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Powers wins Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon

Capping the seventh annual visit of the IZOD IndyCar Series at Infineon Raceway over the weekend, Australian Will Power captured Sunday's featured 75-lap Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma on Infineon's 12-turn, 2.303-mile road course.

In a 1-2-3 sweep for Team Penske, Power was followed across the finish line by Helio Castroneves in second and Ryan Briscoe in third, the exact order in which the three Penske cars qualified. Powers also won the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma last year.

In the 13th race on the IZOD IndyCar Series' 17-race schedule, Powers won in 1 hour, 47:29, just 3.2 seconds ahead of Castroneves. Points leader Dario Franchitti came in fourth and Scott Dixon rounded out the top five finishers.

"This is like home for me," said Power in the winners circle after the race. "To start 1-2-3 and finish 1-2-3, what a dream weekend."

Past winners include Power (2010), Dario Franchitti ('09), Helio Castroneves ('08), Scott Dixon ('07), Marco Andretti ('06) and Tony Kanaan ('05).

Danica Patrick, who announced Friday this will be her last year in Indy cars as she makes the move to NASCAR, finished in 21st place. Sausalito's JR Hildebrand, who nearly captured the Indianapolis 500 this year, crashing on the final turn of the final lap and skidding across the finish line in second, came in 23rd at Infineon on Sunday.

In the other IndyCar weekend races, Patrick Long (Porsche) swept the weekend in the GT class for the SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge. Other winners were rookie Ben Crosland in GTS (Ford Mustang) and Aaron Povoledo in Touring Car (Volvo).

San Rafael's Patrick O'Neill also made it a clean sweep, taking the win in the Formula Car Challenge main event. O'Neill also won the Formula Car Challenge race on Saturday.

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Infineon Raceway's final major event of 2011 is the Classic Sports Racing Group Charity Challenge, which arrives in the Valley for the weekend of Oct. 1-2.

To purchase tickets and ticket packages for the Charity Challenge, or for more details on Wednesday Night Drags, Top the Cops, Drifting, or for general information, visit www.infineonraceway.com, www.ticketmaster.com or call 800-870-RACE (7223).