At the beginning of the season, nobody expected Graham Rahal to be in the thick of things when the season reached this stage. And in the earliest parts of the season, nobody expected any Honda-powered car to be in championship contention whatsoever.
Rahal has proven both of those to be very wrong this year.
Beginning with his late-race surge to an incredibly impressive second place finish at Barber Motorsports Park in late-April, the American driver has been a force to be reckoned with, striving to put the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda as far up in the results as possible every time he takes to the track.
Now, within striking distance of Juan Pablo Montoya with only three races to go, Rahal has as good a shot as anyone to bring the Colombian's storybook season screeching to a halt.
Montoya's 42-point lead entering the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio this weekend is rather large in regards to past years at this time in the seeason. Because of this, it is truly his championship to lose.
"Juan has a heck-of-a lot more to lose than we do," said Rahal during a conference call on Tuesday. "He has to be a lot more conservative."
Essentially, Montoya cannot allow what happened at the most recent round, the Iowa Corn 300, to happen to him again through these final three races.
"When I saw him go out at Iowa, I knew that was my opportunity," said Rahal.
He is, of course, referring to Montoya's early crash-out at Iowa Speedway that opened the door for mainly Rahal and Scott Dixon to advance on him in the points. A tough night for Chip Ganassi Racing, though, would see no such thing happen for Dixon - but an incredible fourth place finish after a handful of setbacks in the race for Rahal was just what the doctor ordered to keep him in the hunt for his first series title.
Entering his home race at Mid-Ohio this weekend, Rahal is set to do everything in his power to advance on Montoya more before Pocono and the finale at Sonoma (where double-points are on offer).
He commented that the Honda aero kit has not been perfect for him this year, that he has had to make the best of it - but he and his team are looking for no excuses.
Also on the topic of Honda, he stated that the fuel efficiency of the Honda Performance Development engine has been fantastic this year. Keeping in mind that Mid-Ohio often sees races rely heavily on fuel conservation, this could play well into the hands of the Honda-powered cars in the field - Rahal included.
Rahal will be looking to perform well in Ohio this weekend to keep his shot at the first title of his career alive.
For full coverage of this weekend from the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, follow @VAVELIndyCar on Twitter.
Aaron Durant is the editor of the VAVEL USA Racing section. Follow him on Twitter at @DoubleA291.