GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma Tag

By INDYCAR SONOMA, California (Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017) – For Team Penske, it was the perfect day at the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. Simon Pagenaud won the race to conclude the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Teammate Josef Newgarden finished second to wrap up the championship. Pagenaud, the 2016 champion driving the No. 1 DXC Technology Team Penske Chevrolet, beat Newgarden to the finish line by 1.0986 seconds to win the 85-lap race at Sonoma Raceway. It was the Frenchman’s 11th career victory and second straight on the 2.385-mile,Read More

By INDYCAR SONOMA, California (Friday, September 15, 2017) – Championship leader Josef Newgarden led both practice sessions on the opening day of GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma activities as the Team Penske driver looks to close in on his first Verizon IndyCar Series title. Holding a slim three-point lead entering the 2017 season-finale weekend at Sonoma Raceway, Newgarden’s fast lap in the second 45-minute practice — 1 minute, 16.2485 seconds (112.605 mph) — was under the track record established last year by teammate Simon Pagenaud. Newgarden also paced the morning session withRead More

By INDYCAR SONOMA, California (Thursday, September 14, 2017) – Drivers chasing points leader Josef Newgarden took full advantage of today’s Verizon IndyCar Series open test at Sonoma Raceway to prepare for Sunday’s season finale, the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. Six hours of on-track action split into two sessions found reigning series champion Simon Pagenaud atop the time sheet at the end of the day. The driver of the No. 1 DXC Technology Team Penske Chevrolet clocked the best lap late in the four-hour afternoon session, at 1 minute, 16.6511Read More

By Conor Daly, Verizon IndyCar Series Driver I can’t believe the season has already come to an end. It went by so fast, especially the last couple of months. I really didn’t want it to end. The last race of the season didn’t really go the way we wanted it to. It was unfortunate that our worst races this year were on the double points weekends in Sonoma and Indianapolis. That cost us a chance at the Rookie of the Year title. Of course with Rossi winning the Indy 500,Read More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter SONOMA, Calif. – Simon Pagenaud capped off a perfect weekend as he takes his first Verizon IndyCar Series championship along with a dominating win in Sunday’s GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. Pagenaud used his pole position qualifying effort to his advantage and took command of the race early with teammate Helio Castroneves tailing him while Will Power steadily moved into third place. Power managed to move into second place following the first round of pitstops and started to slowly pick up some time on PagenaudRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter SONOMA, Calif. – The Verizon IndyCar Series championship battle between Team Penske teammates Will Power and Simon Pagenaud features two hungry drivers trying to solidify their place in Indy car racing history. Both combatants have had opposite seasons which has led them to this point. Pagenaud has been the man to beat the entire season, taking the points lead after the Phoenix Grand Prix in April and held the lead ever since. He has scored four wins, including three in-a-row at Long Beach, Barber and the GrandRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief SONOMA, Calif. – Helio Castroneves nearly found the top spot in Firestone Fast Six qualifying on Saturday at Sonoma Raceway, but his chance at starting on pole for Sunday’s GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma evaporated at the hands of Team Penske teammate and Verizon IndyCar Series championship leader Simon Pagenaud. The 41-year-old Brazilian, who will start second, has witnessed firsthand the dominance that Pagenaud has displayed – scoring what is now seven poles to match seven podiums and four wins. Castroneves, driver of the No. 3Read More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter SONOMA, Calif. – Simon Pagenaud’s championship battle will get a little bit easier as he captured his seventh pole of the season for Sunday’s GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway. and led a Team Penske sweep of the front two rows. The Frenchman initially reset the track record in the first qualifying group and set another fast time in Q2 to prepare himself for the Firestone Fast Six. He then bided his time during the six minute pole-determining session while his rivals took to theRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter SONOMA, Calif. — Marco Andretti paced the final practice leading up to today’s qualifying session for tomorrow’s Go Pro Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway. The Andretti Autosport driver set the quickest lap of the weekend at 1:16.3052 on his fifth lap of the session. His lap was just five one-hundreths of a second off the track record set by Will Power last year. Andretti led Team Penske’s Juan Pablo Montoya, who was just .0704s shy of Andretti’s quickest time. Andretti Autosport cars faredRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter SONOMA, Calif. — Helio Castroneves was the man to beat in both practices for Sunday’s GoPro Grand Prix at Sonoma Raceway. The 2008 Sonoma winner set the fastest lap of the day during the afternoon session, setting a flying lap of 1:16.6678. “The Hitachi Chevrolet is dialed in,” said Castroneves. “When we left here on Thursday, we felt confident and we tried a lot of bits and I guess it paid off. Today is just a continuation of what we finished that day and it seemedRead More