Marco Andretti became the youngest American open-wheel race winner by conserving fuel through the closing laps at Infineon Raceway, while Dario Franchitti finished 0.6557 seconds behind.
Marco Andretti won the 2006 Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma for Andretti Green Racing, finishing 0.6557 seconds ahead of Dario Franchitti. The 80-lap race was decided by fuel strategy, and the win made him the youngest American open-wheel race winner.
On 27 August 2006 the IRL IndyCar Series ran its race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. Marco Andretti won the 80-lap race for Andretti Green Racing, with his teammate Dario Franchitti second and Vitor Meira third for Panther Racing. The win came from careful fuel saving in the closing stint, and it made Andretti the youngest driver ever to win an American open-wheel race.
What was the 2006 Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma?
The race was round thirteen of the 2006 IRL calendar, which listed 14 events. The event was in only its second edition, having first been held in 2005, and it took place on a twelve-turn permanent road course of 3.64 km (2.26 miles).
The race was contested over 80 laps, a distance of 291.0 km (180.8 miles). Road courses placed a premium on fuel and tyre management, and teams had to balance speed with the need to finish the race on the fuel they carried.
Tony Kanaan was the defending race winner, having taken the previous Sonoma event. The circuit's elevation changes made it a challenging test for drivers.
A fuel-saving final stint gave Andretti his first IndyCar win and made him the youngest American open-wheel winner.
Who led the championship going into Sonoma?
Sam Hornish Jr. led the Drivers' Championship with 418 points, seven ahead of his teammate Helio Castroneves. Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon were next, on 394 and 385 points, and Vitor Meira was fifth with 348.
Hornish Jr. had dropped to second after a last-place finish at Michigan, but he took back the lead by winning at Kentucky. He and Castroneves both described Infineon as a challenging track because of its elevation changes, and both wanted a strong result to stay in contention for the season finale at Chicagoland.
Wheldon and Dixon saw the race as a chance to reduce Hornish Jr.'s advantage. Wheldon predicted that fuel strategies would produce an unexpected winner, and Meira called the weekend make-or-break for himself and his team. The race was the penultimate round of the season, so every result carried weight in a tight title fight.
Why did road-course set-ups matter this weekend?
Three teams swapped their usual Dallara chassis for the Panoz chassis on the road course, a change not seen since the June race at Watkins Glen. Chip Ganassi Racing, Rahal Letterman Racing and Fernandez Racing all made the change.
Rice, Patrick and Simmons each said the Rahal Letterman team had got to know its road-course set-up during the earlier events. The change of chassis was a key talking point in the paddock.
How did practice and qualifying set the grid?
Four practice sessions ran in total. The opening session was 120 minutes long, the next two ran 65 minutes apiece, and the last lasted 30 minutes. Every entrant could run in the first session, and the times set two groups for the next two sessions, each given 30 minutes with a five-minute break between them.
Helio Castroneves was fastest in the first Friday session at 1:17.3686, two tenths quicker than Wheldon. Dixon set the fastest time of the second Friday session at 1:16.9073 and then had the option of inverting the qualifying order. Franchitti, Marco Andretti and Bryan Herta were in the top five across those sessions.
On Saturday morning Castroneves posted 1:16.6075 in the third session, almost two tenths quicker than Dixon, and Kanaan, Wheldon and Herta followed. Dixon was fastest in the final practice at 1:18.5573, two tenths ahead of Kanaan. Carpenter, the slowest driver of Friday's sessions, set the first lap of qualifying after Dixon inverted the order. In one session Castroneves and Carpenter came together at the pit-road entrance, and in another Scott Sharp and Ryan Briscoe spun. In the qualifying round itself each driver recorded a single timed lap, and the six fastest moved on to the ten-minute Firestone Fast Six.
Dixon took the pole at 1:17.0344, the sixth of his IndyCar career and his first since 2003. Marco Andretti was second, five-hundredths of a second slower, his strongest qualifying effort to date. Castroneves, Kanaan, Franchitti and Wheldon completed the top six.
Briscoe was seventh but did not advance to the final session. Briscoe had spun in turn two during the final session, almost hitting Andretti and damaging his suspension. Meira and Herta took the next two places, while Hornish Jr. qualified tenth after a bout of oversteer. Scheckter started 18th after an electrical problem during his warm-up lap, and Townsend Bell replaced him after he complained of shoulder discomfort. Dixon, meanwhile, set the fastest final-practice time, with Kanaan second and Castroneves, Herta and Andretti completing the top five.
| Position | Driver | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marco Andretti | Winner and youngest American open-wheel race winner |
| 2 | Dario Franchitti | 0.6557 seconds behind the winner |
| 3 | Vitor Meira | Passed Dixon and Castroneves on the final lap |
| 4 | Scott Dixon | Fourth place after leading 40 laps |
| 5 | Helio Castroneves | Fifth place |
How did the race unfold?
