Power Steals IndyCar Pole In Final Seconds At Sonoma

Will Power all smiles as he zipped to his fourth Sonoma pole and the 42nd of his career. [Joe Jennings Photo]

Sonoma, Calif. – Will Power displayed determination and blinding speed as he stole the pole position in the final seconds of qualifications for the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma, the final race of the Verizon IndyCar Series season. Taking to the track for an unprecedented third time in the final round, Power’s Team Penske put him on new black tires, and the decision worked out as Power knocked Josef Newgarden off the provisional pole just as the timed runs ended.

The intensity of the competition was on display throughout as the 2014 track record was eclipsed on numerous occasions with Power ending up on top with a time of 1:16.2597 or a speed of 112.589 miles per hour.

Power set the standard of 1:17.2393 a year ago.

For Power, he has set four track records this season and is hoping to win here for the fourth time tomorrow. He scored his 13th road-course pole and the 42nd pole of his successful career, putting him fifth on the all-time list.

“It is a team thing for us,” Power said. “I love this track; it is very technical and you have to be very committed when it comes to qualifying. My favorite session of the whole weekend is qualifying. You have to get the maximum out of your car and ring its neck. I enjoyed that a lot. I didn’t know about track records being broken, only knew the time I had to beat.

“Our strategy was to make two runs, but when Josef put blacks (tires) on early, he showed us the way. Had he put them on at end I think he would have gotten the pole.”

Newgarden made two runs and he thought his time of 1:16.3964 was good enough for the prestigious pole until Power did him in.

“Getting the pole would have helped us a lot,” Newgarden commented. “It was worth points. I am really disappointed, but Power did a great job and he’s very worthy of getting the pole, as he is incredible around here. I thought we had something for him, and we had a great car but we missed it by a little bit. Tomorrow is what really counts, so being up front should help our cause.”

Ryan Hunter-Reay qualified third with Simon Pagenaud fourth.

Title finalists Juan Pablo Montoya and Graham Rahal, first and second in points, timed fifth and sixth, respectively.

Charlie Kimball, Marco Andretti, Scott Dixon and Sebastian Saavedra rounded out the top-10 qualifiers.

Oriol Servia, driving Justin Wilson’s No. 25, timed a respectable 19th.

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