Jack Harvey Wins Race But Gabby Chaves Wins 2014 Indy Lights Title

Most years, four victories and finishing every race in the top five is enough to win the Indy Lights title. Unfortunately this wasn't most years for Jack Harvey. Harvey won his fourth race in the 2014 season and swept the weekend at Sonoma but will finish second in the championship to Gabby Chaves on the second tiebreaker. Both Harvey and Chaves ended with 547 points and four victories but Chaves wins the title with five second place finishes to Harvey's one.

Harvey led every lap and scored fastest lap on his way to victory with Chaves finishing second. It was a dominating victory for Harvey with the Brit finishing 18.7018 seconds ahead of Chaves. Zach Veach finished third in the race and in the championship after holding off Luiz Razia in the closing laps. The defending Pro Mazda champion Matthew Brabham rounded out the top five. Veach finished 32.4914 seconds behind Harvey with Razia three-quarters of a second behind him and Brabham 36.5547 seconds back of Harvey. 

Ryan Phinny finished sixth, his best career finish in Indy Lights. Juan Piedrahita finished seventh. The Venezuelan was running third early in the race but fell back and ultimately lost a few more positions after contact with his teammate Juan Pablo García. Zack Meyer finished eighth ahead of García who finished a lap down. Scott Anderson had a mechanical failure end his race with nine laps to go.

Chaves' championship season ended with four victories, eleven podiums, eleven top fives, thirteen top tens, two pole positions, four fastest laps and leading the most laps on three occasions. 

Harvey ends 2014 with four wins, ten podiums, a perfect fourteen top fives in fourteen races, starting from pole four times with three fastest laps and leading the most laps four times. 

Veach finishes a career best third in the Indy Lights championship after three victories, nine podiums, eleven top fives, fourteen top tens, four pole positions, three fastest laps and leading the most laps twice. 

Chaves' championship is the first for Belardi Auto Racing and ends Schmidt Peterson Motorsports' streak of four consecutive championships. Chaves is the first Indy Lights champion from Colombian and first South American champion since Raphael Matos in 2008. 

Morning Warm-Up: Sonoma 2014

Will Power is going for his 4th victory in 2014 and is starting on his 4th pole position of 2014

For the fourth time in 2014, Will Power starts on pole position as the Australian looks to further secure his championship lead over his Team Penske teammate Hélio Castroneves. Power has finished first or second in the last four Sonoma races. He currently has a 40-point lead over Castroneves in the Verizon IndyCar Series championship standings after winning pole position. Josef Newgarden starts on the outside of row one for the third time in 2014. He started second at Texas and Mid-Ohio and was in contention for the victory at Mid-Ohio three weeks ago until a error in the pit lane cost him. Sonoma marks the 50th career start for Newgarden in IndyCar.

Scott Dixon starts third. The New Zealander has six consecutive top ten finishes as he sits sixth in the championship standings. James Hinchcliffe starts fourth. The Canadian has the third best average starting position amongst full-time drivers but has the fifteenth best average finish. The Canadian has two top tens in three Sonoma starts.

Ryan Briscoe starts fifth. The Australian has four Sonoma podiums and his last IndyCar victory came at Sonoma in 2012. The furthest back a winner has come from on the grid at Sonoma is fifth. Hélio Castroneves starts sixth. When the green flag falls, his gap to Power will increase from 40 points to 62 points. The Brazilian has four consecutive top ten finishes at Sonoma.

Sébastien Bourdais starts seventh. The Frenchman has two top tens in three Sonoma starts. He is joined on row four by 2005 Sonoma winner Tony Kanaan. The driver of the #10 Target Chevrolet has six top tens in nine Sonoma starts. Row five features Andretti Autosport drivers Carlos Muñoz and Ryan Hunter-Reay. This is Muñoz's first appearance at the track formerly known as Sears Point. Hunter-Reay is looking for his first career top five at Sonoma. He scored his best finish at the track came last year when he finished sixth.

Charlie Kimball starts eleventh. This is his best starting position on a road/street course this season. His previous best was thirteenth in Houston 2. Mikhail Aleshin will start on his outside of row six. Marco Andretti and Graham Rahal make it an all-American row seven. Andretti finished fourth last year after starting eleventh. It was his first top ten at Sonoma since his victory at the track in 2006. Sonoma marks the 150th career start for Andretti in IndyCar. Rahal has four top tens in six Sonoma starts.

