10 p. m. on Aug. 11.
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