Will Power added a bonus point to his championship lead in the IndyCar Series by winning the pole for Sunday's race at Sonoma Raceway.
Power, who now holds a 40-point advantage over second-place and Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves, made a lap around this 2.385-mile, 12-turn Northern California road course in 1 minute, 17.4126 seconds. It's the fourth time Power has won the pole at this track. He started first in three consecutive races here from 2010-12.
"It's a track-position race and starting on pole puts us in a good position," Power said. "If it's a normal sort of strategy, we've put ourselves in a great position to win the race. But you know how these races go. You've got to get everything right on race day, and we're going to try and do that."
Sonoma is the penultimate race of the 2014 IndyCar season. The series will conclude its year on Aug. 30 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.
Power won at Sonoma and Fontana last year. Fontana, a 2-mile oval, carries double points.
"Every point counts, but there's a lot of points on the table and lots of racing left," Power noted. "I just have to focus on the job at hand."
Power is the only driver with multiple IndyCar victories at Sonoma. He won back-to-back races at this track from 2010-11. He finished second here two years ago.
Last Sunday, Power started on the pole and led 229 of 250 laps for the victory at The Milwaukee Mile.
Castroneves qualified sixth for Sunday's 85-lap race at Sonoma with a lap in 1:18.8771.
"We know we have a very good car, and hopefully we'll have a good race," Castroneves said. "You have to be aggressive in a way that puts you in position going to the last race to win the championship."
Josef Newgarden will start alongside Power on the front row after posting a lap at 1:17.7318.
Scott Dixon, the 2013 IndyCar champion, qualified third, followed by James Hinchcliffe and Ryan Briscoe.
Sebastien Bourdais, Tony Kanaan, rookie Carlos Munoz and Ryan Hunter-Reay completed the top-10.
[SportsNetwork.com]
