2010 IRL Rd.13--Sonoma Indy Grand Prix

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--Race - Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma
--Location - Infineon Raceway - Sonoma, CA
--Date - Sunday, August 22nd
--Time & TV Schedule - 5:00PM Eastern -Green Flag -5:50PM Eastern -Versus
--Course Type - 2.303 Mile Road Course
--Distance - 75 Laps / 172.725 Miles
--Practice Sessions - Friday, August 20th -6:00-7:00PM Eastern - Saturday, August 21st -2:30PM -3:30PM Eastern - Warm-Up Session, Sunday, August 22nd - 1:15-1:45PM Eastern
--Qualifications - Saturday, August 21st - 5:30 -7:00PM Eastern



---PAST WINNERS AT INFINEON
*1970: Dan Gurney
2005: Tony Kanaan
2006: Marco Andretti
2007: Scott Dixon
2008: Helio Castroneves
2009: Dario Franchitti
*--race held under USAC(United States Auto Club) sanctioning

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TrackMap, Infineon Raceway

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Sonoma Indy Grand Prix Entry List
Raphael Matos, #2 HP-McAfee
Helio Castroneves, #3 Team Penske
Dan Wheldon, #4 National Guard
(R)Takuma Sato, #5 Lotus-KV Racing
Ryan Briscoe, #6 Team Penske
Danica Patrick, #7 GoDaddy.com
E.J. Viso, #8 PDVSA
Scott Dixon, #9 Target
Dario Franchitti, #10 Target
Tony Kanaan, #11 Dr. Pepper
Will Power, #12 Verizon Wireless
Vitor Meira, #14 ABC Supply Co.
Milka Duno, #18 CITGO
(R)Alex Lloyd, #19 Boy Scouts of America
Justin Wilson, #22 Z-Line Designs
J.R. Hildebrand, #24 TranSystems
Marco Andretti, #26 Venom Energy
Mario Moraes, #32 KV Racing-Agrotora
Francesco Dracone, #34 Conquest Racing
(R)Bertrand Baguette, #36 RAC Belgium
Ryan Hunter-Reay, #37 IZOD
Alex Tagliani, #77 Bowers & Wilkins
(R)Simona de Silvestro, #78 Team Stargate: Resistance
Graham Rahal, #02 QuickTrim
Hideki Mutoh, #06 NH Racing-Panasonic

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----SONOMA, Calif. – Remember when Tony Kanaan completed his push-ups in Victory Circle following the inaugural IZOD IndyCar Series race at Infineon Raceway? That was five years and five event winners ago already. “It’s always great to go back to a track where you’ve won before,” says Kanaan, whose Team 7-Eleven car for the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma this weekend will be an appropriate color for the Dr Pepper Cherry primary sponsorship. “But 2005 seems like a long time ago, so we need to get another win there to freshen up the memories. The series is so competitive right now on the road courses that a win now at Infineon would probably be even more special than what it was back then. We just need to take what we’ve learned and use it to our benefit this weekend.”

Kanaan and Andretti Autosport teammate Marco Andretti won the first two races, with Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves and Dario Franchitti prevailing in the past three. The 75-lap race on the 2.303-mile, 12-turn circuit is the final road/street competition of the season.

Will Power, driver of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, wrapped up the first Mario Andretti Road Championship Trophy on Aug. 8 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with a runner-up finish to Franchitti’s No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car. But the overall title and the A.J. Foyt Oval Championship Trophy are still up for grabs.

Power, who suffered a season-ending back injury in a practice crash at Infineon last August, has a 41-point lead over Franchitti in the championship standings, so he can’t afford to slip up. After Infineon, the season closes with four races on 1.5-mile (though different) ovals.

“I think Will’s had a terrific season and, having come back from a broken back myself, I kind of know what he went through last year,” said Franchitti, who missed most of the 2003 season while recovering from a back injury suffered in a motorcycle accident. "It’s a tough road, but I think it makes you more motivated and more driven to succeed, and I think you can see that with Will. Our job at team Target is to beat him to that championship.”

Franchitti led wire to wire in ’09 on the natural-terrain Infineon course (he's also the only driver to win the event and the championship in the same season) and is a two-time pole sitter. He has eight top-10 finishes, including top 5s in the past four, in seven of the eight road/street races. Power, who has four road/street course victories this season, also has been in the top five of the other four. He tied a series record with his seventh PEAK Performance Pole Award at Mid-Ohio. “Guys like Dario make racing fun,” Power said. “He’s a great driver and he pushes me to do better. I think we push each other.”

