Dixon wins Sonoma, Power carries championship lead into finale

[Source: INDYCAR press release]

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SONOMA, Calif. (Sunday, Aug. 24, 2014) – Scott Dixon overtook race leader Mike Conway on Lap 83 of 85 en route to a dramatic victory Sunday in the GoPro Grand Prix at Sonoma Raceway. The win was the 35th of Dixon’s Indy car career, putting him in a tie for fifth place on the all-time Indy car victory list with three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Unser.

Dixon, who started third in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car, led Ryan Hunter-Reay across the finish line by 1.1359 seconds. Simon Pagenaud finished third after overtaking Conway, whose No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing car ran out of fuel and coasted across the finish line for a 14th-place finish.

Pagenaud, who started 15th in the No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports car, joins Team Penske teammates Will Power and Helio Castroneves as drivers eligible for the Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Dixon remain championship eligible, but will be eliminated if Power participates in Friday practice at Auto Club Speedway, which would assure the Team Penske driver half points for the weekend.

Power takes a lead of 51 points over Castroneves and 81 points over Pagenaud to the two-mile Auto Club Speedway oval for the season-closing MAVTV 500 on Aug. 30. A total of 104 points are available in the final round of the Triple Crown series.

Power, who started on the pole and led a field-high 33 laps in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, was scored 10th after rebounding from a spin on Lap 40 that cost him eight positions to 20th.

“It took me by surprise when I spun. That’s just racing,” Power said. “I would have liked to have had a better finish, but the Verizon Chevy team will look to Fontana working towards the championship.”

Castroneves, whose No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske car was involved in contact on Laps 1 and 36, finished 18th. He entered the race 40 points behind Power.

“This is just big for our team,” said Dixon. “It was tough because there were so many fuel strategies going on and they were just slightly off. I didn’t know who could make it and who couldn’t.”

Takuma Sato, who started 20th in the No. 14 ABC Supply A.J. Foyt Racing car, finished a season-high fourth and Juan Pablo Montoya was fifth in the No. 2 Verizon Team Penske entry.

Twenty cars finished on the lead lap, tying a season high set in the Indianapolis 500. The 10 lead changes were the most for a Verizon IndyCar Series race at Sonoma Raceway.

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GOPRO GRAND PRIX OF SONOMA POST-RACE NOTES:
· This is Scott Dixon’s second win of 2014 and his 35th career Indy car win. Dixon, the active leader in wins, is tied with Bobby Unser for fifth on the all-time wins list
· This is Dixon’s second win at Mid-Ohio. He also won here in 2007.
· This is Chip Ganassi Racing’s third win at Sonoma. The team won here in 2007 with Dixon and 2009 with Dario Franchitti.
· Ryan Hunter-Reay finished second. It is his sixth podium finish of the season and best finish at Sonoma. His previous best was sixth in 2013.
· Simon Pagenaud finished third, his third podium finish of the season and best finish at Sonoma. His previous best finish was fifth last year.

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NEXT PAGE: Quotes from much of the field for the 2014 GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma