The closing confrontation: Five races, lots of points

Helio Castroneves spied Ryan Hunter-Reay ahead in fifth place, saw Scott Dixon in his rearview mirrors in seventh place and was content late in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio on Aug. 4.

Running sixth after starting 14th in the 90-lap race on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course was acceptable for the 38-year-old Fort Lauderdale, Fla., resident, especially when his chief rivals for the IZOD IndyCar Series championship weren’t able to significantly close the gap on the front-runner in the No. 3 PPG Team Penske car.

So Castroneves takes a 31-point lead over Dixon and has a 65-point cushion over Hunter-Reay, the reigning series champion, entering the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma on Aug. 25. Mathematically, there are 20 drivers still in contention. His credo heading into the final five races hasn’t wavered since the start of the 19-race campaign: “Take what you can get.”

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“(At Mid-Ohio) we took the necessary risk, not the unnecessary risk and I was proud of myself to judge that,” said Castroneves, who’s been involved in the title chase four of the past five years at this point of the season but never in first place. “When I saw Scott was behind me and that Hunter-Reay was in front of me it was like ‘OK, boys. If they try to do something silly it will benefit me.’ They’re experienced enough though to do the same.

“It felt like a win with the expectations going into that race, what happened in the past, not having any yellows. We were able to put ourselves in that position and stay ahead of our main competitors in the championship. Hey, I’ll take it.

“We have to keep doing what we’re doing; it’s been working.”

Castroneves recorded his 10th consecutive top-10 finish and remains the only driver to complete every race lap. That’s a positive/negative, though, as the No. 3 car was fitted with its fifth/final Chevrolet engine following qualifications at Mid-Ohio. Exchanging that twin-turbocharged unit once it reaches its 2,000-mile limit for a sixth engine will necessitate a 10 grid-spot penalty, according to the rulebook.

Miles will be piled on during an Open Test on Aug. 21 preceding the Sonoma race weekend, plus practice/qualifying/races at Baltimore, Houston (doubleheader) and Auto Club Speedway. Last week, he joined teammate Will Power at Sebring International and he’s also scheduled to test Sept. 24 at the 2-mile oval in Fontana, Calif.

Castroneves shrugs. That’s an aspect out of his control so he’s focused on the 2.385-mile, 12-turn road course in Sonoma, Calif., where he’s posted top-10 finishes (including a 2008 victory that broke a 30-race winless streak) in four of the past five visits. Castroneves has qualified in the top five in each of the eight races at the track, and a Team Penske car has won four of the past five races (Ryan Briscoe in 2012, Will Power in 2011 and ’10 and Castroneves in ‘08).

“We know what we’ve achieved in the past,” said Castroneves, who is recovering from a hard crash (three stitches in his leg, neck soreness) Aug. 9 during a Stock Car Brasil practice crash on a street course in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil. “I sent notes to my engineer the morning after Mid-Ohio about where we’re strong, and the tires are the same. Hopefully, it will benefit us at Sonoma.”

Dixon won the 2007 race and was runner-up in 2011. Chip Ganassi Racing has won the past four races, with Dixon claiming three in a row to vault into contention for his third series title. There have been seven different winners in the eight races at Sonoma.

“I don’t take (first in the standings) for granted,” Castroneves added. “There are a lot of points and a lot of races left.”

With five races left the past three seasons