They traded laughs over chips and salsa at the ESPN Zone, and later they were going to take pictures. Things will get serious Sunday, when one of the tightest IRL series championships is decided at the PEAK Antifreeze Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway.
Seeking his first title, Helio Castroneves of Marlboro Team Penske has 441 points, one more than teammate Sam Hornish Jr. Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon of Target Chip Ganassi Racing are 19 and 21 points behind, respectively. It's the third time in five years the final race will decide the championship.
``I'm super-excited,'' Castroneves said. ``I don't see any other championship where four guys have a realistic chance. To me, it's just incredible. It's definitely going to be a good battle.''
On Wednesday, the mood was light.
``Everybody has had a chance, so now it's my turn,'' Castroneves said. ``Let it go, relax.''
A two-time Indy 500 winner, Castroneves was the only driver at the table without a points championship.
Hornish had a message for his teammate: ``If I can't beat him in a way that's fair, if I feel like I have to (cheat), I don't want to do that. But, in the heat of the moment when you've got your helmet on ...''
Teammates competing for the championship is not unusual. Deciding it in the final race is.
The past two years, Wheldon and Tony Kanaan finished first and second for Andretti Green, but the title had been determined _ with Kanaan winning in 2004 and Wheldon in 2005.
This time, it's waiting to be grabbed.
Hornish and Castroneves have an opportunity to give the Penske team its first IRL Cup, while Wheldon and Dixon can end a somewhat frustrating season on a positive note.
Four years ago, Castroneves and Hornish were in a similar spot, although they weren't on the same team.
Castroneves and then-Penske teammate Gil de Ferran were first and second, a point apart, heading into the final two races. But de Ferran was injured in a crash at Chicagoland. Hornish, then with Panther Racing, won that race and beat Castroneves by 0.0096 of a second at Texas Motor Speedway in the third-closest finish in IRL history to capture his second straight title.
``I felt a little better going into that race,'' said Hornish, the points leader heading into that year's finale.
This year?
``I'm tired of thinking about it,'' Hornish, a two-time winner at Chicagoland, said of the championship. ``I just want to see what happens. We can sit here and talk about what might happen and where we need to finish and all that stuff, (but) you can go into the first quarter of the first lap and somebody will run into you.''
Wheldon described this year as ``useless'' _ for him and his team.
``I think it's been full of promise, but we haven't delivered on the promise,'' he said.
Ganassi switched to a Honda engine and Dallara chassis, and it took time to adjust to the changes, which Dixon said were for the better.
Still, Wheldon is surprised they're in contention.
``I haven't really been me all season,'' he said. ``It's been weird like that.''
Wheldon began his first year with Ganassi by winning the Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead and was dominating the Indianapolis 500 until he punctured a tire. He led for 148 laps but had to go to the pit earlier than planned.
Instead of his second straight Indy championship, Wheldon lost the lead for good and finished fourth while Hornish drove to victory lane.
``My car was amazing,'' Wheldon said. ``I never had such a good race car in all my life. That's what makes that race so good. You can have such highs there, but you can also have such lows. The lows make you want to go back there to feel the highs again.''
On Wednesday, everyone was smiling.
Dixon jokingly said the Ganassi racers need ``these two to crash together'' to have a chance at the title.
To which Castroneves responded: ``Make sure you guys aren't in the middle of it, too.''
Which is exactly where all four are _ in the middle of it.
