Check out a short list of favorites for Sunday's Firestone 225 at Nazareth Speedway.

Helio Castroneves
Part of the Team Penske tandem with fellow Brazilian Gil de Ferran. The move to the IRL from CART has been productive: Helio led a 1-2 sweep for Penske at Phoenix on March 17, was third in the season opener in Miami and fifth last race at California Speedway; accumulated 115 points, good for second place behind 2001 IRL champion Sam Hornish Jr.; first series victory, although drove in the CART series at the time, was the Indianapolis 500 in 2001.

Eddie Cheever
Frustrating three races to open this year, with non finishes in all of them: in Miami due to contact with teammate Tomas Scheckter, at Phoenix another accident took him out and at California Speedway an engine failure with 10 laps to run cost him a good points finish; looks to rebound and perform well at Nazareth.

Gil de Ferran
It appears the decision to stay with Team Penske and join the IRL from CART has paid dividents thus far; runner-up in the first two races of the year, and followed that with a fourth-place finish at California Speedway on March 24; de Ferran earned 112 points, three fewer than teammate Helio Castroneves; won at Nazareth in the 2000 CART season, giving Team Penske its 100th victory; one of only four drivers to win consecutive championships in the CART series; winner of seven CART races and 16 poles in his career, with five of those poles recorded last year.

Felipe Giaffone
The 2001 Rookie of the Year has two top-10 finishes in three races this year, continuing a good trend he developed last year en route to receiving the award; best finish was sixth at the Yamaha 400 at California Speedway on March 24; his career best to date was a second in Texas last year.

Sam Hornish Jr.
Through three races this season, Sam Hornish Jr. and Pennzoil Panther Racing have continued one of the most incredible streaks of consistency in motorsports history; Hornish has completed all but seven of the 3,250 laps he has driven in his 16-race tenure with Panther Racing, and he has won five of those races including the most recent at California Speedway. Has finished all 16 races; the team itself with Hornish as driver and former member Scott Goodyear, has been running at the finish in 22 consecutive races and has failed to finish just once since the start of the 2000 season -- an April race at Las Vegas; Hornish, the defending 2001 IRL champion, leads the standings with 141 points, 26 more than Helio Castroneves and 29 ahead of Gil de Ferran; obviously, a rivalry has developed between Hornish and the two Team Penske drivers which should make for an interesting season to watch; Hornish reached five career Indy Racing victories faster than any driver in league history; if he leads in the Firestone 225, he will tie Tony Stewart's record of leading in 10 successive races.

Jaques Lazier
Younger brother of 2000 IRL champion Buddy Lazier, finished an impressive second at the Yamaha 400 at California Speedway; has 80 points after three races which puts him fourth in the standings; earned his first Indy Racing League victory last year at Chicagoland Speedway.

Buddy Lazier
The 2000 Indy Racing champion finished seventh in the past two races to pick up a good chunk of points after a bad start in Miami (22nd); tied with Al Unser Jr. with 60 points to round out the top 10; won a series-high four races last year and challenged Sam Hornish Jr. for the title, but poor results in the final three races proved costly and settled for runner-up in the year-end standings with 105 points.

Eliseo Salazar
In third season with the A.J. Foyt team; good results in two of three races this year (sixth in Miami, fourth at Phoenix); total of 77 points places him fifth in the championship race; finished fifth in last year's points standings; competed three years in Formula One, scoring points in a handful of races; won three IMSA sports car races before turning his attention to Indy Racing.