Canadian Triple Crown Set For Showdown In Edmonton

The table is now set for the final Champ Car Canadian Triple Crown Showdown at the Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton. With Will Power on pole position, Sebastien Bourdais starting second and Justin Wilson third on the grid, the top three teams in the Triple Crown standings are in good position to take home the honors of Triple Crown Champion. However, with Graham Rahal starting fourth, Bourdais and his Newman/Haas/Lanigan racing teammate seem to have a slight advantage on putting their hands on the Inuksuk trophies created by renowned Inuit Artist Ohito Ashoona.

Currently sitting atop the standings heading into tomorrow’s race are the Team Australia duo of Will Power and Simon Pagenaud with a finishing average of three. Trailing the pair, in second place, is the driver combination of Alex Tagliani and Justin Wilson from RSPORTS with an average of six. Close behind in positions three to five and only separated by an average of 1.5 positions are Sebastien Bourdais and Graham Rahal of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing in third (7.25), Minardi Team USA’s drivers Dan Clarke and Robert Doornbos in fourth (8.25) and Tristan Gommendy and Neel Jani of PKV Racing in fifth (8.75).

Anyone of those top five teams still has a chance to win and a slew of different scenarios can determine the winner. The odds, however, are looking good for the Team Australia drivers. RSPORTS or Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing need to sweep the top two spots with the Aussie Vineyards team finishing with both drivers outside of the top eight to clinch the crown.

The Champ Car Canadian Triple Crown team competition got underway in Mont Tremblant on July 1, continued in Toronto the following week and will end tomorrow at the Grand Prix of Edmonton. The trophies will be presented to the team averaging the best finishing position over those three Canadian races.

The Inuksuk trophies represent a man-made formation of stones arranged in the likeness of a human being. The stone sculptures were primarily used for navigation and to mark trails and were known as “silent messengers".

Today, the inuksuk represents leadership, achievement, direction and strength. To build the larger-than-life size sculptures, many Inuks had to work together and for that reason the inuksuk is symbolic of co-operation and team building.