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| IndyCar heads to Northern California where the girls are warm. |
Coverage
Time: Coverage begins Sunday August 24 at 4:00 p.m. ET with green flag at 4:40 p.m. ET.
TV Channel: NBCSN
Announcers: Brian Till, (Leigh Diffey is on Formula One duty), Paul Tracy and making his IndyCar booth debut, Sam Hornish, Jr. (Townsend Bell is on IMSA duty at Virginia International Raceway). Kevin Lee, Kelli Stavast, Marty Snider and Robin Miller will be on the pit lane.
Time: Coverage begins Sunday August 24 at 4:00 p.m. ET with green flag at 4:40 p.m. ET.
TV Channel: NBCSN
Announcers: Brian Till, (Leigh Diffey is on Formula One duty), Paul Tracy and making his IndyCar booth debut, Sam Hornish, Jr. (Townsend Bell is on IMSA duty at Virginia International Raceway). Kevin Lee, Kelli Stavast, Marty Snider and Robin Miller will be on the pit lane.
Championship Contenders at Sonoma
Will Power leads all drivers with three victories at Sonoma, all coming after an accident at the track with Nelson Phillipe fractured two vertebra in 2009. Outside of a 25th place finish in his first Sonoma start in 2008, Power's worst finish is second in 2012 to his then-teammate and fellow Australian Ryan Briscoe. Power's average starting position in five Sonoma starts is 1.8. He has led 217 laps at Sonoma.
Hélio Castroneves won at Sonoma in 2008 and has three podiums, five top fives and seven top tens in ten Sonoma starts. The Brazilian has started in the top ten for every Sonoma race with an average starting position of 2.6. Amazingly, Castroneves has not led at Sonoma since taking the checkered flag in 2008 and all 51 laps he has led at Sonoma were in that 2008 victory.
Simon Pagenaud will be making his fourth career start at Sonoma and he has improved each year. After fifteenth in 2011, substituting for Simona de Silvestro after visa issues kept her from re-entering the United States the Frenchman finished seventh in 2012 and fifth last year.
Ryan Hunter-Reay is still looking for his first career top five at Sonoma. In seven starts, Hunter-Reay's best finish is sixth, which came last year and has three top tens. However, the 2012 IndyCar champion has finished eighteenth three times, each coming after starting on row four and his worst finish in Wine Country is nineteenth.
Juan Pablo Montoya will be making his first career IndyCar start at Sonoma. Montoya's first career NASCAR Cup Series victory came at Sonoma in 2007. He had four top tens in seven NASCAR starts at Sonoma while he finished thirty-fourth in his final two appearances at the track.
Scott Dixon is the final driver mathematically eligible for the title but has to win this weekend to stay alive. The New Zealander won in 2007 and led the most laps last year before being penalized for contact with a pit crew member from the #12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Dixon's average finish at Sonoma is eighth and his average starting position is 5.333.
The magic number is 88. If a driver wants to be mathematically eligible for the championship heading into the double points season finale at Fontana they are going to have to be within 88 points of the championship leader, barring additional entries for the season finale, which could increase the magic number.
Who Can Knock Off The Big Three?
Since returning to the IndyCar schedule in 2005, Sonoma Raceway has been dominated by Team Penske, Ganassi Racing and Andretti Autosport. Each team has multiple wins at the track with Penske leading the way at five victories to two apiece for Ganassi and Andretti.
Simon Pagenaud should be near the top of the list of drivers that could dethrone the Big Three. As mentioned above, the Frenchman has improved each year he has gone to Sonoma. Currently, third in the championship and needing to keep his title hopes alive, Pagenaud has two victories this season, both coming on road/street courses at the IMS road course and Houston.
Mike Conway has won two races this season with Ed Carpenter's win at Texas making it a banner year for the team that bares his namesake. While Conway has two victories, he has no top ten finishes outside of those wins with his next best finish being thirteenth. Conway's first career podium came at Sonoma in 2009 but has finished fourteenth and sixteenth in his other two Sonoma starts.
Josef Newgarden has had great races in 2014 with a few respectable finishes but has had things out of his control hamper his third season in IndyCar. The Tennessee-native was in contention for victory at Long Beach before an accident with Ryan Hunter-Reay end their days along with James Hinchcliffe, Tony Kanaan and Takuma Sato. He led late at Pocono before needing to pit for fuel while made the right call to get fresh tires late at Iowa vault him to second. Newgarden was in contention for another victory at Mid-Ohio before a poor pit stop ruined his teams afternoon. He is coming off a top five at Milwaukee but has finished twenty-third and twenty-fourth in his two Sonoma starts.
