ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 at the Milwaukee Mile Preview

After their final weekend off of the 2014 season, the stars of the Verizon IndyCar Series are set to begin the final stretch towards the 2014 Championship and end of the season. The stretch begins with the ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 this weekend at the Milwaukee Mile, followed by a pair of trips out to California.

Will Power heads into the final stretch leading the points, only two points ahead of his teammate Helio Castroneves. Both are hoping to repeat past Milwaukee success this weekend as team owner Roger Penske has seven wins at the Milawukee Mile. Power has a pair of top-fives in four previous starts, while Castroneves has four top-10s in his nine previous starts. Though while everyone focuses on Power and Castroneves, it may be their teammate Juan Pablo Montoya who picks up the victory. Montoya is looking for some positive momentum after failing to a top-10 finish since his win at Pocono Raceway.

If Power and Castroneves even dare slip up, Ryan Hunter-Reay has a good chance at jumping at the opportunity and gaining some points. Currently sitting 61 points behind Power, Hunter-Reay comes into this weekend looking for his third straight Milwaukee win. He has proven to be fast on the ovals this year, with a victory in the Indianapolis 500 and a victory in the latest oval race of the season at Iowa Speedway. Though before posting his past two wins, Hunter-Reay had failed to post a top 10 finish in his first three Milwaukee starts.

As the series winds down towards the end of the year, the want and need for a victory grows as drivers look to close out their season on a good note. There are 10 drivers who can officially state that they have won a race this season. Could an 11th driver add their name to that list?

Marco Andretti is hoping to break his winless streak at a track that his father Michael Andretti was able to find victory lane at on five different occasions. Since posting a seventh place finish at Milwaukee in 2009, though, Andretti hasn’t had that much luck since with no finishes inside the top 10.

His Andretti Autosport teammate James Hinchcliffe has ran stronger than he has as Hinchcliffe has finished inside the top six in each of his three previous attempts at Milwaukee, including a fifth place finish a year ago.

Though perhaps the teammate to watch will be Carlos Munoz as the rookie has been strong on ovals since making his Verizon IndyCar Series debut. While this marks his first trip to Milwaukee, he is coming off of a fourth place finish at Mid-Ohio.

While Graham Rahal struggled at the beginning of the season, he has been posting strong finishes in the second half of the season, including a fifth place finish at Mid-Ohio. Rahal has also shown poise at Milwaukee before, posting three top-10 finishes in his previous five starts.

Josef Newgarden has shown speed all season long, though has fallen short of finding the elusive key to victory lane. He came close at Iowa Speedway, posting a second place finish to Hunter-Reay. He has also shown steady improvement at Milwaukee, posting a 25th place finish in his rookie season before finishing 11th last year.

Tony Kanaan has led the most laps in events on multiple occasions this year and has four podium finishes – but has yet to find victory lane. Could it happen this weekend for the 2013 Indianapolis 500 Champion? He has two previous wins (2006 and 2007) at Milwaukee and finished second in 2012.

While Kanaan hasn’t found victory lane yet this season, Scott Dixon was able to complete the feat at Mid-Ohio for the first time this season. Perhaps the 2013 IndyCar Series Champion has found an end to his poor success this year and could make it two wins in a row. He has a previous win at Milwaukee, as well as six top-10s in eight previous starts.

Since winning Toronto, it seems that Sebastian Bourdais has everything going his way to end the year on a strong note. After winning Toronto race 1, he finished ninth in race two and then finished second at Mid-Ohio. Could the past Cart Champion keep the momentum going? He will have to avoid the problems that plagued him last year as he finished 22nd due to steering issues.

Since his victory earlier this year, Simon Pagenaud has quietly kept himself in the top five in points, currently sitting fourth. Pagenaud will hope to score his second victory of the season on a track where he has yet to post a top-10 finish.

With only three races left in the 2014 season, each race is becoming just that much more important in posting a good finish towards finishing off the year strong, and the championship picture.