Live coverage on ESPN began at 12:30 p.m. local time. Johnny Rutherford, a three-time Indianapolis 500 winner, drove the pace car. The air was 22 C (71 F) and the track 47 C (117 F), a warm and sunny start.
Scheckter climbed from 18th to 14th in the opening laps, and the field stayed largely in its starting order at the front. Scheckter pitted on lap 18 to replace a flat tyre, which dropped him back in the order.
Dixon used his pole position to pull clear of the field. Marco Andretti was within a couple of seconds at first, and the gap grew to three seconds by the tenth lap. The first yellow came when Simmons tapped Bucknum from behind, sending him into a spin in turn eleven.
Several drivers, including Wheldon and Hornish Jr., pitted for tyres and fuel under that caution. The leaders stayed out, so Dixon led the restart on lap 14 ahead of Marco Andretti and Castroneves. Pit stops under green started on lap 24, and Dixon pitted five laps after that, at the same time as Marco Andretti, Kanaan and Franchitti.
Wheldon led after the stops until he pitted on the 39th lap, which handed the lead back to his teammate Dixon. A second caution came on lap 44 after Rice spun Matsuura in turn eleven. Dixon, who was on a different strategy, stayed out and led the lap 47 restart.
Marco Andretti assumed the lead on the 51st lap, when most of the leaders had already stopped. Dixon's stop had been slowed when an air jack malfunctioned, and he rejoined in 12th. By lap 65, Andretti had opened a cushion of four seconds, and he kept adding to it. Hornish Jr. spun in turn two as he left pit road at the lap 52 restart, but the race stayed under green. Two laps on, Meira's contact sent Briscoe into a spin in the seventh corner, and no yellow was shown.
Franchitti passed teammate Kanaan for second on the 71st lap and began to close on Andretti. Herta spun in turn seven on lap 73, which brought out the final caution of the race. Andretti led the lap 75 restart and kept first place through the last five laps.
Franchitti kept closing in during the final green-flag stint, but he finished 0.6557 seconds behind. Kanaan fell to eleventh, the last driver on the lead lap, after refuelling on lap 79. On the last lap Meira made a bold move that put him past Dixon and Castroneves into third.
Why did Andretti win, and what did he earn?
The caution period helped Andretti manage his fuel, which had been one of the race's central issues. He had made his last pit visit on lap 45 and was in front six laps afterwards, and he turned that advantage into a win. The win was his first career IndyCar Series victory, and he had started second, so the result rewarded a strong weekend from start to finish.
Andretti earned $131,400 for the victory. He also secured the Rookie of the Year award, which added a further $50,000 to his winnings. His father, Michael Andretti, was proud of his performance over the weekend.
Franchitti felt the final caution had kept him from winning, but he congratulated Andretti on a deserved victory. Meira, who took third, was thrilled with his late passes and praised his team for a strong finish. Castroneves was content with fifth. Dixon was left disappointed by a team mistake during his last pit stop, and he feared it might have cost him the championship.
What did the result do to the championship?
Castroneves moved to the top with 441 points, one clear of his teammate Hornish Jr. Hornish Jr. remained in contention in second, which meant the title picture would be settled at the final round. Wheldon stayed third on 422 points, while Dixon was fourth on 420 and Meira fifth on 383, with one race left in the season.
Castroneves had eased off as Meira and Dixon went by him, and he hoped he would not regret that choice after the season finale at Chicagoland.
What did the weekend mean for Andretti Green Racing?
Andretti Green Racing finished first and second, with Marco Andretti ahead of Franchitti. The result gave the team a strong weekend and put its two drivers at the top of the leaderboard for the day.
Michael Andretti, Marco's father, admitted that he had not wanted Franchitti to pass his son. Mario Andretti, Marco's grandfather, agreed that Marco had enjoyed a perfect weekend.
Marco Andretti described the win as the fulfilment of goals he had set at the start of the year, including the Rookie of the Year title. He credited the pit crew, which he said had been brilliant, and the plan the team had laid out before the weekend.
Franchitti's second place was his best result of the weekend, and it meant Andretti Green Racing celebrated a one-two finish. The caution period proved a key moment in the outcome, because it let the leaders manage their fuel.