Chemistry, continuity and communication define a successful professional sports team, and their harmonious effects in the IZOD IndyCar Series are realized by having driver(s) in pursuit of a championship to complete the alliteration.

This is the fifth consecutive season that a Team Penske driver enters the season finale with the opportunity to secure the IZOD IndyCar Series championship. Will Power, driver of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, has been in this position three years in a row. At Auto Club Speedway on Sept. 15, he’ll attempt to deliver the first title to Team Penske since 2006 (Sam Hornish Jr.).

Click it: Power talks about title chase

“I think we've been able to consistently continue to win races and that type of thing,” Penske Racing president Tim Cindric said. “But, for whatever reason, the last five years we haven't gotten the job done at the end of the season. Having a chance every year is something that you can be proud of, but at the end of the day you got to finish it.”

Cindric has been the race strategist for Power since July 2011 in Toronto in an effort to potentially push Power past championship protagonist Dario Franchitti.

“Will’s been through the different experiences of the highs and lows,” Cindric said. “He continues to perform better and better in my opinion on the ovals. I think this year in Texas he got a blocking penalty, and he was definitely the car to beat in Texas.”

Power has an average finish of 17.75 on ovals this season compared to 12.5 for chief rival Ryan Hunter-Reay. Power finished higher at Indianapolis and Texas, while Hunter-Reay won at Milwaukee and Iowa. Both will be making their first Indy car start on the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway oval.

“I think Fontana's going to be a similar race to Texas,” Cindric added. “Probably different in some ways, but he's been through it and understands what that all means to come down to the last race.”

Cindric had worked with Castroneves since 2001 – a span that included three Indianapolis 500 victories -- and also has been the strategist for the likes of Indy car drivers Bobby Rahal and Max Papis and NASCAR’s Kurt Busch at Daytona.

“My job is more than the strategy part of it because just anybody who follows racing could know if you’re going to come in or not come in (to pit),” Cindric said. “It comes down to being a coach at the same time. As the leader of that group, what you’re trying to instill is confidence and focus. Will is a guy who just needs to understand what’s happening in the game, and he usually knows what play to run because he’s one of the best drivers I’ve ever worked with as far as studying before he arrives and understanding what happened last year and historically.

“He only needs certain pieces of information to determine what he’s going to do next. That, to me, is where the experience is different. It comes down to that person having the confidence. If they don’t have that confidence, I instill that. I’m fortunate to know how it is to work with a driver for the first time who’s never met you and know anything about you. It takes a while to develop that rapport.

“Fortunately with Will, I was able to develop that early on.”