Castroneves-Dixon duel for third place

Castroneves, who has two pole starts and has finished in the top 10 six times in eight starts at Auto Club Speedway from 1998-2005, is seeking to remain third in the final IZOD IndyCar Series standings.

It would mark his best championship finish since 2008, when he was runner-up to Scott Dixon. Castroneves holds a one-point lead over Dixon entering the MAVTV 500 INDYCAR Championships at Auto Club Speedway.

A podium finish in the 250-lap race would be the 70th of Castroneves' Indy car career (12th on the all-time list), and a second-place finish would be his 30th (tying Bobby Unser, A.J. Foyt and Al Unser Jr.). Dixon also has 29.

"It is going to be very competitive out there and I'm excited to see how the championship plays out over the 500 miles," said Castroneves, driving the No. 3 Auto Club Team Penske car. "Our car has felt strong all year long thanks to my crew and Chevrolet and hopefully we can finish with an awesome race."