Where There's A Will, There's A Way For Sonoma IndyCar Winner Power

Will Power left Infineon Raceway in 2009 in an ambulance helicopter. He's left with the championship trophy after his past two visits to the Sonoma race track.

"This is just one of those tracks I seem to click with," Power said after Sunday's win in the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma. Power, who started from the pole, led teammates Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe to a 1-2-3 finish for Team Penske.

The track hasn't been clicking with hometown favorite J.R. Hildebrand, who was never able to dig his way out of the back of the pack and finished 23rd overall in the National Guard No. 4 Panther Racing entry.

"For us these days, we're all pretty serious competitors, so having fun depends a little on our going fast," the Redwood High School grad said. "But it's always fun to be back in the Bay Area. It's just a drag we didn't end up being able to put together a better weekend. We had high hopes coming into the weekend."

James Hinchcliffe finished seventh to take a huge bite out of Hildebrand's rookie points lead. Hildebrand's 17-point lead over his freshman rival was sliced to just three points. Hildebrand is sitting in 13th place, with Hinchcliffe 14th in the standings.

The Penske drivers have exchanged bumps and bruises this season, but were cautious not to knock each other out of Sunday's race as they battled for the lead. The rumor mill has been running full speed all season with some alleged friction between the drivers.

"The Team Penske sweep shows how strong our team is and I am really happy for us," Castroneves said. "I certainly wanted to win, but Will was in a class of his own today… I was really pushing it during the race and I thought with the help of traffic I may be able to gain on him… I was really excited to try a battle to the end with Will and I, but he had the upper hand today and I am happy for him."

Power led 71 of the 75 total laps to finish 3.2430 seconds ahead of Castroneves. Power also turned in the fast lap of the day (102.584 mph).

Sunday's race was relatively uneventful, with the only caution coming on Lap 66 when Chinese driver  Ho-Pin Tung's No. 88 Mouser.com Schmidt Dragon Racing car went rolling into the grass and had to be towed to the garages. No. 8 is supposed to be lucky in Chinese tradition, but it didn't work out for the rookie, who became the first Chinese driver to start an IndyCar race.

IndyCar Series points leader Dario Franchitti, who last won at Infineon in 2009, placed fourth. His Target Chip Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon rounded out the top five. Franchitti had better enjoy competition, because Power is giving him a lot of it. Power is just 26 points behind Franchitti with four races left. 

"You can only do your best. That's the same attitude I take every championship I've done," Franchitti said.

The series will see the aftermath of Hurricane Irene on the streets of Baltimore on Sept. 4 before heading to Motegi in Japan (Sept. 17). The scene shifts to Kentucky (Oct. 2) before wrapping up in Las Vegas (Oct. 16).

In other racing on Sunday, Patrick Long (Porsche) swept the weekend in the GT class for the SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge. Other winners were rookie Ben Crosland in GTS (Ford Mustang) and Aaron Povoledo in Touring Car (Volvo). 

San Rafael's Patrick O'Neill also made it a clean sweep, taking the win in the Formula Car Challenge main event. O'Neill also won the Formula Car Challenge race on Saturday. "I put the marks together and went for it," O'Neill said. "It's been a great weekend and I'm ready for a beer." 

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IZOD IndyCar Series Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma

SONOMA - Results Sunday of the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma IZOD IndyCar Series event on the 2.303-mile Infineon Raceway road course, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any): 

1.  (1) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running

2.  (2) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running

3.  (3) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running

4.  (4) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running

5.  (5) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running

6.  (8) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running

7.  (6) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running

8.  (13) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running

9.  (9) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running

10.  (19) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running

11.  (18) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running

12.  (15) Martin Plowman, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running

13.  (10) Ana Beatriz, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running

14.  (23) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running

15.  (22) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running

16.  (7) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running

17.  (11) Giorgio Pantano, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running

18.  (16) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 74, Running

19.  (17) James Jakes, Dallara-Honda, 74, Running

20.  (12) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 74, Running

21.  (25) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 74, Running

22.  (28) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 74, Running

23.  (20) JR Hildebrand, Dallara-Honda, 74, Running

24.  (14) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 74, Running

25.  (27) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 74, Running

26.  (26) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Honda, 66, Running

27.  (24) Ho-Pin Tung, Dallara-Honda, 63, Contact

28.  (21) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 38, Mechanical 

Race Statistics

Winner’s average speed: 96.408; Time of Race: 01:47:29.7619; Margin of victory: 3.2420 seconds; Cautions: 1 for 3 laps; Lead changes: 4 among 2 drivers; Lap Leaders: Power 1 – 25, Briscoe 26 – 27, Power 28 – 49, Briscoe 50 – 51, Power 52 - 75; Point Standings: Franchitti 475, Power 449, Dixon 400, Servia 327, Briscoe 312, Kanaan 305, Hunter-Reay 285, Andretti 282, Castroneves 277, Rahal 264.