Hunter-Reay Heads Honda Qualifying at Sonoma

* Two-time 2015 race winner will start season finale from third
* Graham Rahal to chase title from sixth on the grid

Ryan Hunter-Reay led the Honda field in qualifying Saturday at Sonoma Raceway, and will start third in Sunday’s season-ending GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. Hunter-Reay, winner earlier this year at Iowa Speedway and again last weekend at Pocono Raceway, was one of 10 drivers to break the existing Sonoma track record. Will Power, who eclipsed his own 2014 mark of 1:17.2393, claimed the pole.

Championship contender Graham Rahal will start sixth in his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda, as he battles Power, Josef Newgarden, Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya for the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series championship tomorrow.

Sunday’s 85-lap finale starts at 4 p.m. EDT, with live network television coverage on the NBC Sports Network.

Ryan Hunter-Reay (#28 Andretti Autosport Honda): “It was a good day after breaking the track record in practice one this morning. I had a really good car this morning. The heat made things a little bit more difficult for qualifying, but as they say, it’s the same for everyone. We had P1 [pole] locked up for a good part of the “Fast Six” [final qualifying], but just lost out a little bit on our tire choice at the end. In hindsight, I went with the wrong set of tires. We went with a used set that didn’t quite get us through. Starting third tomorrow, we can get hopefully get it done. Good to have our Honda starting up front.”