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---Dario Franchitti topped the speed charts in the one hour practice session for the IZOD IndyCar Series at Infineon Raceway. Franchitti, who won last year's event, turned a lap at 78.297 seconds. Franchitti's time was a tick faster than Will Power whose best lap stopped the clocks at 78.3011 seconds.

Both drivers tested at Infineon Raceway one week ago. Power was fastest in the test while Franchitti was second. "The track was a bit quicker then, I'm not quite sure why," Franchitti said. "The car's not bad, but we have a little bit of work to do tonight. Everybody's going to be quicker tomorrow and we've got to keep up and try to take advantage if we can."

Power was able to record a lap at 77.46 seconds at the test while Franchitti's best was 77.83 seconds. Alex Tagliani made his Infineon Raceway debut today by setting the third fastest lap. "It's our first time here," said Tagliani. "The team is doing a fantastic job." Tagliani's best was 78.616 seconds, three tenths slower than Power.

Scott Dixon was fourth fastest with a lap at 78.607 seconds, over half a second slower than his best at the test. Justin Wilson, who also participated in last week's test, rounded out the top five with a lap at 78.6161 seconds. Sausalito's JR Hildebrand, who is making his second-career IndyCar Series start, was 13th (79.0385 seconds) out of 25 drivers. Hildebrand also participated in the test where he was 6th fastest (78.21 seconds).

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Sonoma Friday Practice Session Times
1. 10 Dario Franchitti Chip Ganassi Racing 1:18.2970 105.889
2. 12 Will Power Team Penske 1:18.3011 0.0041 0.0041 105.884
3. 77 Alex Tagliani FAZZT Race Team 1:18.5661 0.2650 0.2691 105.526
4. 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 1:18.6070 0.0409 0.3100 105.472
5. 22 Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 1:18.6161 0.0091 0.3191 105.459
6. 26 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport 1:18.6270 0.0109 0.3300 105.445
7. 02 Graham Rahal Newman/Haas Racing 1:18.6513 0.0243 0.3543 105.412
8. 6 Ryan Briscoe Team Penske 1:18.9155 0.2642 0.6185 105.059
9. 4 Dan Wheldon Panther Racing 1:18.9209 0.0054 0.6239 105.052
10. 06 Hideki Mutoh Newman/Haas Racing 1:18.9551 0.0342 0.6581 105.007
11. 3 Helio Castroneves Team Penske 1:18.9727 0.0176 0.6757 104.983
12. 2 Raphael Matos de Ferran Luczo Dragon Racing 1:19.0260 0.0533 0.7290 104.912
13. 24 J.R. Hildebrand Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 1:19.0385 0.0125 0.7415 104.896
14. 32 Mario Moraes KV Racing Technology 1:19.0876 0.0491 0.7906 104.831
15. 11 Tony Kanaan Andretti Autosport 1:19.0976 0.0100 0.8006 104.817
16. 37 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport 1:19.3044 0.2068 1.0074 104.544
17. 8 E.J. Viso KV Racing Technology 1:19.4275 0.1231 1.1305 104.382
18. 34 Bertrand Baguette* Conquest Racing 1:19.5047 0.0772 1.2077 104.281
19. 14 Vitor Meira A.J. Foyt Enterprises 1:19.6061 0.1014 1.3091 104.148
20. 5 Takuma Sato* KV Racing Technology 1:19.6500 0.0439 1.3530 104.090
21. 19 Alex Lloyd* Dale Coyne Racing 1:19.8831 0.2331 1.5861 103.787
22. 78 Simona De Silvestro* Team Stargate Worlds/HVM 1:19.9798 0.0967 1.6828 103.661
23. 7 Danica Patrick Andretti Autosport 1:19.9946 0.0148 1.6976 103.642
24. 36 Francesco Dracone Conquest Racing 1:22.5665 2.5719 4.2695 100.414
25. 18 Milka Duno Dale Coyne Racing 1:23.9309 1.3644 5.6339 98.781
*--series rookie

