POWER DOMINATES IN SONOMA, TAKES WIN IN INDY GRAND PRIX OF SONOMA

The podium finishers

SONOMA, California — Team Penske's Will Power continued his recent domination at Infineon Raceway on Sunday, taking the victory in the Indy® Grand Prix of Sonoma.

It was Power's second consecutive win in the Sonoma Valley and his fifth of the season as he inched closer to points leader Dario Franchitti in the chase for the IZOD IndyCar® Series championship.

Power, who qualified on the pole, led 71 of the 75 laps over the twisting 12-turn, 2.303-mile road course. Team Penske swept the top three spots, with Helio Castroneves second and Ryan Briscoe third.

"This is like home for me," said Power. "To start 1-2-3 and finish 1-2-3, what a dream weekend."

Franchitti (Target Chip Ganassi Racing) and teammate Scott Dixon completed the top five. With the win, Power now trails Franchitti by 26 points with just four races left in the season. Power has posted wins in two of his last four races.

"We have a legitimate shot at the championship," said Power, who became the first repeat winner at Infineon Raceway since INDYCAR first visited Sonoma in 2005. "We're 26 points out and we have two road courses and two ovals left. We can get this….this was also great momentum for the team with a 1-2-3 finish."

For Castroneves, this matched his best finish of the season (Edmonton).

"It's been a roller-coaster season for me but this weekend it's been all about the team," said Castroneves, who won in Sonoma in 2008. "We deserved this. It was a great result. It's rare to start 1-2-3 and finish 1-2-3."

This marks the first 1-2-3 finish for Team Penske since Mid-Ohio in 1994. Moreover, Team Penske also won the Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in Sonoma in June (Kurt Busch).

In other racing on Sunday, Patrick Long (Porsche) swept the weekend in the GT class for the SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge. Other winners were rookie Ben Crosland in GTS (Ford Mustang) and Aaron Povoledo in Touring Car (Volvo).

San Rafael's Patrick O'Neill also made it a clean sweep, taking the win in the Formula Car Challenge main event. O'Neill also won the Formula Car Challenge race on Saturday.

"I put the marks together and went for it," O'Neill said. "It's been a great weekend and I'm ready for a beer."

Race Statistics

Winner’s average speed: 96.408

Time of Race: 01:47:29.7619

Margin of victory: 3.2420 seconds

Cautions: 1 for 3 laps

Lead changes: 4 among 2 drivers

Lap Leaders: Power 1 – 25, Briscoe 26 – 27, Power 28 – 49, Briscoe 50 – 51, Power 52 - 75

Point Standings: Franchitti 475, Power 449, Dixon 400, Servia 327, Briscoe 312, Kanaan 305, Hunter-Reay 285, Andretti 282, Castroneves 277, Rahal 264.

West Coast Moto Jam

AMA Pro Road Racing

May 11-15

Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival

June 4-5

Toyota/Save Mart 350

NASCAR Weekend

June 24-26

NHRA Division 7 drag races, presented by Korbel

July 22-24

FRAM/Autolite NHRA Nationals

July 29-31

Indy® Grand Prix of Sonoma

Aug. 26-28