Nazareth, Pa. ? Nazareth Speedway is history after the IRL race Sunday, and points leader Tony Kanaan would love to win the finale for team owner Michael Andretti.

“With this being the final race at what is the home track for the Andretti family, it would be a great honor to be able to win this weekend and dedicate the race to them,” Kanaan said. “I’m confident we’ll have another strong run.”

But the Brazilian driver won’t lose perspective simply because the Firestone Indy will be the last race in the hometown of his boss.

“When it comes to the championship, I am taking things race by race,” Kanaan said.

Andretti, who followed father Mario as a racing great, won the pole and first major open-wheel event — a CART race in 1987 — at the picturesque track in the Lehigh Valley. He also won on the mile oval in 1996.

But the Andrettis have no monopoly on the track. Car owner Roger Penske built it in 1986 and has won the race seven times, including last year with Helio Castroneves.

“We scored our 100th win in 2000, which was unbelievable, especially when you consider we had new drivers and new team members,” Penske said. “It was truly amazing.”

He got that victory here from Gil de Ferran, who with Castroneves resurrected a team that had gone three years without winning.

Penske cars also won the race twice with both Paul Tracy and Emerson Fittipaldi, and once with Danny Sullivan.

“It would be great to repeat last year’s performance at Nazareth and win the last race at the track,” Castroneves said. “The team has so much history here.”

But history probably won’t be worth much Sunday. The Penske cars have Toyota power, and this season in the IRL belongs to Honda.

Two-time IndyCar series champion Sam Hornish Jr. won the season-opening race for Penske in February. Since then, Honda-powered cars are 11-for-11.

Engines by the Japanese automaker have resulted in 27 of 36 top-three spots. Chevrolet’s only visit to the podium was a third-place finish by Alex Barron in Texas.

Honda could set an IRL record by winning 15 of 16 races. Chevy power won 14 of 15 events in 2002.

Andretti Green Racing is setting the pace with Kanaan, second-year IRL driver Dan Wheldon and Dario Franchitti combining for seven victories this year. Kanaan, who has 68-point lead over Rahal-Letterman’s Buddy Rice, has won three times and his teammates twice each.

Indianapolis 500 winner Rice also has three victories, but failed to complete a lap after spinning out last week at Pikes Peak. He has four races to overcome the last-place finish in Colorado.

“It sure didn’t help our situation in the championship, but the championship isn’t over yet,” he said. “I know we’ll be ready for Nazareth. “I won my first Atlantic race at Nazareth in 1998, and I enjoy the track. We had a very good test at Nazareth a few weeks ago and I feel confident about the race.”

Rice could tie an IRL record today in qualifying. He seeks to match Billy Boat’s 1998 mark of six poles.

The 40,000-seat facility had large crowds in its infancy, but attendance fell and never recovered even after Penske later merged his tracks with giant International Speedway Corp. ISC, the owner of Daytona International Speedway and several other facilities. It was announced in May that the track originally known as Pennsylvania International Raceway would close after this season.