Power dominant at Sonoma, increases points lead

Autoracing Betting Lines

08/22/2010 - Sonoma, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One year after his serious crash at Infineon Raceway nearly ended his IZOD IndyCar Series career, Will Power put on a dominating performance to win the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at this 2.303-mile road course in Northern California.

Power started on the pole for a record eighth time this season and then led all but two of the 75 laps. The Team Penske driver only relinquished the lead when he pitted the second and final time under the green flag. Scott Dixon came in for his stop two laps after Power, but the Aussie easily flew by Dixon after he exited the pits.

A late-race caution for an incident involving E.J. Viso and Bertrand Baguette set up a six-lap sprint to the finish. Dixon made several attempts to overtake Power after the restart, but Power eventually pulled away and finished 0.74 seconds ahead Dixon for his fifth IndyCar win this season.

Last year, Power's season came to an abrupt end at Sonoma, where he sustained multiple injuries during a practice crash. He suffered two broken vertebrae and a concussion when his car hit the stalled car of Nelson Philippe, who spun exiting the blind, downhill corner.

"What a perfect weekend to come back here after a year ago lying in the hospital watching this same race," said Power, who became the sixth different winner in as many IndyCar races held at Sonoma.

All five of Power's wins this season have come on road/street courses. He now holds a 59 point lead over Dario Franchitti, who finished third. Franchitti started on the pole and won last year's race here.

Two weeks ago, Power's second-place finish at Mid-Ohio allowed him to claim the Mario Andretti Trophy for clinching the series' first-ever road/street course championship.

Sonoma was the ninth and final road/street race of the season. There are four oval events remaining, with the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway scheduled next Saturday night.

"I'm going for it; I want to win this championship," Power said. "I'm not sitting back, and I'm not going to be stupid, but I do want to win an oval [race] before the end of the year, and I want to win the overall championship."

After finishing second, Dixon is now 95 points behind Power.

"We put on the red [tires] and seemed to be a lot quicker, and we thought we had a go at Will," Dixon said. "I don't know whether he was saving them a little bit earlier on, and I was starting to catch him pretty quickly, but in turn, I think I was using mine up too much. I gave it all I could on the restarts, and I was trying to stick my nose in there anywhere I could, but eventually it didn't come off."

Power's Penske teammates Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Justin Wilson, Tony Kanaan, Ryan-Hunter Reay, Graham Rahal and rookie Alex Lloyd completed the top-10.

Dan Wheldon was involved in a wild crash on the opening lap. Wheldon got clipped by Baguette and slammed into the wall before his car rolled upside down along the wall and then skidded down the track. His car continued to spin around upside down before it came to rest.

"It's never a good day to be upside down, but obviously everybody at Dallara and the Indy Racing League has worked very hard on the safety aspects of it," Wheldon said.

He finished last in the 25-car field.

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Marlins could start season without No. 2 starter Johnson

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.

Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.

MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .

''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''

Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.

He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.

''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''

Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.

Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.

With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.

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