IRL drivers look ahead to season finale in Fla.

MIAMI (AP) — Dario Franchitti won the IndyCar title in 2007, Scott Dixon took the series championship in 2008, and the Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammates are two of the three remaining contenders for this year’s crown.

Neither of them controls this race, however.

With two races left in the IRL season, Ryan Briscoe — a winner three times in 2009 — is on the verge of a breakthrough championship. He leads Franchitti by 25 points and Dixon by 33, and said Tuesday that he sees no reason to change his approach now.

“It doesn’t really feel like it’s affecting me,” Briscoe said. “I’m just really focused on the job at hand. It’s a huge opportunity for me and I definitely feel up to the task. I’m excited about it. It really is a great time in my career, I’m enjoying it a lot, enjoying being at Team Penske and winning races for them.”

Briscoe took command last week with some drama at Chicagoland Speedway.

He pulled alongside Dixon on the final lap, racing side-by-side, mere inches from each other at times. Briscoe got to the finish line less than 3 feet ahead of Dixon, winning by 0.0077 seconds — or roughly 32 times faster than the blink of an eye.

That tiny gap could prove huge at the end of the season, since Briscoe’s lead over Dixon grew by 13 points and over Franchitti by 21 points with that win.

“As a team, we’ve really been keeping an eye on what those two do all year long,” Briscoe said.

Over the last month, Briscoe, Franchitti and Dixon have separated themselves in a big way from every other title hopeful: Helio Castroneves is fourth, 167 points off Briscoe’s lead, and Danica Patrick is 197 points back in fifth.

So at the Japan 300 on Sept. 19, then the finale in Homestead three weeks later, there will clearly be a race within each race. Briscoe plans to keep track of Franchitti and Dixon — who, as teammates, will aim to push each other along in an effort to narrow that points gap. IRL officials said it’s the fifth-closest race ever at this point of their season.