Justin Wilson finished second last year at Sonoma and has four top tens in five starts with his worst Sonoma finish being eleventh. After finishing on the cusp of a top five in the championship and racking up four podiums and seven top fives in 2013, the Sheffield-native is fourteenth in championship, has yet to stand on the podium with his fourth place finish at Belle Isle 1 being his lone top five of 2014 to date.
Road to Indy
If you would like to catch up on any of the Road to Indy championship battles, check out the championship previews as Sonoma marks the final weekend for U.S. F2000, Pro Mazda and Indy Lights.
At a glance, Indy Lights is a three-horse race between Gabby Chaves, Zach Veach and Jack Harvey. The Colombian leads by seven points and twenty-three over the American and Brit respectively. To remain eligible for the title going into the final race, a driver will have to be within 33 points of the leader. Chaves currently holds the tiebreaker over Veach and Harvey with four victories to three and two respectively.
In Pro Mazda, it is a two-horse race between Spencer Pigot and Scott Hargrove. The American Pigot leads the Canadian Hargrove by 19 points and owns the tiebreaker with six victories to Hargrove's three with two races remaining. To remain eligible for the title going into the final race, a driver will have to be within 32 points of the leader.
Finally, in U.S. F2000, Frenchman Florian Latorre is 30 points clear of American Jake Eidson and 33 clear of R.C. Enerson with two races remaining. Enerson has the most wins this season with four to the two for both Latorre and Eidson. Like in Pro Mazda, to remain eligible for the title going into the final race, a driver will have to be within 32 points of the leader.
The U.S. F2000 races will take place Friday at 6:20 p.m. ET and Saturday at 2:05 p.m. ET.
The Pro Mazda races will take place Friday at 7:20 p.m. ET and Saturday at 6:40 p.m. ET.
The Indy Lights races will take place Saturday at 3:15 p.m. ET and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Pirelli World Challenge
The penultimate round for the Pirelli World Challenge GT classes take place this weekend. The doubleheader will feature race one on Saturday at 5:35 p.m. ET and race two on Sunday at 7:40 p.m. ET.
In GT, Ryan Dalziel swept the weekend at Mid-Ohio three weeks ago. Cadillac's Johnny O'Connell leads Mike Skeen by 82 points as the Georgia-native is looking for his second consecutive title. Anthony Lazzaro and Andrew Palmer are tied for third in the championship, 189 points back of O'Connell with Cadillac bookending the top five with Andy Pilgrim trailing his teammate by 198 points.
Last year, Pilgrim won his first and only race in 2013 at Sonoma with Duncan Ende finishing second and James Sofronas in third. O'Connell finished twelfth.
Dyson Racing will run two Bentleys, one with Butch Leitzinger behind the wheel. Leitzinger has competed every round since Road America in June. Guy Smith will make his PWC debut in the second Bentley. Smith won the 2003 24 Hours of Le Mans driving for Bentley with Tom Kristensen and Rinadlo Capello as his co-drivers and won the 2011 American Le Mans Series LMP1 title with Chris Dyson. Alex Lloyd will return driving the #12 CRP Racing Corvette. Peter Cunningham returns for the second event in the Acura TLX-GT. The Racer's Group team owner Kevin Buckler was schedule to compete an Aston Martin GT3 at Sonoma this weekend but will be replaced by Dane Christina Nielsen.
Mark Wilkins continues to lead in GTS with a 143 advantage over his Kia teammate Nic Jönsson. Defending GTS champion Lawson Aschenbach is third, 164 back after sweeping the Mid-Ohio weekend. Dean Martin is fourth, 180 behind Wilkins with Jack Baldwin rounding out the top five, 294 points back. Last year, Brandon Davis won in an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 with the Camaro's of Andy Lee and Lawson Aschenbach rounding out the podium.
Fun Facts
This will be the first race on August 24th since 2008 when Hélio Castroneves won at Sonoma. Castroneves is tied with Rex Mays and Ted Horn for most wins on August 24th at two. Mays won at Springfield on August 24, 1940 and won at Milwaukee on August 24, 1941. Horn won on August 24, 1946 at Hamburg, New York and on August 24, 1947 he won at Milwaukee. Castroneves' other victory on August 24th was at Nazareth in 2003.
The pole-sitter has won at Sonoma on four occasions with the most recent being Will Power in 2011.
