JOLIET, Ill. -- The five-man battle for the Indy Racing League championship occupies centerstage this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway but there are several other newsmakers as well.

Felipe Giaffone, seriously injured at Kansas City on the July 4 weekend, has made a quick recovery and will be back in Mo Nunn's car when practice begins Friday.

Sarah Fisher, who missed the last race at Nazareth after a hard crash during practice, has also healed and is ready for action.

Richie Hearn, whose only start of 2003 came at Indianapolis, takes the wheel at John Menard's frazzled operation.

And Ed Carpenter, stepson of Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony George, will make his IRL debut for PDM Racing.

With only three races remaining, Helio Castroneves owns a 25-point lead over teammate Gil de Ferran and a 32-point advantage over fellow Brazilian Tony Kanaan. Scott Dixon is 42 points out of first and defending IRL champ Sam Hornish Jr. sits 81 points behind the two-time Indy 500 winner.

We're coming off three strong races but we need to keep our momentum because one mistake or one mechanical failure could cost you the title," said Castroneves, who has scored victories at St. Louis and Nazareth to vault into the lead.

"Gil and I tested here last week and we've got a good baseline for the weekend. This track is wild, with two grooves and you're wide open all the time. I like it."

His teammate's first start here a year ago ended at hospital with a concussion.

"I don't have the best memories of it as I was involved in a crash. In fact, I don't really have any memories of the race at all," said de Ferran, who announced last week he was retiring at the end of 2003.

	Fisher crashed at Nazareth but will be racing at Chicagoland.

Kanaan led the standings most of the season before being knocked out of the Nazareth race by another driver and now he's playing catchup with a Honda engine that's been totally dominated by Toyota and, recently, the Chevy/Cosworth.

"We got crashed at Nazareth and that was unfortunate but we can't dwell on the past, we've got to focus on these next three races and get back on top," he said.

Dixon owns three wins, five pole positions and has led 300 laps more than anyone else in his G-Force/Toyota but his five DNFs have him in a hole.

"We'll probably have to win a couple of these last three races to have a shot at the championship but there's no reason to think we can't," reasoned the 22-year-old New Zealander.

Buoyed by his new engine, Hornish has come on strong with a win and two seconds to suddenly appear on everyone's radar.

"We've got to win all three races to have a shot," said the 22-year-old American star who is headed for Team Penske next year. "That's our mentality and we've got the team and now the package to do it."

Giaffone healed quickly from his fractured femur and got a little anxious watching his replacement, Alex Barron, capture the Michigan race.

"I guess I didn't know how much I was really missing being in the car until we tested at Chicagoland last week," he said. "I was hurt, and every ounce of my energy was spent working hard to get back into driving shape. All that hard work kind of took my mind off of what it was like to race.

"But when they belted me into the car for the test it was like magic. Almost like I was never gone."

Fisher got battered and bruised by Nazareth's walls but suffered no serious injuries in her first ever trip to the hospital as an IRL driver.

"My back is a sore but I'm ready to go," she declared.

Hearn has taken over the revolving seat at Menard Racing. Jaques Lazier started the season, was replaced by Vitor Meira, then got back in the car when Meira broke his wrist at Kentucky. After crashing in practice at Nazareth, Lazier is out again.

After several seasons of USAC midget, sprint and Silver Crown competition, in which he scored wins and ran quite well, Carpenter is moving up to IndyCars for the final three races. He's spent the past two years in the IRL Infiniti Pro Series and feels comfortable.

"I've worked hard at becoming an Indy driver," said the 22-year-old native of suburban Chicago. "We had a good test here and I'm excited about the opportunity."

Robin Miller covers open wheel racing for ESPN and ESPN.com.