Preview - CART Shell 300.

He's Brazilian by heritage and resides in Fort Lauderdale, but Gil de Ferran will likely always have a soft spot in his heart for Chicago.

It was in Chicago last year that de Ferran ramped up his march to the FedEx Championship Series championship. He finished third in that event and went on to record top-five finishes in five of the remaining eight races to bring Marlboro Team Penske its record-eighth CART title.

Now, as the FedEx Championship Series heads into this weekend's Shell 300, the featured event of the Honda Grand Prix of Monterey on the Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca, de Ferran can once again look to Chicago as the turning point of a season in which he is attempting to become only the fourth driver ever to win back-to-back CART crowns.

During the current seven-race run that began with the Target Grand Prix of Chicago in late July, de Ferran has posted two victories - in England and Houston - two runner-up results - at Mid-Ohio and Vancouver - and his second consecutive third-place finish at Chicago. After becoming only the second driver of the season to earn back-to-back victories last Sunday at Houston, he has taken the FedEx Championship Series lead heading into the season's final three events.

With 163 points, de Ferran holds a ten-point advantage over second-placed Kenny Brack, the leader going into the Houston race last weekend. Brack, who leads the series with four victories - Japan, Milwaukee, Chicago and Germany - is on a strong run, with top-eight results in his past four starts, including that win in Germany and a runner-up effort to de Ferran at England.

The championship chase currently involves four primary candidates, including defending Shell 300 champion Helio Castroneves, de Ferran's team-mate at Marlboro Team Penske, who stands third with 133 points. Castroneves, the reigning Indianapolis 500 champion, is on a run that has seen him score championship points in six of his past seven starts, including a victory at Mid-Ohio.

Rounding out the list of primary championship contenders is Michael Andretti of Team Motorola, who stands fourth with 125 points. Andretti, CART's all-time victory leader on 41, has finished fifth or better in four of his past five starts, with podium results of second at Road America and third at Vancouver.

Of the four championship contenders, three are previous winners at Laguna Seca. In addition to defending event champion Castroneves, Andretti owns two victories at the Californian track - in 1991 and '92 - while de Ferran claimed his first career FedEx Championship Series victory at the venue as a rookie in 1995.

Other former Laguna Seca winners in this weekend's field include Paul Tracy (Team KOOL Green), Bryan Herta (Forsythe Championship Racing) and Jimmy Vasser (Patrick Racing). Tracy and Herta are both two-time winners, in 1993-94 and 1998-99, respectively, while Vasser drove to victory at Laguna in 1997. All three drivers will be looking to turn around disappointing seasons, in which none of them has recorded a victory.

In contrast, PacWest newcomer Scott Dixon will be looking to wrap up the Rookie of the Year title, having scored a maiden CART win in a fuel-control performance at Nazareth. The Kiwi can clinch the Jim Trueman Award this weekend if he can gain nine points more than his closest challenger, fellow Toyota pilot Bruno Junqueira. Dixon enters the weekend with an 86-50 point advantage, after each entered the Champcar ranks by winning their respective F3000-type championships last year, Dixon in the Indy Lights series, Junqueira in FIA F3000 in Europe.

Alex Tagliani will be glad to get back to a 'real' race track after a disappointing spell on the recent street courses and ovals. Involved in Alex Zanardi's horrific shunt at the Lausitzring and subdued at the following Rockingham race, the Canadian Team Players driver has also been forced out of leading positions in both Vancouver and Houston.

Team-mate Patrick Carpentier, however, is faring slightly better, enjoying a run of points finishes, including tenth in Texas last weekend. The Canadian, who took his maiden CART victory at Michigan this year, will be looking to translate his oval form into a strong result at Laguna Seca.

Memo Gidley, meanwhile, will be hoping to use his local knowledge to good effect, having started his racing career at the circuit's Jim Russell Racing School as a mechanic in 1991. Using his spannerwork to pay for rides in a race car, Gidley launched himself onto the US race scene, eventually culminating in his current position as 'supersub' for the CART series. He finished third in Houston last weekend, having started 23rd on the grid, and also enjoyed a second place finish in Cleveland.

Twelve months ago, Helio Castroneves drove to his third victory of the season to lead a Marlboro Team Penske sweep of the top two positions in the 2000 Shell 300. Castroneves, the polesitter, finished 0.954secs ahead of team-mate Gil de Ferran, who took the FedEx Championship Series points lead on the back of his runner-up result. Castroneves averaged 104.969mph for the 83-lap, 185.754-mile, event.

Dario Franchitti, driving for Team KOOL Green, finished third for his second consecutive podium performance, but de Ferran, whose runner-up result was his fourth top-five finish in five events, exited Monterey with 132 points and the FedEx Championship Series lead, followed by Michael Andretti, then with Newman-Haas Racing, trailing on 126 and Franchitti's team-mate Paul Tracy on 122.

The Shell 300 is round 19 of 21 in the 2001 FedEx Championship Series. Following the Laguna race, series makes its final international trip of the season, heading to Australia's Gold Coast for the Honda Indy 300 in Surfers' Paradise on 26-28 October, before returning to California for the season finale at Fontana in early November.

Laguna Seca - race history
(18 events - race winner/pole winner

1983 Teo Fabi Teo Fabi
1984 Bobby Rahal Mario Andretti
1985 Bobby Rahal Bobby Rahal
1986 Bobby Rahal Mario Andretti
1987 Bobby Rahal Mario Andretti
1988 Danny Sullivan Danny Sullivan
1989 Rick Mears Rick Mears
1990 Danny Sullivan Danny Sullivan
1991 Michael Andretti Michael Andretti
1992 Michael Andretti Michael Andretti
1993 Paul Tracy Emerson Fittipaldi
1994 Paul Tracy Paul Tracy
1995 Gil de Ferran Jacques Villeneuve
1996 Alex Zanardi Alex Zanardi
1997 Jimmy Vasser Bryan Herta
1998 Bryan Herta Bryan Herta
1999 Bryan Herta Bryan Herta
2000 Helio Castroneves Helio Castroneves