The furthest back on the grid a winner has from at Sonoma is fifth when Scott Dixon won in 2007.
In ten IndyCar races at Sonoma, the average amount of lead changes is 4.7.
Last year's IndyCar race set a Sonoma race record for most full course cautions at seven for 21 laps. The average amount of cautions at Sonoma is 2.7 for an average of 8.3 laps.
In nine Indy Lights races at Sonoma, there has only been two lead changes. Alex Lloyd went from fifth to first in nine laps and passed Bobby Wilson for the lead on way to victory in the first of two races in 2006. The other lead change was in the second race in 2007 when Richard Antinucci passed Ryan Justice to lead the final 12 laps. The second race in 2007 is the only caution-free Indy Lights race to occur at Sonoma.
Chevrolet has won four consecutive races, the longest streak for a manufacture this season.
If Carlos Muñoz outscores Mikhail Aleshin by two points at Sonoma and does not concede 15 points to Jack Hawksworth, he will clinch the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Rookie of the Year honor with one event to go.
More facts can always be found at the Telemetry Center.
Predictions
Sonoma will serve as the preparation for a coronation ceremony for Will Power. A fourth victory for the Australian in Wine Country with Simon Pagenaud breathing down his neck. Ryan Hunter-Reay will recover after a poor Milwaukee weekend and get a podium. Ryan Briscoe will be the top finish Ganassi entry. Mike Conway will not get a top ten but Josef Newgarden will. Carlos Muñoz will be the top finishing rookie and lock up Rookie of the Year. Sleeper: Graham Rahal.
Since returning to the IndyCar schedule in 2005, Sonoma Raceway has been dominated by Team Penske, Ganassi Racing and Andretti Autosport. Each team has multiple wins at the track with Penske leading the way at five victories to two apiece for Ganassi and Andretti.
Simon Pagenaud should be near the top of the list of drivers that could dethrone the Big Three. As mentioned above, the Frenchman has improved each year he has gone to Sonoma. Currently, third in the championship and needing to keep his title hopes alive, Pagenaud has two victories this season, both coming on road/street courses at the IMS road course and Houston.
Mike Conway has won two races this season with Ed Carpenter's win at Texas making it a banner year for the team that bares his namesake. While Conway has two victories, he has no top ten finishes outside of those wins with his next best finish being thirteenth. Conway's first career podium came at Sonoma in 2009 but has finished fourteenth and sixteenth in his other two Sonoma starts.
Josef Newgarden has had great races in 2014 with a few respectable finishes but has had things out of his control hamper his third season in IndyCar. The Tennessee-native was in contention for victory at Long Beach before an accident with Ryan Hunter-Reay end their days along with James Hinchcliffe, Tony Kanaan and Takuma Sato. He led late at Pocono before needing to pit for fuel while made the right call to get fresh tires late at Iowa vault him to second. Newgarden was in contention for another victory at Mid-Ohio before a poor pit stop ruined his teams afternoon. He is coming off a top five at Milwaukee but has finished twenty-third and twenty-fourth in his two Sonoma starts.
Justin Wilson finished second last year at Sonoma and has four top tens in five starts with his worst Sonoma finish being eleventh. After finishing on the cusp of a top five in the championship and racking up four podiums and seven top fives in 2013, the Sheffield-native is fourteenth in championship, has yet to stand on the podium with his fourth place finish at Belle Isle 1 being his lone top five of 2014 to date.
Road to Indy
If you would like to catch up on any of the Road to Indy championship battles, check out the championship previews as Sonoma marks the final weekend for U.S. F2000, Pro Mazda and Indy Lights.
At a glance, Indy Lights is a three-horse race between Gabby Chaves, Zach Veach and Jack Harvey. The Colombian leads by seven points and twenty-three over the American and Brit respectively. To remain eligible for the title going into the final race, a driver will have to be within 33 points of the leader. Chaves currently holds the tiebreaker over Veach and Harvey with four victories to three and two respectively.
In Pro Mazda, it is a two-horse race between Spencer Pigot and Scott Hargrove. The American Pigot leads the Canadian Hargrove by 19 points and owns the tiebreaker with six victories to Hargrove's three with two races remaining. To remain eligible for the title going into the final race, a driver will have to be within 32 points of the leader.
Finally, in U.S. F2000, Frenchman Florian Latorre is 30 points clear of American Jake Eidson and 33 clear of R.C. Enerson with two races remaining. Enerson has the most wins this season with four to the two for both Latorre and Eidson. Like in Pro Mazda, to remain eligible for the title going into the final race, a driver will have to be within 32 points of the leader.
