Ryan Hunter-Reay Has The Most To Gain And Lose At IICS Final

Will Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay pose next to the trophy they will be fighting on the track for at the Auto Club Speedway on Saturday night. The MAVTV 500 is scheduled to go GREEN Flag at 8:45 p.m. (ET) and be broadcast on cable on NBC Sports Network. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

Ryan Hunter-Reay Has The Most To Gain And Lose At IICS Final

Most people who have been following the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series (IICS) know that this last race of the season will see one of two drivers crowned champion between Penske Racing's Will Power and Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay. Only 17 points separate these two drivers and the margin of victory begins to get shaped with qualifications on Friday with one valuable point up for grabs.

What seems to be getting lost in the shuffle is another championship trophy awarded in this very same series ... the A.J. Foyt Trophy for being the driver to accumulate the most points during the season on oval racing circuits.

The IZOD IndyCar Series awards three trophies - the overall championship, the Mario Andretti Trophy for the highest points total on road/street courses, and the A.J. Foyt Trophy for most points total on oval racing courses.

This trophy is still up for grabs and the current points achieved is tied between two drivers - Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay and KV Racing Technology's Tony Kanaan.

What's pretty amazing about this is that this contest isn't even being focused upon by the IICS, or most of the major writing outlets.

For example, today has a special media event being held by the IICS at the very end of Route 66 (the Marisol Restaurant located on the end of the Santa Monica pier ... over the Pacific Ocean) to have the media be able to interview the drivers who are racing for the championship but the one name that is absent is Tony Kanaan.

Tony has become the Rodney Dangerfield of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series championship season. He is getting no respect.

This excerpted and edited from Paddock Talk -

Tied atop the standings for the Oval Track Championship are Hunter-Reay and KV Racing Technology driver and former Series Champion (2004) Tony Kanaan. James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport, is sitting in third position in the Oval Track Championship standings.