Sonoma Raceway

Sonoma Raceway, which hosted the penultimate Verizon IndyCar Series race of the 2014 season, will be the site of the 2015 championship-deciding race.

The 85-lap GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma on Sunday, Aug. 30 (4 p.m. ET on NBCSN) will mark INDYCAR’s 11th contest on the 2.385-mile, 12-turn permanent road course and the first time since Nov. 11, 2007, that a non-oval has hosted the season finale.

Sebastien Bourdais won that race in Mexico City to claim his fourth consecutive Champ Car title. Will Power, who earned his first Verizon IndyCar Series championship this season, finished second in the race. Justin Wilson placed second in the championship standings.

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“Our road course will be an outstanding venue to decide the series championship, and it will be a terrific way for our fans to wrap up the 2015 racing season in Sonoma,” said Steve Page, Sonoma Raceway president and general manager. “We look forward to working with the folks at INDYCAR and Verizon to make this a championship event second to none.”

The Verizon IndyCar Series champion has been decided in the finale the past nine years.

“Sonoma is one of those tracks that has really embraced INDYCAR. In our new way of doing business, we have a lot more pre- and post-event meetings with our promoters and work hand-in-hand with the promoters on ways to potentially enhance the show,” INDYCAR president of competition and operations Derrick Walker said.

This past August, Power, driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, set the Sonoma Raceway lap record of 1 minute, 17.4126 seconds in qualifying for the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. Scott Dixon overtook Mike Conway on Lap 83 of 85 to score a dramatic victory.

“Sonoma will be an outstanding place to end the Verizon IndyCar Series season,” said Power, the reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion who has won at Sonoma in 2010, ’11 and ’13 and started on the pole four times. “It’s an awesome venue with fans that really love our sport. It’s in one of our truly great race markets with superb weather. Sonoma Raceway is one of my absolute favorite tracks and I'm really excited for the season to end there. I think it will be a good change of pace from the previous years."

Tickets go on sale Nov. 17 at www.racesonoma.com or by calling 800-870-RACE.

The Pocono INDYCAR 500 fueled by Sunoco on the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway tri-oval moves from early July to set up the finale. The Sunday, Aug. 23, race (2 p.m. ET on NBCSN) will be the third consecutive year that the raceway, which had been the site of memorable Indy car races from 1971-89, has hosted the Verizon IndyCar Series.

"We have been bombarded with questions from race fans regarding the Verizon IndyCar Series' return to Pocono next summer," track president/CEO Brandon Igdalsky said. "Our staff evaluated fan feedback and this, with cooperation from everyone at INDYCAR, we were able to find different date on the 2015 calendar, which we feel works better for everyone involved."

This past July, Juan Pablo Montoya earned his first Indy car victory in nearly 14 years in the fastest 500-mile race in Indy car history. Montoya’s average speed of 202.402 mph in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske car surpassed the record set by Jimmy Vasser (197.995 mph) at California Speedway in 2002. Tickets are on sale at www.poconoraceway.com or by calling 800-722-3929.

“Returning to Pocono in 2015 is great news,” said Tony Kanaan, 2004 Verizon IndyCar Series champion who won the 2014 season finale at Auto Club Speedway. “The ‘Tricky Triangle’ is a very challenging racetrack for us and it provides great racing and excitement for the fans. Continuity is the key word to rebuild our fan base for that region and INDYCAR and Pocono are working very hard and thankfully making it happen. I’m obviously happy to be able to return in 2015 and finish the strong race we had in 2014.”

Indy car season finales the past 10 years with race winner and series champion

2014 – Auto Club Speedway (Tony Kanaan; Will Power)
2013 – Auto Club Speedway (Will Power; Scott Dixon)
2012 – Auto Club Speedway (Ed Carpenter; Ryan Hunter-Reay)
2011 – Kentucky Speedway (Ed Carpenter; Dario Franchitti)
2010 – Homestead-Miami Speedway (Scott Dixon; Dario Franchitti)
2009 – Homestead-Miami Speedway (Dario Franchitti; Dario Franchitti)
2008 – Chicagoland Speedway (Helio Castroneves; Scott Dixon)
2007 – Mexico City (Sebastien Bourdais; Sebastien Bourdais) *
             Chicagoland Speedway (Dario Franchitti; Dario Franchitti) **
2006 – Mexico City (Sebastien Bourdais; Sebastien Bourdais) *
             Chicagoland Speedway (Dan Wheldon; Sam Hornish Jr.) **
2005 – Mexico City (Justin Wilson; Sebastien Bourdais) *
             California Speedway (Dario Franchitti; Dan Wheldon) **
* - Champ Car sanction   ** - INDYCAR sanction