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Sonoma Saturday Practice Session Times
1. 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 1:17.4312 107.073
2. 3 Helio Castroneves Team Penske 1:17.7310 0.2998 0.2998 106.660
3. 10 Dario Franchitti Chip Ganassi Racing 1:17.7705 0.0395 0.3393 106.606
4. 77 Alex Tagliani FAZZT Race Team 1:17.7788 0.0083 0.3476 106.595
5. 12 Will Power Team Penske 1:17.7958 0.0170 0.3646 106.571
6. 6 Ryan Briscoe Team Penske 1:17.8713 0.0755 0.4401 106.468
7. 37 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport 1:17.9535 0.0822 0.5223 106.356
8. 22 Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 1:18.0535 0.1000 0.6223 106.219
9. 02 Graham Rahal Newman/Haas Racing 1:18.0652 0.0117 0.6340 106.204
10. 24 J.R. Hildebrand Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 1:18.0937 0.0285 0.6625 106.165
11. 06 Hideki Mutoh Newman/Haas Racing 1:18.1533 0.0596 0.7221 106.084
12. 4 Dan Wheldon Panther Racing 1:18.3164 0.1631 0.8852 105.863
13. 8 E.J. Viso KV Racing Technology 1:18.3254 0.0090 0.8942 105.851
14. 26 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport 1:18.3382 0.0128 0.9070 105.833
15. 2 Raphael Matos de Ferran Luczo Dragon Racing 1:18.4089 0.0707 0.9777 105.738
16. 11 Tony Kanaan Andretti Autosport 1:18.4201 0.0112 0.9889 105.723
17. 34 Bertrand Baguette* Conquest Racing 1:18.5335 0.1134 1.1023 105.570
18. 32 Mario Moraes KV Racing Technology 1:18.6155 0.0820 1.1843 105.460
19. 5 Takuma Sato* KV Racing Technology 1:18.6340 0.0185 1.2028 105.435
20. 19 Alex Lloyd* Dale Coyne Racing 1:18.7027 0.0687 1.2715 105.343
21. 14 Vitor Meira A.J. Foyt Enterprises 1:18.7558 0.0531 1.3246 105.272
22. 78 Simona De Silvestro* Team Stargate Worlds/HVM 1:18.9265 0.1707 1.4953 105.045
23. 7 Danica Patrick Andretti Autosport 1:19.0820 0.1555 1.6508 104.838
24. 36 Francesco Dracone Conquest Racing 1:21.4849 2.4029 4.0537 101.746
25. 18 Milka Duno Dale Coyne Racing 1:21.8460 0.3611 4.4148 101.298
*--series rookie

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----SONOMA, Calif. – Will Power earned his IZOD IndyCar Series-record eighth PEAK Performance Pole Award of the season. Advancing to the Firestone Fast Six shootout was the more difficult part of qualifications for the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma. Power posted a quick lap of 1 minute, 16.5282 seconds with 1:20 left in the 10-minute session on the 2.303-mile, 12-turn Infineon Raceway natural-terrain circuit to claim the pole for the 75-lap race. Helio Castroneves (1:16.5652) will join his Team Penske teammate on the front row.

Dario Franchitti (1:16.9437), who enters the race 42 points behind Power in the championship standings, will share Row 2 with Alex Tagliani (1:17.2068). Ryan Briscoe (1:17.2109) and Scott Dixon (1:17.3470), who extended his series-record streak to 45 consecutive top-10 starts, will be on the third row.

With a minute left in Round 2 of qualifying, Power was on the outside of advancing by four-tenths of a second to Justin Wilson of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. The team waited on the time Power posted on a used set of Firestone alternate tires, opting to save a sticker set for the projected Firestone Fast Six pole run. "I knew it was going to be really tight," said Power, referencing two practice sessions in which the top 16 cars in each were separated by less than a second. "We took a risk in the second session and almost didn't get through. Us not getting through that second round would have been a disaster.

"I set a time on old tires I thought would get me through, went out and did a slow lap. I said on the radio, 'You guys have to tell me, do you want me to go or not?' They said, 'Pit, because it looked fine.' Suddenly heaps of people went across the line and I went down to seventh. Through the pit lane out, you have one lap. That was on new tires, so I had to get it done."

The quick change was to the sticker set -- the softest tires in Firestone Racing's inventory. "Halfway around that lap on my dash I was two-tenths down," Power said. "I figured I'm done. It's going to be tough to make that up. But I made it up, which was surprising. It was very tight."

The lap of 1:16.8072 put him fourth of the six advancing. "It is important that we start up front here," said Power, who participated in all nine Firestone Fast Six sessions this season. "This is the toughest series I have ever raced in. It is just so tight now. You can’t leave anything on the table."

