On the right track - Mid Ohio.

Dario Franchitti holds half the rights to the track qualifying mark at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. With a time of 124.394 mph (65.347 seconds) in 1999, Franchitti joins Gil de Ferran (2000) as co-owner of the record around the 2.258-mile permanent road course. Franchitti also scored a pole in the 1998 event.

Michael Andretti has proved over the years that he has the necessary skills to dominate the Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. His three pole positions at Mid-Ohio (1990-92) compliment his two race wins in 1990 and '91. Andretti is coming off his 300th career Champ Car start in Vancouver and is currently tied for seventh in the championship point standings (60) with Kenny Brack of Target Chip Ganassi Racing.

CART FedEx Championship Series regular and 1998 Mid-Ohio winner Adrian Fernandez will miss this weekend's race as he recovers from injuries sustained in a multi-car incident in Vancouver. Max Papis, who started the 2002 season with Sigma Autosport, will assume the driving responsibilities for the injured Fernandez and makes his sixth start of the year. Papis will be making his seventh career start at Mid-Ohio where he posted top finishes of fourth in 2000 and fifth in 1999 and made his Champ Car debut in 1996.

Honda was the powerplant of choice at the Round 10 Molson Indy Vancouver, taking Dario Franchitti to victory and claiming the remaining podium spots with Paul Tracy and Tony Kanaan. The victory marked the first podium sweep for Honda since turning the trick at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in 2000.

Toyota-powered drivers have won six of 10 CART FedEx Championship Series events contested this season (Cristiano da Matta, 5 and Bruno Junqueira, 1). Honda inches closer with three wins (Michael Andretti, 1, Paul Tracy, 1 and Dario Franchitti, 1) and Ford-Cosworth remains third with one thanks to Patrick Carpentier of Player's/Forsythe Racing in Cleveland.

The hunt for the Manufacturer's Championship has Toyota (171) leading over Honda (155) and Ford-Cosworth (126).

In the CART FedEx Championship Series' 20-year history at Mid-Ohio, the Honda-Reynard combination comes in as the defending race champion, supplying the set-up that earned Helio Castroneves the victory in last year's event. Honda-Reynard has been the weapon of choice in recent years, earning victories in five of the last six races contested at Mid-Ohio. Ford-Cosworth interrupted that run when it coupled with the Reynard chassis to win in here in 1998 with Adrian Fernandez. Oddly enough, no team will be utilizing the Honda-Reynard combination this weekend.

Overall, Ford (7) leads Honda (5) in total wins at Mid-Ohio, with Reynard (6) leading Lola (4) in the chassis battle. Toyota, powering seven cars this weekend, has never won a race here.

Lola has won 8 of 10 CART FedEx Championship Series events this season, including wins by Cristiano da Matta (five), Bruno Junqueira, Paul Tracy and Dario Franchitti. Reynard took trips to victory circle in the remaining two races this season in the hands of Patrick Carpentier and Michael Andretti. Lola leads 209 to 125 in the Constructor's Championship.

Michel Jourdain Jr. is the only driver to have finished every race this season and leads the series in laps completed (1,392 of 1,400). He has scored points in each of the 10 races this season, equalling the 1993 streak of Raul Boesel when he tallied points in the first 10 CART events of the year. Jourdain now pursues the CART record for consecutive points-paying finishes in a season as he chases the 1992 accomplishment of Al Unser Jr., who scored in each of the year's 16 races.

Toyota-powered cars are leading not only the manufacturer's championship (171-155 over Honda) but are also guiding Cristiano da Matta to the series points lead. However, if Toyota is to maintain its lofty perch it will have to enter uncharted waters at this weekend's CART Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio. In addition to Toyota never tasting victory at Mid-Ohio, it has not earned a top-five finish, with last year's sixth-place run by Roberto Moreno serving as Toyota's best.

Paul Tracy will be looking for his third straight podium finish this weekend at Mid-Ohio, a place where he has finished second on four separate occasions. If he can build on the third-place effort from Cleveland and the runner-up finish at Vancouver, it will be the first time since the opening of the 2000 campaign that Tracy has strung together three consecutive podiums.