Simon Pagenaud starts on the inside of row eight. The Frenchman trails Power by 92 points in the championship standings. When the green flag waves, Pagenaud's gap to Power will increase to 128 points. Justin Wilson will roll off from sixteenth on the grid. This is Wilson's sixth appearance at Sonoma and in each of his even starts he has started outside the top ten while on each of his odd starts he has started seventh. Wilson's worst Sonoma finish is eleventh and he finished second last year.

Mike Conway and Jack Hawksworth make it an all-British row nine. Conway's lone top tens this year are his two victories at Long Beach and Toronto. Hawksworth will be making his first appearance at Sonoma. Conway's and Hawksworth's average finish this year are 12.81 and 12.86 respectively. Juan Pablo Montoya starts nineteenth and he will be joined on row ten by Takuma Sato. This is the second time this season Montoya and Sato will start on the same row. The both started on row eight at Long Beach. In 59 Formula One Grand Prix the Colombian and Japanese driver both started in together they started on the same row once, the 2005 Canadian Grand Prix when Montoya started fifth and Sato started sixth.

The final row features Colombians Carlos Huertas and Sebastián Saavedra. Huertas' best finish since winning Houston 1 is fourteenth in Toronto 1. Saavedra's lone top ten this season was at the first California race this season, a ninth place finish at Long Beach. At Long Beach, all four Colombians finished in the top ten.

NBCSN's coverage of the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma begins at 4:00 p.m. ET with green flag at 4:40 p.m. ET.

Will Power Wins Fourth Career Sonoma Pole

Will Power won his fourth pole of 2014 at Sonoma

For the second consecutive race and fourth time in five Sonoma races, Will Power will lead the field to the green flag. Power broke the track record in the second round of qualifying with a 77.2393 and won pole position in the Firestone Fast Six with a 77.4126. Power improved his average starting position at Sonoma to 1.666 with that pole positions. He also increased his championship lead to 40 points over Hélio Castroneves with pole position.

For the third time in 2014, Josef Newgarden will start on the outside of row one. His other front row starts came at Texas and Mid-Ohio. Scott Dixon will start third. It will be the New Zealander's fourth consecutive top five start at Sonoma. James Hinchcliffe qualified fourth and the Canadian sits third in best average starting position amongst full-time drivers behind only Castroneves and Power. Ryan Briscoe qualified fifth, his fifth top five start of the season. Castroneves qualified sixth after his fastest lap in the final session was disallowed due to the Brazilian cutting the course.

Sébastien Bourdais qualified seventh after missing the Firestone Fast Six session by 0.0432 seconds. Tony Kanaan followed the Frenchman. Andretti Autosport teammates Carlos Muñoz and Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the top ten. Charlie Kimball qualified eleventh in what was his first and only appearance in the Fast Twelve in 2014. Mikhail Aleshin rounded out the top twelve.

Marco Andretti qualified thirteenth after missing out on round two by 0.0837 seconds to Aleshin. An incident between Aleshin and Andretti was reviewed after their group finished but no action was taken. Graham Rahal was fourteenth with Simon Pagenaud rounding out the top fifteen. Justin Wilson ended sixteenth followed by fellow Brits Mike Conway and Jack Hawksworth.

Juan Pablo Montoya was set to advance to the second round but had his fastest lap disallowed for cutting the course and ended up nineteenth. Takuma Sato rounded out the top twenty with Colombians Carlos Huertas and Sebastián Saavedra rounding out the field.

NBCSN's coverage of the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma begins at 4:00 p.m. ET with green flag at 4:40 p.m. ET.

Spencer Pigot Wins the Pro Mazda Championship, Jose Gutierrez Wins Season Finale

In what has to go down as one of the most dramatic weekends in junior American open-wheel racing history, saw a drive of a lifetime for a championship and a heartbreaking mechanical failure.

