Will Power looks to pad his point lead when the IndyCar Series races at Sonoma. [John Wiedemann Photo]
Points and top finishes will be important this weekend as the championship chase for the Verizon IndyCar Series title moves to wine country in Sonoma, California.
The series final three-race run to the championship began last Sunday on the Milwaukee Mile short oval, and provided valuable points for winner Will Power who saw his lead in the standings increase to 39 points over Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves who finished eleventh.
The 2.385 mi. road course, set in Sonoma’s hills and valleys, near wineries and vineyards, will provide a different challenge for the six drivers still in the run for the $1 million crown.
Indy car teams have come to this 12-turn facility, once known as Sears Point Raceway and later Infineon Raceway, first in 1970 for USAC, and since 2005 for IRL/IndyCar.
Dan Gurney beat Mario Andretti and Big Al Unser 45 seasons ago, but Will Power has dominated recently, winning three of the last four events run there.
Power’s Penske group has gone to victory lane five times since 2008, and with all three team drivers still eligible for the championship, “The Captain’s” crew should be considered the favorites this week.
Sam Hornish, the NASCAR and former IndyCar driver, who will be in the TV booth for NBC Sports this weekend, recently described the importance of finishing well at Sonoma this way: “Any mistakes by the first two would open the door for the other four drivers eligible for the title.”
The “other four”, Simon Pagenaud (-92), Ryan Hunter-Reay (-108), Juan Pablo Montoya (-114) and Scott Dixon (-130), need something to happen to Power and Castroneves while scoring high up in the finishing order themselves; and the potential is certainly there for that to take place.
Dixon won at Sonoma in 2007, sat on the pole once and has stood on the podium two other times. Montoya scored his first NASCAR series win here that same year and has an IndyCar win this year. Simon Pagenaud has three 2014 wins and one pole, while Ryan Hunter-Reay has won three races and one pole this season. Certainly a formidable record should either of the top-two falter on Sunday.
Power’s previous title chase record says that he may be the one to open that door that Hornish mentioned. He led in points with two races to go in both 2010 and 2012, but finished in second place both times.
Castroneves has won the Indianapolis 500 three times, but has never won a series’ title; having been the runner-up three times.
Should the standings tighten at Sonoma, the final race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, could be a real battle for the championship as the 500-mile run on August 30 will award double points; and that system could allow any of the six contenders to overcome any lead that Power may still have after Sunday.
NOTES and QUOTES:
- Driver Graham Rahal on Sonoma: “It’s challenging because of its elevation changes. It’s just a different place to get the car right in all different phases. The car is so different from start to finish. You climb X number of feet and go flying up over the hill, over a lot of crests and back down the other side. So it’s generally just a different place to (get the car to) work properly.”
- The Mazda Road to Indy will run Indy Lights, Pro Mazda and USF2000 series races at Sonoma.
- The twenty-two usual entries are expected to compete at Sonoma, with Mike Conway back in the cockpit for Ed Carpenter.
- There have been 10 different winners in the 17 races run so far in 2014. The record is 11 in both 2000 and 2001.
- All nine winners since IRL/IndyCar has run at Sonoma have started fifth or better, putting a premium on qualifying up front on Saturday.
- This will be Helio’s 100th consecutive Verizon IndyCar start while Tony Kanaan continues to lead with 293 in-a-row if he qualifies and races. Castroneves leads the field with 293 career starts.
- Only one Sonoma winner (Dario Franchitti, 2009), has gone on to win that year’s title.
- TV: Race-NBCSN, Sunday, 4:00pm ET/ Qualifying- Saturday, 7:30pm ET.
- Radio-XM 209, Sirius 213.
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