After each race of the IndyCar Series season, ESPN.com open-wheel correspondent John Oreovicz will rank the top 10 drivers in the series. Don't agree with Oreo's list? Let him -- and the whole world -- know in the Conversation section at the bottom of the page.

New this week
None.

Dropped out
None.

Biggest mover
Danica Patrick moved up three spots from ninth to sixth.

Biggest loser
Tony Kanaan fell three spots from sixth to ninth.

2009 IndyCar Series Power Rankings - Week 17
	RK(LW)	DRIVER	TOP 10s	COMMENT
	1 (3)	Scott Dixon	13	Appears to be on the verge of his third IndyCar Series championship. Scored max points at Motegi, traditionally not his best circuit, and always is strong at Homestead. Class of the field.
	2 (2)	Dario Franchitti	14	Potential victory in Japan spoiled by near crash when lapping rookie Rafa Matos. Franchitti hasn't lost the edge at age 36 and will tenaciously take the title fight to the final lap at Homestead.
	3 (1)	Ryan Briscoe	12	Picked a bad time to make a crucial mistake by crashing into the pit wall at Motegi. Still just eight points out of the championship lead, and Team Penske often has been best on 1.5-mile speedways in 2009.
	4 (4)	Helio Castroneves	9	Castroneves' inexplicable second-half slide continued in Japan, where he crashed during qualifying and was never a factor in the race. Teammate Briscoe needs HCN to step up his game at Homestead.
	5 (5)	Graham Rahal	9	Another strong oval race for the 20-year-old in Japan has him within striking distance of fifth place in the championship. Hasn't done anything this year to diminish his status as an IndyCar star of the future.
	6 (9)	Danica Patrick	10	Threw one of her patented hissy fits after suffering a gearbox problem in Japan qualifying. A steady, consistent race resulted in a sixth-place finish, but Andretti Green Racing is still well off the Ganassi/Penske pace.
	7 (7)	Marco Andretti	9	Another nondescript weekend for Andretti, who has gone 37 months without a victory --- at Sonoma in 2006. Race pace in Japan was decent, but he's still struggling for qualifying speed.
	8 (10)	Mario Moraes	5	Moraes scored his third consecutive top-5 finish at Motegi and is beginning to develop consistency. Could have finished third had he not missed his marks for first pit stop, which compromised strategy.
	9 (6)	Tony Kanaan	9	A bad year on and off the track for TK. In Japan, he qualified poorly and stormed off in a huff, and that was before he was put to the back for failing tech. 2010 starts now for the Brazilian.
	10 (8)	Justin Wilson	6	Demonstrated Dale Coyne Racing's improvement on ovals by gridding ninth at Motegi but was unable to crack the top 10 in the race. He's arguably IndyCar's best pure road racer, but that's less than half the championship.