IndyCar wraps up road/street course schedule at Sonoma

Autoracing Betting Lines

08/17/2010 - Sonoma, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: IZOD IndyCar. Date: Sunday, August 22. Race: Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma. Site: Infineon Raceway. Track: 2.303-mile, 12-turn road course. Start Time: 5:45 p.m. (et). Laps: 75. Miles: 172.7. 2009 winner: Dario Franchitti. Television: VERSUS. Radio: IMS Radio Network/SIRIUS XM Satellite.

The IZOD IndyCar Series will run its ninth and final road/street course race of the season this weekend at Infineon Raceway.

Last week at Mid-Ohio, Will Power's second-place finish allowed him to claim the Mario Andretti Trophy for clinching the series' first-ever road/street course championship. Power has won four course events so far this season -- Sao Paulo, Brazil; St. Petersburg, FL; Watkins, NY and Toronto.

The Team Penske driver currently holds a 41-point lead over defending series champion Dario Franchitti and an 82-point advantage over Franchitti's Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon.

One year ago, Power's season came to an abrupt end at Sonoma, where he sustained multiple injuries during a practice crash. Power suffered two broken vertebrae and a concussion when his car hit the stalled car of Nelson Philippe, who spun exiting the blind, downhill corner. Philippe also suffered a concussion, along with an open fracture to his left foot.

Indy Racing League and track officials recently have made several safety improvements to help prevent serious crashes, like the one of Power and Philippe's, at the 2.303-mile, 12-turn course in Northern California.

Thirteen IndyCar drivers, including Power, participated in a test session at Sonoma last week. Power topped the overall speed charts with a lap of one minute, 17.46 seconds.

"It's nice to be back, actually," Power said. "I was a little nervous heading up over that hill (at Turn 3A) a couple of times, for sure. But the track has done a fantastic job of making sure that everyone is aware if someone does spin. If there is a car sitting up and over the top, there's a lot of lights and plenty of warning before you get there now.

"I enjoy this track. It's very technical and one of the better road courses we come to, so I'd like to come back here and I'd love to win."

There have been five different winners in as many races at Sonoma. Franchitti is the defending race winner. Helio Castroneves (2008), Dixon (2007), Marco Andretti (2006) and Tony Kanaan (2005) also have won here.

After Sonoma, the series will run its final four races on ovals.

The October 2 season-finale at Homestead will determine the oval titleholder and the overall IndyCar champion.

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