Simon Pagenaud, Will Power in command with 2 races left

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Eight drivers remain alive for this year's Verizon IndyCar Series championship, but realistically the fight is down to four -- and two of those drivers need a miracle to remain in contention after Sunday's race at Watkins Glen International.

Brazilian drivers Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves will need Team Penske teammates Simon Pagenaud and Will Power to have poor finishes in the season's penultimate race to stay alive for an all-time comeback on Sept. 18 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.

There are 158 points still on the table in these two races, including 104 at the season-ending race at Sonoma. Pagenaud and Power are assured of having the tiebreaker over Kanaan and Castroneves with four wins apiece, so the only way for the Brazilians to still have a shot at Sonoma is to have the deficit at 84 points or fewer.

Currently, Kanaan is 113 points out of the lead while Castroneves is 114.

A race win this weekend is worth 54 points.

Pageanaud certainly is in the catbird's seat, although Power is within striking distance. Pagenaud's lead is 28 points, which is enough that he should be the leader heading to Sonoma. But the Frenchman might need all the cushion he can get since Power is a three-time race winner on the Northern Californian road course.

Power had the momentum heading to last weekend's resumed race at Texas Motor Speedway, but he finished a lap off the pace in eighth. Pagenaud finished four positions ahead of Power, and he was smart to do that.

Pagenaud was battling Graham Rahal, James Hinchcliffe and Kanaan for the race win, even going four-wide approaching Turn 3 in the late going, but he wisely withdrew from that potential mess and settled for fourth place, a gain of 20 points on Power.

Power had finished first or second in the six races prior to that.

All of the above should be in contention in this weekend's race, but it's difficult to tab a favorite. Scott Dixon probably should be as he won IndyCar's first three races at the venue (2005-07), but the track has been resurfaced since the series was last here in 2010 (a win by Power).

"It's super fast," said Dixon, who was part of IndyCar's nearly full-field test there last month. "In some ways it's a different track than the one we raced at before."

Ryan Hunter-Reay and Justin Wilson won the other two IndyCar races held at The Glen in recent years.

That IndyCar is even racing here is newsworthy. This weekend was supposed to be the debut of the new street race in Boston's Seaport District, but a neighborhood association helped expose financial problems with the group promoting the event.

Under pressure, the organizer scrapped the race, putting IndyCar in the crosshairs. The Indianapolis-based sanctioning body helped reimburse ticket buyers.

Watkins Glen did more than step up to meet IndyCar's scheduling needs. Track president Michael Printup worked a three-year commitment, with races now secure through the 2018 season.