Wilson, who didn't leave anything on the track in the No. 22 Z-Line Designs entry, was left in the cold by 0.0088 of a second. He'll start seventh and be on Row 4 with Ryan Hunter-Reay of Andretti Autosport. Eight different teams were represented in the top 12.

Tagliani, driving the No. 77 was making his second appearance (the first since the opener in mid-March in Brazil) in the Firestone Fast Six. The effort followed his leading 30 laps and finishing a season-best fourth at Mid-Ohio on Aug. 8. "Obviously, our challenge as a team is to try to play catch-up from a lack of information, preparation between the races," said Tagliani of the first-year team. "But at some point, what we're trying to do as a team is just to make sure that when we roll our car out of the trailer, it's good.

"We kind of changed our philosophy a little bit in Mid-Ohio in the middle of the weekend. We struggled on road courses. We found something pretty interesting. We kept with it. Now we're back on track. The car is definitely good because when you come here for the first time, it's a pretty challenging track. So I think the team has done a good job."

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(from SU, 22 August 2010)
----Will Power was the dominating force that the rest of the IndyCar Series drivers had to challenge again on a road course. Having already secured the new series award as the road course king, the Aussie did what he does best, take the lead and keep it. He did have a bit of help from his Team Penske crew with great work in the pits.

"I really like leading. I always have. Whenever I lead, I'm always able to pull a gap, be very aware of saving my tires, saving more fuel," Power said. "I'm a driver; of course I love to be out front. It is good for me. I can't stand being behind someone getting held up."

Except for the two laps tha Dario Franchitti held the lead, it was all Power from the start to the checkered flag. Pole winner Franchitti and his teammate Scott Dixon were in the hunt for the 75 laps of action but in the end, Power was .7432 of a second ahead of the Kiwi to take the honors, along with increasing his points lead. Power now has 514 to Franchitti's 455. Dixon sits third with 419.

"All in all, you know, for Team Target it was a good day. To be in the top three, both, was pretty big," Dixon said. "The tough decision for our side was what to do with Dario because obviously he's the closest in points to Will. We felt we were in a good position to maybe challenge Will and get close to him and maybe win the race and take some points away from him that way. We didn't have enough. Obviously, Will won the race. We probably didn't help Dario's chances in that. So that was probably the downside to today."

Franchitti said, "I think we passed Ryan in the pit stop sequence. They came on the radio and said Scotty was on reds. So I let him go because it would definitely suit me for him to go and pass Will. I let him go. He chased after him. The yellow came out. On the restart, I could see he was giving it everything he could to get past him.

"At that point on the blacks, I was just trying to stay ahead of Ryan who was on blacks behind me. I had nothing for the two guys in front. So, yeah, a little frustrated there. But one of those things," added the Scotsman.

The final four events are on ovals -- an arena that Power does not have the experience on while the two Chip Ganassi Racing drivers have proved their skills on while Power has yet to notch an oval win this year.

"We're confident going in (ovals)," said Dixon on the final four events. "We have to work together as a team, obviously finish 1-2 to try to overcome the points deficit at the moment."

Far more important to the Aussie is he won the one race that would not only give him the all-important edge for an excellent chance at taking the IndyCar title this year but he overcame the memories of last year's severe crash at the Infineon Raceway. During the first practice last year, Power was airlifted to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with compression fractures of his L2 and L4 vertebrae.

Today, he was standing on top of the world with the victory: "Unbelievable. I watched this race from the hospital bed last year. You know, I said it all year: I'm coming back to win this thing because I thought this track owes me after what happened."

Ryan Briscoe was fourth for the Penske team followed by teammate Helio Castroneves. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing's Justin Wilson was sixth with two of the Andretti Autosport racers behind him. Tony Kanaan edged out teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay for seventh. Rounding out the top 10 were Graham Rahal in one of the Newman/Haas Racing cars followed by Dale Coyne Racing's rookie Alex Lloyd.


Top-10 from Sonoma wine country.............
1} #12 Will Power, 75 laps
2} #9 Scott Dixon, -0.748 sec
3} #10 Dario Franchitti, -6.613 sec
4} #6 Ryan Briscoe, -7.860 sec
5} #3 Helio Castroneves, -10.459 sec
6} #22 Justin Wilson, -10.909 sec
7} #11 Tony Kanaan, -11.524 sec
8} #37 Ryan Hunter-Reay, -11.893 sec
9} #02 Graham Rahal, -17.501 sec
10}(R)#19 Alex Lloyd, -18.206 sec