The U.S. F2000 races will take place Friday at 6:20 p.m. ET and Saturday at 2:05 p.m. ET.
The Pro Mazda races will take place Friday at 7:20 p.m. ET and Saturday at 6:40 p.m. ET.
The Indy Lights races will take place Saturday at 3:15 p.m. ET and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Pirelli World Challenge
The penultimate round for the Pirelli World Challenge GT classes take place this weekend. The doubleheader will feature race one on Saturday at 5:35 p.m. ET and race two on Sunday at 7:40 p.m. ET.
In GT, Ryan Dalziel swept the weekend at Mid-Ohio three weeks ago. Cadillac's Johnny O'Connell leads Mike Skeen by 82 points as the Georgia-native is looking for his second consecutive title. Anthony Lazzaro and Andrew Palmer are tied for third in the championship, 189 points back of O'Connell with Cadillac bookending the top five with Andy Pilgrim trailing his teammate by 198 points.
Last year, Pilgrim won his first and only race in 2013 at Sonoma with Duncan Ende finishing second and James Sofronas in third. O'Connell finished twelfth.
Dyson Racing will run two Bentleys, one with Butch Leitzinger behind the wheel. Leitzinger has competed every round since Road America in June. Guy Smith will make his PWC debut in the second Bentley. Smith won the 2003 24 Hours of Le Mans driving for Bentley with Tom Kristensen and Rinadlo Capello as his co-drivers and won the 2011 American Le Mans Series LMP1 title with Chris Dyson. Alex Lloyd will return driving the #12 CRP Racing Corvette. Peter Cunningham returns for the second event in the Acura TLX-GT. The Racer's Group team owner Kevin Buckler was schedule to compete an Aston Martin GT3 at Sonoma this weekend but will be replaced by Dane Christina Nielsen.
Mark Wilkins continues to lead in GTS with a 143 advantage over his Kia teammate Nic Jönsson. Defending GTS champion Lawson Aschenbach is third, 164 back after sweeping the Mid-Ohio weekend. Dean Martin is fourth, 180 behind Wilkins with Jack Baldwin rounding out the top five, 294 points back. Last year, Brandon Davis won in an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 with the Camaro's of Andy Lee and Lawson Aschenbach rounding out the podium.
Fun Facts
This will be the first race on August 24th since 2008 when Hélio Castroneves won at Sonoma. Castroneves is tied with Rex Mays and Ted Horn for most wins on August 24th at two. Mays won at Springfield on August 24, 1940 and won at Milwaukee on August 24, 1941. Horn won on August 24, 1946 at Hamburg, New York and on August 24, 1947 he won at Milwaukee. Castroneves' other victory on August 24th was at Nazareth in 2003.
The pole-sitter has won at Sonoma on four occasions with the most recent being Will Power in 2011.
The furthest back on the grid a winner has from at Sonoma is fifth when Scott Dixon won in 2007.
In ten IndyCar races at Sonoma, the average amount of lead changes is 4.7.
Last year's IndyCar race set a Sonoma race record for most full course cautions at seven for 21 laps. The average amount of cautions at Sonoma is 2.7 for an average of 8.3 laps.
In nine Indy Lights races at Sonoma, there has only been two lead changes. Alex Lloyd went from fifth to first in nine laps and passed Bobby Wilson for the lead on way to victory in the first of two races in 2006. The other lead change was in the second race in 2007 when Richard Antinucci passed Ryan Justice to lead the final 12 laps. The second race in 2007 is the only caution-free Indy Lights race to occur at Sonoma.
Chevrolet has won four consecutive races, the longest streak for a manufacture this season.
If Carlos Muñoz outscores Mikhail Aleshin by two points at Sonoma and does not concede 15 points to Jack Hawksworth, he will clinch the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Rookie of the Year honor with one event to go.
More facts can always be found at the Telemetry Center.
Predictions
Sonoma will serve as the preparation for a coronation ceremony for Will Power. A fourth victory for the Australian in Wine Country with Simon Pagenaud breathing down his neck. Ryan Hunter-Reay will recover after a poor Milwaukee weekend and get a podium. Ryan Briscoe will be the top finish Ganassi entry. Mike Conway will not get a top ten but Josef Newgarden will. Carlos Muñoz will be the top finishing rookie and lock up Rookie of the Year. Sleeper: Graham Rahal.
