Simon Pagenaud enjoyed a perfect weekend at Sonoma Raceway. After capturing pole on Saturday, Pagenaud dominated Sunday's GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma, going unchallenged most of the way to take his fifth win of the season and clinch his first IndyCar championship. The championship itself was decided on lap 36 when Will Power suffered gearbox problems and coasted to a halt on track while he was running second. While he rejoined the race, Power was several laps down and not in position to mount a challenge.

Still, it does not take away from a dominant performance by Pagenaud, who shot off into the distance on the initial start and only surrendered the lead during cycles of green-flag pit stops. The only nervous moment on lap 36, when Power and Spencer Pigot stalled on track with gearbox problems. Anticipating a caution, Pagenaud's team called him into the pits slightly ahead of schedule for their second stop. However, they got him well ahead of the caution, and he quickly resumed in the lead and controlled the race the entire way.

Graham Rahal ended a roller coaster year on a high note by finishing second, using an identical strategy to Pagenaud. He did briefly close to within a second o the Penske driver late in the race, but was not able to mount a sufficient challenge. Behind them, Juan Montoya did a lot to help his stock entering an uncertain off-season by finishing third. Ryan Hunter-Reay finished fourth, passing teammate Alexander Rossi on the last lap after Rossi ran out of fuel coming to take the checkered flag. Rossi was, however, able to coast across the line fifth.

Behind them, Helio Castroneves tried a four-stop strategy in hopes of catching cautions and challenge for a victory. While the cautions never cam,e Castroneves did just enough to clinch third in the championship by finishing seventh, just behind Josef Newgarden, who finished sixth.

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