IndyCar Sonoma Race: Power claims fifth win, widens margin over Franchitti

Will Power took a commanding lead in the Izod IndyCar standings over Dario Franchitti by taking his fifth win of the season at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma. Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti came home second and third, with Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves rounding out the top five.

For Power, the win serves as a necessity, as his performance on ovals has lagged behind that of Franchitti, with the Scotsman leading the Australian by 48 points in the oval championship. That gap means Franchitti may have an advantage heading into the final four races, all on ovals. Power's win means he maximizes his point lead heading into this last segment, vital for his title hopes.

"What a perfect weekend," said a jovial Power, who broke his back in this race on year ago. "It was an awesome race. (Scott) Dixon certainly had a good pace at the end there but I had a bit of pick up on my tires. I just have to thank the Verizon guys and Roger (Penske) and Tim (Cindric) for giving me this opportunity. A year ago I was lying in the hospital after taking a ride in a helicopter and watching the race in there, so to come back and win it from the pole is just fantastic. I've said it all season, I wanted to come back here and win this race."

The race began with a scattered and chaotic start. While got a nice jump on the field, Bertand Baguette got together with Dan Wheldon, flipping the Briton before they even got to the start/finish line. “I was just coming up for the start of the race obviously, and it’s a shame because the National Guard car was really strong all weekend and we were hoping for a really good finish. It’s never a good thing to be upside down but everybody at Dallara and the IZOD IndyCar Series do an unbelievable job from the safety aspect of our sport. The team continues to work incredibly hard and we wanted to put on a good show this weekend. Certainly the last four races are going to be an incredibly strong stretch for us, and expect to see that National Guard car up front. We’ll move on to the next race and try to get his car into victory lane before the season ends.”

Power continued in the lead when the race went back to green, and held the lead for all but two laps of race. Behind the leaders, Marco Andretti and J.R. Hildebrand pitted off sequence on lap 14, trying to use strategy to pick up positions.

Meanwhile, Alex Tagliani, who started fourth, saw his day unravel in a hurry. He first lost two spots to Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon, then two more to Justin Wilson and Ryan Hunter-Reay. Then, with Raphael Matos and Simona de Silvestro on his tail, Tagliani cut his right-rear tire when he came together with de Silvestro. “It was a tough day; unfortunately the first set of tires went away more quickly than we anticipated. We lost a few positions and then coming into Turn 11 on lap 18, I'm not sure who punted me, but I got hit and got a flat right rear tire. After that we were just trying to recover.” He wound up 14th.

Helio Castroneves also began to struggle on his tires, losing spots to Briscoe, Dixon, and Wilson before he pitted.

Power held the lead through the first stops, with Andretti and Hildebrand, who pitted earlier, up to second and third. However, Hildebrand was soon struggling on his tires, and was forced to pit.

Andretti’s strategy went awry when Milka Duno spun and stalled in the Carousel, bringing out the race’s first full-course yellow. Andretti pitted, falling through the field.

In trying to climb back up through the field, he got together Hildebrand in turn seven on lap, when he tried dive-bombing the rookie. Both spun, with Hildebrand dropping out. Andretti finished 12th.

Up front, Power remained in control, only losing the lead during the second round of stops. Behind him, Briscoe, up to second after the first pit stops, dropped to fourth behind Franchitti and Dixon after the second round. Dixon, on red tires, would pass Franchitti, on blacks, on lap 61.

A final yellow for contact between Bertrand Baguette, E.J. Viso, and Raphael Matos in the final corner (Baguette dove inside Baguette, bumping wheels with him, with Matos bumped to outside) bunched the field up, but no one had anything for Power.

Meanwhile, back in the pack, Hideki Mutoh spun in turn seven, but continued on. And, Takuma Sato got together with Danica Patrick, forcing both to drop through the field. Up front, though, Power pulled away from the Ganassi duo, leaving them wondering just how to bear him.

“The unfortunate part is that we really only get one set of stickers for the race with the red tires,” explained Dixon. “They were night and day quicker so we had to take used at the end. It's a big day for Team Target. Second and third is a great result. We really needed to be ahead of the 12 car, and I pushed it as hard as I could at the end. I just couldn't even get close enough to have a look. He was definitely hooked up and saving his tires earlier in the day. It's still a good result. We're happy to come from sixth all the way to second."

Teammate Franchitti was disappointed to lose ground to Power in the points. “We did the best with what we had today. We took a gamble on blacks at the end and it didn't work for us, unfortunately. Scott (Dixon) was definitely quicker on reds and I let him go there, hoping he was going to hunt down Will (Power). Scott really tried to get past him. There was such a speed difference on the blacks that we couldn't get close to them at the end."

With the series heading to four ovals to end the year, Power leads Franchitti by 59 points.

Full results of the race on Infineon Raceway