Will Power Wins Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, Team Penske finishes 1-2-3

Photo by Lindi Bess

Today's IZOD IndyCar Series Grand Prix of Sonoma ended pretty much how it began. Will Power led most of the race with his teammates Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe not far behind him. This is the team's first 1-2-3 finish in 2011 and marks Power's 5th win of the season. Currently Dario Franchitti is leading the series in points, but with this race Power sits just 26 points out.

Will Power goes on the books with two wins in a row coming from the pole position at the Northern California track, having also won from the front in 2010. Dario Franchitti stepped up to fight Power on the final restart of the race, but the No.12 Penske Truck Rental car was just too fast.

During an interview following the race, Power was asked, "Have you ever been a part of a such a dominant team performance such as this one?" Power replied, "That is just the best weekend you could ever have. Team performance unbelievable. If it stays green you can almost guarantee that's how we'll finish. That's exactly what happened, Verizon, baby, back on top again!"

Congratulations to Will Power for his second win in a row at Infineon Raceway. Congratulations to the entire Penske organization for their exciting 1-2-3 start and 1-2-3 finish in today's race. If you'd like to learn more about Will Power and his Penske teammates, see the one-on-one interviews done by Skirts and Scuffs' own Northern California correspondent Lindi Bess, currently running on the website.

Race statistics: 
End of Lap 75: Time of Race: 01:47:29.7619 
Avg Speed: 96.408 
Lead Changes: 4 
Caution Laps: 3

Fastest Lap: 102.584 mph ( 80.8194 sec) on lap 2 by 12 - Will Power
Lap Leaders: 1-25 Power, 26-27 Briscoe, 28-49 Power, 50-51 Briscoe, 52-75 Power

Order of finish: 

1. Will Power, Team Penske
2. Helio Castroneves, Team Penske
3. Ryan Briscoe, Team Penske
4. Dario Franchitti, Ganassi Racing
5. Scott Dixon, Ganassi Racing
6. Sebastien Bourdais, Dale Coyne Racing
7. James Hinchcliffe, Newman/Haas Racing
8. Graham Rahal, Ganassi Racing
9. E.J. Viso, KV Racing Technology
10. Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
11. Oriol Servia, Newman/Haas Racing
12. Martin Plowman, Schmidt/AFS Racing
13. Ana Beatriz, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
14. Sebastian Saavedra, Conquest Racing
15. Simon Pagenaud, HVM Racing
16. Mike Conway, Andretti Autosport
17. Giorgio Pantano, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
18. Takuma Sato, KV Racing Technology
19. James Jakes, Dale Coyne Racing
20. Alex Tagliani, Sam Schmidt Motorsports
21. Danica Patrick, Andretti Autosport
22. Vitor Meira, A.J. Foyt Racing
23. J.R. Hildebrand, Panther Racing
24. Marco Andretti, Andretti Autosport
25. Ed Carpenter, Sarah Fisher Racing
26. Charlie Kimball, Ganassi Racing
27. Ho-Pin Tung, Schmidt/Dragon Racing
28. Tony Kanaan, KV Racing Technology