The Emberton driver remains third in the championship, despite a poor start to the season and after a disappointing fourth place in last weekend's Meijer Indy 300 on the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway.

Having qualified third, Wheldon led for 66 laps for his Target Chip Ganassi team and with two events remaining, Sam Hornish Jnr leads the way with 418 points with Helio Castroneves second with 411 points and Wheldon third with 394 points.

Wheldon said after the latest race: "The boys did a fantastic job. The car went well, I just made a mistake with the final pit-stop."

But speaking exclusively to the Citizen, he revealed he is determined to make life as difficult as possible for his rivals.

He said: "When I look at last year – and knowing now that it was a record-breaking season on a lot of different levels – this season has been very different. This year I think I've led for more laps at this point of the season, but we've had a lot of bad luck.

"It just hasn't quite gone our way. But we are still very much in the championship."

Last year Wheldon became the first Briton since Graham Hill to win the Indy 500, and also claimed the IndyCar title.
This season saw him switch teams to Target Chip Ganassi Racing, and so far he has managed just one race win. But
Wheldon has finished on the podium in three of the last five races.

Wheldon also spoke of his satisfaction at making it in America: "All my life I knew I wanted to race cars.
"When I was younger I think my sights were more set on Formula 1. It was a big decision coming to America, but it has paid off.

"My family are comfortable, but unfortunately there's not many families that can risk spending half a million pounds doing Formula 3.
"When the opportunity arose, the deal to come to America happened very quickly.

"Without sounding cocky or arrogant I always thought I would make it to the top. I still have many ambitions."

And Wheldon has still not ruled out a return to this country and a switch to Formula 1. He admitted that he turned down an opportunity to join F1 last year, instead favouring to remain in America:

"I've known and respected Chip for a long time so it was difficult to say no. So I think I need to keep winning still as much as I can and then re-evaluate."

Wheldon says he only gets the chance to return to the UK once a year to see his parents in Emberton at Christmas.
He said: "I think they are proud. They sacrificed a lot to get me where I am today.
"Financially I'm a lot more secure than I thought I would be at this time in my life. But for me, honestly, what I'm most proud of is my achievements under difficult circumstances.
"Having realised big personal goals, that gives me a lot of self-satisfaction which years ago I didn't have."

by Mark Wood

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