Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. That's been the fate of Aussie ace Will Power, who has contended for the American IndyCar Series championship for the past five years.
Runner-up from 2010-12 and fourth last year, Power is again going for the title in the final race at California Speedway, outside Los Angeles, on Sunday (Australian time).
He is leading the points standings and needs to finish only sixth or better to finally capture the IndyCar crown – and that's in the worst-case scenario.
But Power has been here before, poised to clinch the championship in the last race three times in a row – and each time he was denied by mishap or mistake.
Even last year, when he barely made the bridal party, much less the altar, the laconic Queenslander finished with a flourish, winning the season-ending California 500.
It was Power's first success on an oval speedway in his eighth seasons of Indycar racing, having already established himself as among the very best on street circuits and road courses.
If IndyCar – the cap 'C' denoting 2008's reunification after more than a decade of civil war between rival series – had been a road racing competition only, Power would be a triple champion – and probably a quadruple title-holder.
But it is a multi-discipline series that, uniquely, mixes traditional road course circuits with city street tracks and left-turn-only, banked-turn ovals (like the ones that predominate in NASCAR stock car racing). The ovals, which range from 1.6kilometre low-banked bowls and 2.4kilometre high- banked centrifuges to 3.2-4kilometre "superspeedways", are his Achilles heel.
One of his three wins this season – from 17 races so far – was on the historic Milwaukee Mile oval, but that hardly counts because it is a short flat track without banking.
While most IndyCar drivers – including his main title rival and teammate Helio Castroneves – are road racers who've adapted to the intricacies and nerve-fraying wheel-to-wheel racing on ovals, Power has never really been comfortable with the gladiatorial combat at speedways.
It is perhaps not surprising that he has had to force himself to suppress his aversion to oval racing. Power was caught up in the 15-car crash that claimed the life of British driver Dan Wheldon – a winner of both the IndyCar championship and Indianapolis 500 – in the 2011 finale at Las Vegas Speedway.
While Power, 32, from Toowoomba, has already proved he can win on the high-speed 3.2 km D-shaped superspeedway at Fontana, more than an hour inland from Los Angeles, he has typically made his task of clinching the IndyCar title difficult.
While his closest championship rival and teammate in the powerful Penske team, Castroneves, won pole position for the 250-lap race – which is due to start at 12.20pm AEST on Sunday – Power struggled to 21st position (second last) on the starting grid.
All is not lost because it is a long race and Power can race his way through the field. Even if Castroneves wins, sixth place will end the Australian's title agony.
But he will be vulnerable to accidents amid the manic racing and Castroneves, 39, is a wily racer who is chasing his first IndyCar crown to add to his trio of Indy 500 wins.
Two-times winner Frenchman Simon Pagenaud is the only other championship contender, although he is an outsider.
Power and Castroneves are contrasting characters.
Power hides his keen – if eccentric – sense of humour behind a laid-back public persona and a heavy Strine accent, while Castroneves is an ebullient Brazilian who has charmed Americans with his effusiveness and unabashed emotion.
Power is faster and more aggressive, and with just a bit of the luck that often deserts him, he will finally become Australia's first IndyCar champion.
