Go Pro Grand Prix of Sonoma
TV: NBCSN telecasts the race live (4 p.m. ET) Brian Till is the lead announcer, with Sam Hornish Jr. and Paul Tracy as analysts.
Radio/web: All Verizon IndyCar Series on-track sessions are broadcast on www.IndyCar.com and the INDYCAR 14 app in conjunction with real-time Timing & Scoring. In addition, the race will be broadcast on IMS Radio Network affiliates, XM 209 and Sirius 213 (4 p.m. ET). Paul Page is the lead announcer.
Twitter: @RaceSonoma, @IndyCar, #GoProGrandPrix
Click it: Starting lineup || Qualifying results
Weather forecast: Clear skies with temperatures in the low 80s (F).
Race laps: 85 on 2.385-mile, 12-turn road course (202.73 miles)
Fuel: 67 U.S. gallons of E85. Three pits stops were the norm in the 2013 race, with the first for most entrants between Laps 18-24. Varying fuel strategies will be employed by teams -- some precipitated by yellow flags.
Engines, push to pass: 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged V6s supplied by Chevrolet and Honda ... 150 kPa turbo boost for ovals. Drivers have 10 pushes for 15 seconds each of extra turbo boost available during the race.
Morning warm-up: Scott Dixon posted the quickest lap (1:19.0566) in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car.
Verizon P1 Award: Will Power reset the track record in Round 1 of qualifications and went on to earn the pole for the fourth time this season and at the track. He'll be joined on the front row by Josef Newgarden of Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, who tied his career best on a road/street course set at Mid-Ohio earlier in the month. ... Power has three victories and a runner-up finish in the past four races at Sonoma Raceway. He's started each race no lower than third.
“It’s definitely less pressure starting up front just for the fact that you’re not in and amongst the action," Power said. "So, I feel it is a track-position race. It has been in the past. Unless something strange happens with strategy, it’s putting ourselves in the best possible position to win the race and that’s definitely the goal.”
Championship implications: Power earned a bonus point for the Verizon P1 Award and takes a 40-point advantage over Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves into the penultimate race of the season. Six drivers are eligible for the title, but any who leave Sonoma 88 points out of first will be eliminated. The 250-lap finale, the MAVTV 500 at the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway oval, is Aug. 30.
2013: Power, who started third in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, led the final 16 laps to win by 1.19 seconds over Justin Wilson of Dale Coyne Racing. There were seven races leaders led by Scott Dixon with 27 laps led.
Of note: There have been 10 different winners and should an 11th emerge in the final two races it would tie the 2000 and 2001 CART seasons for most winners in a season. There also have been 20 different podium finishers. ... Pre-race entertainment includes the Patriot Jet Team air show. ... Graham Rahal will be wearing a special helmet designed by Daniel Cooper, a fifth-grader in Pennsylvania, who entry was selected by online voting sponsored by the Graham Rahal Foundation. The helmet will be auctioned after the race with proceeds benefiting the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation. ... There have been seven different winners in the nine Verizon IndyCar Series races at Sonoma. All nine race winners have started fifth or better. ... Three pole sitters have gone on to win the race. Tony Kanaan won the first race in 2005.