Mexican Jose Gutierrez won the season finale but it was the drive done by his teammate Spencer Pigot that got the California-native the Pro Mazda title after a massive first lap set back. Scott Hargrove held on to the lead on lap one with Pigot being spun by Hargrove's Cape Motorsports teammate Neil Alberico, dropping Pigot to last place.

Hargrove continued to lead while Pigot worked his way up to seventh place before a lap fourteen caution for Pigot's Juncos teammate Kyle Kaiser. On the restart, Hargrove suffered a mechanical failure that ended his race and gift wrapped the championship to Pigot.

Gutierrez led the final four laps on the way to victory, holding off Nicolas Costa. Shelby Blackstock finished third for his sixth podium of the season. Jack Aitken finished fourth in his lone weekend of the 2014 Pro Mazda season. Spencer Pigot managed to finish fifth ahead of Joey Bickers and Alex Keyes. Julia Ballario finished eighth with Canadians Garett Grist and Dalton Kellett rounding out the top ten.

Hargrove ended up in nineteenth with fastest lap as nothing more but a consolation prize. Hargrove was set to become the first Canadian to win the Pro Mazda title.

Pigot's championship comes after years of second fiddle. He finished second in the U.S. F2000 championship twice, to Finn Petri Suvanto in 2011 and by seven points to then-Cape Motorsports teammate American Matthew Brabham in 2012. In 2013, Pigot won one race in Pro Mazda and finished tied for third in the championship with Shelby Blackstock behind Brabham who set a Pro Mazda record for victories in a single season and Diego Ferreira.

Pigot's 2014 championship featured five victories, six podiums, eight top fives and thirteen top tens. Pigot started five races from pole position, scored seven fastest laps and led the most laps on six occasions.

Hargrove may have finished second in the championship but he is coming off a U.S. F2000 title and is currently leading the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Canada. His Pro Mazda season ends with three victories, ten podiums, eleven top fives and twelve top tens. Hargrove started on pole three times, scored four fastest laps and led the most laps on three occasions.

Juncos Racing picked up the title and won eight of fourteen races in 2014.

Castroneves and Chevrolet Lead Second Sonoma Practice

Hélio Castroneves led a Chevrolet 1-2 in IndyCar second practice

Second in the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series championship, Hélio Castroneves ended the second practice session from Sonoma Raceway on top of the timesheet. The Brazilian and winner of the 2008 Sonoma race ran a 78.6582. Ryan Briscoe was second, only 0.0338 seconds off his former Penske teammate and 2012 Sonoma winner. 

Ryan Hunter-Reay was quickest in the first session and was third in the second practice. Scott Dixon was fourth fastest, 0.3722 back of Castroneves and three-time Sonoma winner and current Verizon IndyCar Series championship leader Will Power rounded out the top five, 0.3788 seconds behind his teammate.

Sébastien Bourdais was sixth fastest with Josef Newgarden just under a half second back of Castroneves in seventh. Juan Pablo Montoya was eighth just ahead of Tony Kanaan in ninth. Marco Andretti rounded out the top ten, 0.6035 seconds back. Andretti's teammate Carlos Muñoz was the fastest rookie for the second consecutive session with the Colombian in eleventh. 

Charlie Kimball was just over three-quarters of a second back of Castroneves in twelfth. Third in the IndyCar championship Simon Pagenaud was thirteenth. Justin Wilson was fourteenth with Takuma Sato rounding out the top fifteen. Graham Rahal was sixteenth with Mike Conway the final car within the fastest lap of the session.

Sebastián Saavedra was eighteenth with James Hinchcliffe in nineteenth. Three rookies rounded out the session. Mikhail Aleshin was ahead of Carlos Huertas and Jack Hawksworth. The field was covered by 1.3330 seconds. Rahal, Conway and Huertas all ran a session-high 19 laps. Hunter-Reay ran a session-low 12 laps. 

IndyCar qualifying will be taking place at 7:35 p.m. ET. NBCSN will be covering qualifying live at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Florian Latorre Wins 2014 U.S. F2000 Title

It appeared the Frenchman Florian Latorre was going to have the title slip from his grasp. Despite starting on pole after a retirement in race one from Sonoma, Latorre lost the lead off the start to second in the championship R.C. Enerson.

A full-course caution on the opening lap for an accident between Peter Portante and Daniel Burkett allowed Enerson to get another good jump on the restart and he opened a healthy gap between him and the Frenchman. The two drivers swapped fastest lap before Latorre took control of that bonus point. Enerson would then lock up the bonus point for most laps led. On lap eleven, Enerson had a half second lead before what had to be a mistake dropped him to second and vaulted Latorre into the lead and back in control of the championship.

Latorre would reset fastest lap one more time on his way to his third victory of 2014 and winning the championship over the American Enerson. Jake Eidson finished third and will end up third in the championship. Aaron Telitz finished fourth with Norwegian Henrik Furuseth in fifth.

Adrain Starrantino jumped up five positions to sixth, as did Clark Toppe from twelfth to seventh and Nico Jamin from thirteenth to eighth. Colton Herta finished ninth with Dutchman Jeroen Slaghekke rounding out the top ten in the final race of 2014.

Victor Franzoni was running sixth before a mechanical issue with two laps to go ended the Brazilians day.

Latorre claims the 2014 U.S. F2000 championship with three victories, eight podiums, eleven top fives and thirteen top tens along with six pole positions, four fastest laps and leading the most laps on three occasions.

Enerson will finished second with a drivetrain failure in Toronto 2 taking a sure win away from him. Enerson ends 2014 with the most wins in U.S. F2000 with five victories, nine podiums, nine top fives, twelve top tens with two fastest laps and leading the most laps on eight occasions.

Eidson ends 2014 third in the championship with a pair of victories, eight podiums, ten top fives and finishing in the top ten in every race in 2014. Eidson's lone fastest lap came in his Mid-Ohio victory and led the most laps once.

Latorre's title comes a year after finishing sixth in his first season in U.S. F2000 and winning the Belgian KF3 Junior karting championship. He is the first Frenchman to win the U.S. F2000 title. It is Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing's third consecutive title coming after Matthew Brabaham in 2012 and Scott Hargrove in 2013.

Hunter-Reay Leads First Practice From Wine Country

After a disastrous weekend at Milwaukee, Ryan Hunter-Reay started Sonoma off on the right foot being fastest in IndyCar first practice. The American ran a 77.7150 second lap and a session-tying low eight laps. Second fastest and also running a session-tying low eight laps was Scott Dixon. The New Zealander was 0.1840 seconds off the #28 DHL Honda.

Following Dixon was his Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate and 2005 Sonoma winner Tony Kanaan. The Brazilian was 0.4745 seconds back of his former Andretti Autosport teammate. Team Penske driver and past Sonoma winners Hélio Castroneves and Will Power rounded out the top five Current Ganassi driver, former Penske driver and 2012 Sonoma winner Ryan Briscoe was sixth quickest, 0.6913 seconds back. 

James Hinchcliffe was seventh fastest, trailing his teammate by 0.8070 seconds. Josef Newgarden was eighth quickest just 0.0196 seconds behind his fellow Honda driver Hinchcliffe. Sébastien Bourdais was ninth fastest with Marco Andretti rounding out the top ten, 0.8598 seconds back of Hunter-Reay.

Charlie Kimball was eleventh, 1.0131 seconds back followed by Juan Pablo Montoya in twelfth. Takuma Sato was thirteenth fastest, 0.0121 seconds ahead of the fastest rookie in the first practice, Carlos Muñoz. Justin Wilson rounded out the top fifteen, 1.2441 seconds back of the quickest time of the session. Simon Pagenaud was sixteenth and a had an off during the session. 

Graham Rahal was seventeenth, only 0.0060 seconds behind the Frenchman. Mikhail Aleshin was eighteenth quickest, 1.5531 seconds behind Hunter-Reay. Sebastián Saavedra was nineteenth with Mike Conway rounding out the top twenty. Conway also had an excursion off course. Rookies Jack Hawksworth and Carlos Huertas were the final two drivers on the timesheet. The Brit was 1.9941 seconds off of Hunter-Reay with the field covered by 2.2582 seconds. Conway and Huertas ran a session-high eighteen laps.

IndyCar second practice will take place at 4:15 p.m. ET with qualifying scheduled for 7:35 p.m. ET. NBCSN will be carrying live coverage of IndyCar qualifying at 7:30 p.m. ET.