INDYCAR: Title rivals 'relieved to just go and race'

IndyCar points leader Simon Pagenaud says that all of the championship pressure lies on the shoulders of teammate Will Power as they prepare for Sunday's finale at Sonoma.

Pagenaud has a 43-point lead over his Penske teammate, meaning that Power essentially needs to have an exceptionally good weekend and hope that the Frenchman has a reasonably bad one in order to secure a second series crown.

But with Pagenaud having only finished outside the top 10 three times this year, he says that he's content to race as normal and let Power figure out a way to keep the championship fight alive.

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"Obviously there will be aggressive guys out there, like every year. The fact that it's double-points gets everybody pretty excited – sometimes too much. We're going to have to [keep our] heads up."

"It's about not worrying too much about points. That's how you can lose it, just by worrying too much where he is, where I am, what's going on. It's about doing the best you can."

Power, who missed the opening race at St Petersburg on medical grounds, surged into contention with a six-race streak in the middle of the season, during which he never finished lower than second. With so many possible points scenarios on Sunday, the Australian said that he'll be going into the race without a plan.

"It's pretty funny, how relaxed it is," he said. "I think we're both experienced enough to realize that at the end of the day, it's going to be what it's going to be out on the track. It's just a normal weekend for me. It really feels that way."

Last year, Penske's Juan Pablo Montoya led the points for the entire season, only to be beaten to the crown by Scott Dixon. Power says that this year's all-Penske championship scenario means less pressure for the drivers because the job of ensuring that the team gets the title is already taken care of.

"After what happened last year ... just no way we could let that happen again," he said. "It was just such a pity that we allowed Ganassi to get that title. It was unfortunate how it happened. But it didn't need to happen. We were very determined to make sure it didn't happen this year. It's a relief that we can just go and race."