Preview: Toyota Atlantic Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio.

After becoming the first driver to win three straight races - and five in a season - since 2001, and becoming the first rookie to win five races in a season since 1997 with a victory in last weekend's Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres, Toyota Atlantic points leader AJ Allmendinger is looking to become the first driver since Patrick Carpentier to win four straight races as the series returns to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the first time since 1999.

Carpentier actually won the final eight races of the 1996 Toyota Atlantic season en route to the series title, and tied the legendary Gilles Villeneuve for the most victories in a single season with nine wins overall. With five wins heading into this weekend's eighth round, Allmendinger would need to win all remaining races in order to share that record with the two Canadians, but if he is successful in winning his fourth straight this weekend, it would only be the third time that a driver has won more than three races in-a-row.

In addition to Carpentier's run of eight straight wins in 1996, the only other time a driver has won more than three consecutive events was when the series' all-time victory leader, Mark Dismore, won five straight to begin his championship-winning 1990 Toyota Atlantic Pacific Division season.

Allmendinger has also started each of the past three events from the pole position and, if he is able to collect his fourth straight $1000 Toyota Pole Award this weekend, he will be the first driver since Hoover Orsi in 2001 to qualify on the pole in four consecutive events. Carpentier also holds the records for consecutive pole and consecutive wins from the pole with eight in each category in that 1996 season.

More important than the records to Allmendinger, however, is the fact that the RuSPORT rookie holds a 34-point lead in the 2003 standings over second-year competitor Ryan Dalziel. He has already eliminated all but the top-nine drivers from championship consideration, and a strong result this weekend would reduce that number further.

With the largest number of entries to date in the 2003 CART Toyota Atlantic Championship scheduled to compete in the Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio, however, Allmendinger will have his work cut out for him.

After snapping a streak of consecutive podium finishes at four with a fifth place run at Toronto, Dalziel returned to the rostrum with a strong second place performance in the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres, and kept the pressure on Allmendinger throughout the closing stages of the race. The Scot has finished inside the top-five in six consecutive races and a total of nine times in his past ten starts, and remains a threat to win this weekend.

Likewise, Canadian Michael Valiante has finished inside the top four in each of his past four starts, and has qualified inside the top three positions in each of his past three starts. That performance has enabled him to move from fifth to fourth in the championship standings despite the fact that he missed the Grand Prix of Monterey at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca due to an illness.

After welcoming a new team-mate in Louis-Philippe Dumoulin at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres, Valiante will once again be paired with American rookie Bryan Sellers on the two-car team at Mid-Ohio. It will be a 'hometown' event of sorts for Sellers, the 2002 Formula Ford 2000 Zetec champion, as the rookie hails from Centerville in Ohio, and had some success in the FF2000 events at Mid-Ohio last year, taking a pole, a race win, and a third-place finish in three races.

It will also be somewhat of a hometown race for rookie Danica Patrick, as she currently resides in Columbus to be near the Team Rahal headquarters. Patrick took a career-best fourth place starting position in the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres and followed it up with a fifth place performance in the race - her third top-five result of the season, which no doubt gives her and the team some momentum heading into Mid-Ohio.

Third-year competitor Joey Hand is the third Ohio-based driver in the field, as he hails from Concord Township and drives for Chesterland-based DSTP Motorsports. Hand finished fourth in the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres for his best result since taking second in the GI Joe's 200 at Portland International Raceway in June.

Canadian Jonathan Macri, who currently ranks third in the championship standings, also has an Ohio connection as he drives for Chardon-based Polestar Atlantic. Macri has finished on the podium a total of five times this season, but comes into the weekend still looking for his first career Toyota Atlantic win.

Another driver who has posted strong results but is still searching for his first win is Allmendinger's RuSPORT team-mate Aaron Justus. The rookie has finished inside the top-five in six of eight starts this season and has finished second twice behind his equally inexperienced colleague, but comes into the weekend looking to erase a disappointing weekend in Trois-Rivieres where he finished 14th after making contact with the tyre barrier while running third.

Whereas last weekend's field featured six Canadians and six Americans, the US of A will have nine drivers in the field this weekend. In addition to Allmendinger, Justus, Sellers, Patrick and Hand, four more drivers will be flying the 'Star Spangled Banner' as former Barber Dodge Pro Series competitor Marc Breuers makes his Toyota
Atlantic debut with fellow seasonal newcomers Brooks Associates Racing. Breuers returns to the site of his first BDPS victory, which came in 2002, and is also scheduled to drive in the Denver and Miami events.

Second-year driver Alex Figge, 17-year old Kyle Krisiloff, and rookie Dan Selznick, who will be making his second start of the season, complete the line-up for the United States.

Joining Valiante and Macri in representing Canada will be three drivers from Quebec. Stephan C Roy, fresh from tying his season-best eighth-place performance in his hometown of Trois-Rivieres last weekend, will once again be in the cockpit of the P-1 Racing machine, while Montreal-based Starwood Team Jensen fills out the Canadian line-up with Eric Jensen and Philip Fayer.

All drivers and teams will have the chance to participate in a 'promoter test day' at the Mid-Ohio circuit today [Thursday], with two sessions at either end of the day.