TA: Preview - Laguna Seca.

After a season of hard racing it all comes down to Laguna Seca - two drivers with one race to decide who will become the 2004 Toyota Atlantic champion.

From the very beginning of the 2004 season, Jon Fogarty and Ryan Dalziel have shown themselves to be the cream of a talented crop of young open-wheel racers that have showcased their skills on ovals, road and street courses over the last six months.

This weekend, the tug-of-war between the two series veterans will be decided in the Atlantic season finale - the Argent Mortgage Toyota Atlantic Championship of Monterey.

The battle between Fogarty and Dalziel has been kept fans on the edge of their seats and it's almost a shame that it has to end. But end it will on Sunday, in Round 12 of the Atlantic schedule and it's Dalziel who has to make up ground on his rival's home turf if he is to capture his first Toyota Atlantic Championship.

The 22-year-old Scot trails Fogarty by five points entering the weekend and with 35 points still available to be earned, that's not a big deficit to overcome. However, the tussle between the two has been so tight all season, with the lead swinging from one to the other, that it won't be easy to get those points back either.

Of the 387 race laps run in Atlantic competition so far this year, either Fogarty or Dalziel have led all but 35 of those laps. Each driver has won five pole positions this year, capturing all but one pole available in '04 (Danica Patrick having take pole at Portland in round five) and between them they've accounted for nine of the series' eleven victories (Alex Figge won in round two and Ronnie Bremer was victorious in round ten).

With the battle being so close between Fogarty and Dalziel, it's tough to tell who has the advantage entering the final race.

Fogarty already has one title under his belt, having won a close competition for the 2002 Atlantic crown and he has the five-point cushion. He was also born in Palo Alto, California so he certainly knows the 2.238-mile Laguna Seca road circuit pretty well. However Dalziel could argue that he has a better history at Laguna. He finished fourth in 2002 and was on the podium with a second-place result last season compared to Fogarty's 22nd place finish due to mechanical problems in his lone Atlantic start at the classic road course in '02.

Dalziel also has proven adept at slicing into Fogarty's lead. He trailed the former champ by 19 points after round seven and rallied all the way back to tie the championship two weeks ago in Montreal. Fogarty reclaimed the lead after winning the final pole and round 11 of the series at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, but does that just mean it's Dalziel's turn to shine this weekend in this back-and forth fight to the finish?

The answer will come on Sunday, along with a lot of other unsettled issues in Toyota Atlantic competition. All eyes will be on the championship contenders, but battles for the final positions in the season standings will be fought all over the race track this weekend.

Danica Patrick looks to have sewn up third place in the championship after a series-leading ten top-five finishes this season. She trails Dalziel by 35 points and Fogarty by 40 heading into the last round, so is now out of the title race herself, but she's been the most consistent runner this year as the only driver to complete every lap of competition. She hopes to keep her top-five run alive by improving on her 13th-place finish last season at Laguna.

The showdown for top series rookie will also be settled this weekend with the battle between Andrew Ranger and Ronnie Bremer almost as good as the battle for the overall title. Ranger currently holds a nine-point advantage over Bremer in the race for the $10,000 BG Products Rookie of the Year award as both drivers prepare for their first Atlantic experience on the challenging Laguna Seca circuit this weekend.

Bryan Sellers hopes to finish among the top five points-earners in 2004. After three podium results this season, he is currently sixth in the standings, but only seven points away from fifth place. He made his Atlantic debut last season at Laguna and came home in eleventh place. Alex Figge is another driver finishing his season in fine fashion. Figge has qualified in the top five for the last three races and heads to Laguna Seca on the back of his second podium of the season with a third-place finish in Montreal.

Rookies Chris Festa and Josh Hunt also hope to close out their first seasons in an Atlantic car with good results. Festa, who is third in the rookie standings, has eight top-ten finishes this year for Rahal-Letterman Racing, while Hunt has five top-ten results and will be looking to rebound after an early-race accident ended his day at Montreal.

Philip Fayer, Bremer's teammate at Polestar Racing Group, will be making his first Laguna Seca start on Sunday. After finishing a career-best fifth in his last Toyota Atlantic race at Road America in round nine, Tonis Kasemets returns to the track this weekend for Brooks Associates Racing, looking to bring his first season in the series to a satisfying conclusion. Aussie Daniel Papis will also make his first Atlantic start with the team at Laguna.

In Montreal, Adam Pecorari made his Atlantic debut and the driver who finished third in this season's Formula Ford Zetec series will look to improve on his ninth-place result of two weeks ago. Series veteran Cam Binder has made five career starts at Laguna Seca, producing two top-ten results, and he'll be hoping for another strong finish running in a C2 entry on Sunday.