1.) Helio Castroneves (LW: 1)
IndyCar Power Rankings: Helio Castroneves cruising towards first championship
The penalty to Scott Dixon changed the championship landscape and may have paved the path to Helio Castroneves’ first IZOD IndyCar Series championship.Sunday’s race at Sonoma was also kind to Will Power as he won his first race of the season, snapping a 25-race winless streak. The end result was a pretty sizeable jumble in the power rankings. That list can be found below.
Robert Laberge
The penalty to Scott Dixon on lap 70 at Sonoma changed both the overall season championship picture and power rankings list as Dixon was well on his way to winning the race and cutting Helio’s title lead in half. Instead, Dixon finished 15th and Castroneves was the beneficiary by finishing in seventh. Momentum and advantage swings to the Penske veteran.
2.) Dario Franchitti (LW: 3)
With Scott Dixon out of the race picture at Sonoma, it was left to Ganassi’s four-time champion to carry the banner for his team. And that’s exactly what he did, finishing third and challenging for the win late in the race. Dario continues to be the most consistent driver over the second half of his lost season.
3.) Will Power (LW: 7)
A victory at Sonoma was a long time coming for Will Power after all the accidents, bad luck and mistakes that has tarnished his 2013 season. The win snapped a 25-race winless streak and served as a reminder that Power will be a contender for the rest of the season.
4.) Scott Dixon (LW: 2)
Whether it was the right or wrong call doesn’t matter. The penalty that was assessed to Scott Dixon at Sonoma all but eliminated him from championship contention. It also seemed to take a win from the Ganassi veteran too. He fell to 39 points behind Helio Castroneves with just four races remaining, meaning he needs to win en masse, which he’s certainly capable of doing.
5.) Simon Pagenaud (LW: 6)
Ridiculously consistent.
A top-10 machine.
The Frenchman has an average finish of 8.6 this season with only five finishes outside of the top-10.
6.) Ryan Hunter-Reay (LW: 5)
Finishes of fifth and sixth the past two races have more-or-less negated three finishes outside of the top-15. That’s how the defending champion’s season has gone this year.
7.) Marco Andretti (LW: 9)
The third-generation driver has just two finishes worse than 10th this season -- a pair of P20s at Milwaukee and Belle Isle. He’s arrived as a complete driver and just needs convert some of the top-5s into race victories.
8.) Justin Wilson (LW: NR)
A second-place at Sonoma ended a solid weekend for the elder Wilson. Given a season where he hasn’t been spectacular or terrible, he might look back on Sunday as a race he should have won.
9. James Hinchcliffe (LW: NR)
It was a solid eighth-place day. Nothing more, nothing less. It will be curious to see what Go Daddy, Andretti and Hinch can do in negotiations with each other during IndyCar silly season.
10. Sebastien Bourdais (LW: NR)
Now trending. Four races in row finishing no worse than P12. Bourdais is making a strong case for an elite team to hire him next season or for Dragon to bring in some extra hand to augment his effort next season.
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