2016 GoPro Grand Prix Of Sonoma Preview: It All Ends Here

By Brittany Frederick | Sep 18, 2016

Will Power on track before Sunday's 2016 GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. Photo Credit: Chris Owens/Courtesy of IndyCar /

The 2016 GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma concludes the IndyCar season with not only a title battle, but a battle for several drivers’ so far unknown futures.

This is it: the final chapter, the last stand, the final verse. The 2016 GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma represents the end of this year’s Verizon IndyCar Series season, and on Sunday all eyes will be on the league’s perennial frontrunners Team Penske.

Penske is guaranteed a championship by Sunday evening, as both drivers left in contention – Simon Pagenaud and Will Power – are members of that organization. The only question is which one of them will be hefting the Astor Cup at Sonoma and which one will be wishing he was.

Pagenaud pushed things a little more in his favor on Saturday when he swept in and stole the pole position for today’s race. That puts him out front early, and all Pagenaud has to do is finish fifth or better and it won’t matter what Power does behind him.

Power, meanwhile, seemed like he had the pole but wound up qualifying fourth behind fellow Penske drivers Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya. The 2014 IndyCar champion has no choice but to drive the wheels off his No. 12 Chevrolet, and he has the precedent of winning at this track. But there just may be too much stacked against him at this point.

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Yet Penske vs. Penske is just the most prominent of many storylines heading into the Grand Prix of Sonoma. There are a handful of drivers within the field who are all seeking to end their winless streaks, including big names like Tony Kanaan, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Castroneves.

For some, a win may be the difference between ending their season on a high note and looking for greener pastures in 2017, which only heightens the stakes on Sunday.

Look at positions six and seven for fireworks early. Sixth place is Hunter-Reay, who has shown a willingness to shoot out high and pass multiple cars in one fell swoop at the start of the race. And in seventh is Scott Dixon, who is the defending race champion as well as the incumbent IndyCar champion. With Target ending their sponsorship of the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet after this event, it’d be a nice exclamation point for Dixon to drive it into Victory Lane.

If you’re more interested in a dark horse candidate making a run from the back of the pack, your best option is James Hinchcliffe, who’ll begin the race in 20th of 22 entries after wrecking his car on Saturday. Hinchcliffe has had a tumultuous few weeks – almost winning at Texas, then being penalized for Texas, then the whole “Dancing with the Stars” thing – and it would be safe to say he’d like to do as well on the racetrack as he just did on the reality TV judges’ scorecards.

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Whoever wins the IndyCar championship is one thing, and that’ll be a satisfying story of its own; either Pagenaud will capture his battling back after his difficult 2015 season, or Power will rally for a remarkable comeback after the rough beginning to his 2016 season. But there’s so much more going on in Sonoma than just who’s No. 1.

Who else climbs up those other Top 5 spots on the pylon will be its own telling story, especially as many of these drivers may be competing in their final races for their respective teams. Sonoma isn’t just the end of the 2016 season; it’s potentially the end of a chapter for the entirety of IndyCar.

The 2016 GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma takes place Sunday, Sept. 18 at 3:30 p.m. PT/6:30 p.m. ET from Sonoma Raceway. The race will be televised on NBCSN.