ESPN IndyCar

What the 2007 IndyCar Series championship battle lacks in quantity has been made up by quality.

The most dramatic IndyCar Series season in memory concludes Sunday with three drivers still mathematically eligible for the title heading into the Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway (ABC, 4 p.m. ET). That's down from four contenders a year ago and a record five in 2003.

But for all practical purposes, there are only two serious contenders in the championship race. Tony Kanaan, facing a deficit of 39 points, pretty much needs a miracle to add a second series crown to the one he won in 2004.

That leaves Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti. Dixon, like Kanaan, is a former IndyCar Series champion (2003), and he has posted a mighty rally in the second half of the season, briefly taking the points lead in late August.

Franchitti has never won a major open-wheel championship, though he came close, losing the 1999 CART-sanctioned title to Juan Pablo Montoya on a tiebreaker. Since winning at Richmond International Raceway in June, Franchitti has walked away from a pair of spectacular crashes and watched his championship lead shrink from 65 to three points. But he's back on top heading into Sunday's 200 laps on the 1.5-mile Chicagoland oval.

With all due respect, let's dismiss Kanaan from the equation first. If Kanaan wins, Franchitti would score more points and take the title if he finished 18th and Dixon 15th. If Kanaan wins and claims three bonus points for leading the most laps, that would force Dixon to finish 12th, while 15th place would be enough for Franchitti to clinch the title and accompanying $1 million prize.

"I need to win and to capitalize on Scott and Dario's mistakes, which I don't think is going to happen," Kanaan said. "My chance is there, but it's pretty slim.

"Right now I do have the momentum to win the race, but this year I had one or two bad races and two DNFs, and that's what cost me the 39 points."

With Dixon and Franchitti separated by only three points, it pretty much comes down to whichever driver finishes ahead of the other on Sunday.

"Now it's pretty simple: It comes down to one race," Franchitti said. "If I finish ahead of Scott, I'm looking good. If he finishes ahead of me, he's probably looking pretty good."

Added Dixon: "The biggest thing that I've learned in those championship battles is that you have to treat it as a normal race weekend. I think any time you start overemphasizing or looking into things a little too much, it just puts a drain on you, maybe adds a little more stress, maybe pushes you into mistakes."

Both of them -- actually, all three of the championship contenders -- have had seasons to be proud of.

"What singles this season out for me is the consistency and the race wins for all three of us is very high," said Dixon, who drives for Target/Ganassi Racing. "All three of us could walk away believing you had a championship-winning year. Tony has had five wins, I've had four and I think Dario has had three. That's a pretty stout season."

It's been a streaky season for all of them. Franchitti won the Indianapolis 500 and two of the next four races. Dixon claimed his four wins in July and August, while Kanaan rallied late.

"There was a point during the year when we thought we could do no wrong, but my usual luck seems to have resumed recently," Franchitti noted. "If you look at laps led, over the last two months we have been at our strongest. We've had some things happen, but if you look at the performance, it's definitely there."

Chicagoland Speedway is a virtual clone of Kansas Speedway, where Kanaan took the pole and Dixon's teammate Dan Wheldon won the race in late April. Dixon looked set to complete a Ganassi 1-2 finish but ran out of fuel and dropped to fourth.

Franchitti was second, and although he was nearly half a lap behind Wheldon, Andretti Green Racing general manager Kyle Moyer said that result was a confidence builder for the four-car team.

"The big turning point for us was Kansas," Moyer said. "It was the first time we were competitive on a superspeedway and that looked like it was going to be our downfall again."

Franchitti's last two oval races have ended in disaster, but the 34-year-old Scotsman said he has put the incidents behind him.

"I think I'll take the same risks I've always taken," he said. "I'll use the same judgment I did before the last two oval races and do what I've always done.

"I'm pretty relaxed about it. Winning the Indy 500 this year has taken some pressure off my shoulders. I was probably more nervous three or four races ago."

Dixon also is confident about his chances at Chicagoland, where he finished second to Wheldon last year. Wheldon is the two-time defending champion in the event.

"There have been situations this season where we have been super fast but the back side of that is that AGR can say the same," Dixon observed. "Our car was very good at Kansas, but this track is not exactly the same.

"We've done as much R&D [research and development] as possible for this track and I'm sure AGR has done the same thing. How you roll off the truck is pretty much how your weekend is going to roll."

Of course, there are more than three drivers in Sunday's 300-mile race. Here are a few others to watch:

• Wheldon -- He's at his best on wide-open ovals like Chicagoland, and although he's not in championship contention, he'll do what he can to help Dixon.

• Sam Hornish Jr. -- This might be the three-time IndyCar Series champion's last race as a full-time open-wheel driver. The Ohio native is tipped to make a lateral move within the Penske Racing organization into NASCAR next year.

• Danica Patrick -- She's coming off a career-best second-place finish at Detroit and has shown she's ready to win. "She's with a championship-winning team and her best chance to win is at a track like Chicago," remarked Chip Ganassi.

• Hideki Mutoh -- A race winner in the Indy Pro Series, this 24-year-old from Japan is making his IndyCar Series debut in a third Panther Racing entry.

• Milka Duno, Marty Roth, P.J. Chesson -- Even as a complete neophyte, Mutoh is likely to be less of a hazard to the championship contenders than this trio. It's great that the IndyCar Series field has grown to 22 cars for the season finale, but it would be a shame if one of these part-time backmarkers affects the outcome of a fiercely fought season-long race for the title.

John Oreovicz covers open-wheel racing for National Speed Sport News and ESPN.com.