Brack not content to take easy road to IRL crown

Kenny Brack's mission this weekend is simple: finish eighth or better in Sunday's Las Vegas 500K at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and he will clinch the Indy Racing League championship.

But that doesn't mean the 32-year-old Swede's goal is to finish eighth.

"If you have a goal to finish eighth or better, then that's fine, but my goal is to try to win the race," Brack said.

"It's no point making any other goals because that's what a race driver really wants to do and that's what I would like to do."

Brack brings a comfortable 31-point lead over Davey Hamilton and a 41-point margin over third-place Tony Stewart (the defending series champion) into the IRL's season finale. Although he doesn't have to win the race, Brack said he won't alter his style by driving conservatively to preserve his points lead.

"Anytime you get in a position where you have to be more conservative than you like, it puts your normal driving style out of whack, it disturbs your normal way of driving," Brack said. "I'm not going to put myself into that position, I'm going to do whatever I have done before -- and that seems to work."

Indeed it has. Brack vaulted from 11th to the top of the standings with a series-record three straight wins and increased his lead with a fifth-place finish two weeks ago at Texas Motor Speedway.

Brack got a taste of having to run on the conservative side at Texas, when Goodyear tires were failing at at alarming rate, and he didn't like the feeling of not being able to run his normal pace.

"At Texas, when we had problems with the tires, we had to drive conservatively," he said. "When you start doing that, all kinds of things start happening. You lose your rhythm and this and that, and people just drive by you and that's not a good way to race. It's always best to race at the pace where you're comfortable."

And comfortable best describes Brack's mood as he prepares for Sunday's 208-lap race and his bid to capture the series championship for team owner A.J. Foyt.

"For sure, it looks very good and I certainly wouldn't like to swap positions with any of my competitors but anything can happen," Brack said. "I'm not taking anything for granted ... and if we have a little luck as well not to be involved with anything strange, then we should be able to do it."

Listening to Brack talk about his future in racing, he could be in position to win IRL championships for years to come.

Although he did most of his racing on the road circuits in Europe's Formula 3000 series prior to joining the IRL -- and the natural progression would have Brack eventually moving on to Formula One -- he said he is quite happy driving the ovals of the IRL.

"I guess you could say Formula One would be (a natural progression)," Brack said. "But if you look at it, if you're a driver who wants to be in the top formula racing, you're probably not full of dollars which you can throw away at anything. It's hard to look to Formula One because it's so difficult to get in there without a big budget.

"In the United States, it's easier to get a drive on merit and there are also more teams that are competitive. I think you have to go where you have the best opportunity."

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