Iowa Speedway, built by Rusty Wallace, is a short track too; on first glance, it looks remarkably similar to Richmond’s D-shaped oval. But Iowa is slightly more elongated and slightly longer, 7/8 of a mile to RIR’s 3/4 mile. The banking is pretty much the same; the turns are identical, while Iowa’s front- and backstretch have two degrees more banking than Richmond’s.

In the post-race press conference, Scott Sharp, who finished third, said Iowa was more demanding than either Richmond or Milwaukee.

“I think I’m definitely more tired than I would be in [Richmond or Milwaukee],” Sharp said. “It’s just that you have so much turning in the car, quite a significant amount more angle I think you have in the car here than you do either certainly at Milwaukee and I think even more than Richmond.”

So who’s going to be the driver to beat?

Dario Franchitti seems an obvious choice. He won at Iowa (as seen in the photo at right) and Indianapolis — he and Tony Kanaan are the only multiple winners so far this season — and has a commanding 51-point lead. (By comparison, positions two through six are separated by 29 points.)

Franchitti ran second at Milwaukee to Kanaan, even though that might not be the best comparison. Milwaukee is flat and a mile long, not dissimilar to New Hampshire, where the Nextel Cup tour stops this weekend.

Yet Franchitti’s best success at the track has come during the recent past: He’s got a second and a third in the past two races there.

Sam Hornish Jr. offers a more solid bet. He’s the defending champion of the event and had another win in 2002 and a runner-up finish back in 2001. He’s also run well this season; he’s got a win (which came at Texas earlier this month) and sits fifth in the standings, 10 points behind fourth-place Dan Wheldon.

He’s the only driver to win more than once at Richmond.

Scott Dixon, third in points, won the pole at Iowa and won at Richmond in 2003. Even Helio Castroneves, sixth in points and the last before a steep drop-off, has a win at Richmond (2005), a second, a third and two poles.

There’s no clear driver that could be listed as a favorite. It seems like it’s pick-a-name-out-of-a-hat.

But that’s what makes it fun, right?

It should be a good one on Saturday night.

• HOUSEKEEPING NOTES: An early note to let you know that I’ll be on vacation all of next week and into the following week. My wife and I are heading west to visit the in-laws in Bend, Ore., and that usually means a fun, relaxing time amid the great mountains of the West. (No, really, we always do have fun and usually do come home relaxed.)

That means you’ll be on your own to figure out how the races at New Hampshire and Daytona tie back into Paris Hilton’s freedom. (Did anyone else watch her on Larry King last night? I couldn’t get away from the highlights on CNN this morning, and one word came to mind: vapid. But if she really, truly wants to become a more positive role model AND follows through on it, then that’s not at all a bad thing and I will be happy to take back my negative comments.)

(Photos by Dana Garrett/IRL [Richmond in 2006] and Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press [Iowa last Sunday])