CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES INDYCAR GRAND PRIX OF SONOMA SONOMA RACEWAY POST-RACE RECAP SEPTEMBER 16, 2018

CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
INDYCAR GRAND PRIX OF SONOMA
SONOMA RACEWAY
POST-RACE RECAP

SEPTEMBER 16, 2018

 

Power, Pagenaud Lead Chevrolet with Top-Five Finishes in Season Finale

 

SONOMA, Calif. – Will Power’s 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series (VICS) season started slowly, but the 2014 champion’s midseason results – punctuated by sweeping the May races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, including the 102nd Indianapolis 500 – continued with a strong closing effort.

 

Power, driver of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, earned a third-place finish in the INDYCAR Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway to lead Team Chevy drivers in the 85-lap season finale. Power, who has three victories at the racetrack in Sonoma, California, had qualified seventh.

 

With an effective off-sequence pit strategy, Simon Pagenaud drove the No. 22 DXC Technology Team Penske Chevrolet to fourth-place finish after qualifying eighth. The result was the second top-five finish in the past three races and fourth overall for Pagenaud, who secured the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series driver/entrant championship with a victory from the pole at Sonoma Raceway in the No. 22 Team Penske Chevrolet.

 

Chevrolet drivers collected six victories during the season, led by Power and 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series champion Josef Newgarden with three each. The veteran drivers also earned four poles each, while team owner/driver Ed Carpenter claimed the pole for the Indianapolis 500 in the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet.

 

Power finished third in the season standings, while Newgarden finished fifth and Pagenaud was sixth.

 

Newgarden, driving the No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, finished eighth on Sonoma Raceway’s 2.385-mile, 12-turn natural-terrain road course. Patricio O’Ward, the 2018 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires champion, placed ninth in his Verizon IndyCar Series debut in the No. 8 Harding Group Chevrolet.

 

Other results for drivers backed by the 2.2-liter, twin turbocharged, direct-injected V-6 Chevrolet engine:

No. 14 Tony Kanaan        12th
No. 20 Jordan King          13th
No. 4 Matheus Leist         19th
No. 88 Colton Herta          20th
No. 59 Max Chilton           21st
No. 23 Charlie Kimball      22nd
No. 21 Spencer Pigot        24th

 

Kanaan, driving the No. 14 ABC Supply Chevrolet for AJ Foyt Racing, marked his 300th consecutive start. The record-extending streak started in June 2001 at Portland International Raceway. King, a first-year Verizon IndyCar Series driver in the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, advanced 12 positions relative to his qualifying spot to lead all drivers.

 

Ryan Hunter-Reay was the race winner, with Scott Dixon finishing second and clinching his fifth Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Dixon drove to his 2015 title with Chevrolet power.

 

The 2019 season opener is scheduled for March 10 on the 1.8-mile temporary street circuit in St. Petersburg, Florida. The 17-race schedule includes new events March 24 at Circuit of the Americas in Texas and the Sept. 22season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in California.