SAN FRANCISCO - France's Simon Pagenaud will try to claim his first IndyCar season title Sunday by holding off Australian challenger Will Power in the season-ending IndyCar Grand Prix of Sonoma.
France's Simon Pagenaud leads Australian challenger Will Power 555-512 in the season points chart
The Penske Racing teammates will determine the season champion over 85 laps on Sonoma Raceway's 2.385-mile (3.8km) permanent road course, where Power is a three-time race winner -- 2010, 2011 and 2013 -- and five-time pole sitter.
"Sonoma has been good to us over the years, but I'm not sure how much that matters," Power said. "Every race has its own circumstances and every team has to make the needed adjustments. It will be an exciting weekend, for sure."
Pagenaud leads Power 555-512 in the season points chart and a top-four finish by the 32-year-old Frenchman would clinch the crown no matter how Power fares even though double points are on offer for the 2016 finale.
"I'm very excited to get to battle it out on the track," Pagenaud said. "This weekend is going to be intense regarding the driver championship.
"Our season has been incredible. I am so proud of my team and what we have already accomplished with six poles and four wins. Now we want the championship and may the best win."
Power must finish no worse than sixth to have any chance at overtaking Pagneaud for the crown, and even that showing would require the 35-year-old Aussie to also lead the most laps and win the pole on Saturday while Pagenaud finishes last in the field of 22.
Unless Power reaches the podium, Pagenaud could finish 19th and still take the title.
Regardless which racer claims the throne, he will give car owner Roger Penske the title in Penske Racing's 50th year in motorsports.
An inner-ear infection kept Power out of the season opener at St. Petersburg and those missed points could cost him a second crown in three seasons and make him a season runner-up for the fourth time in his career after 2010, 2011 and 2012.
"It has been a wild season," Power said. "We got it together, though, and being in a position to win the championship is awesome."
Power knows his quest is not impossible. Last season, the title fight also came down to Sonoma and New Zealand's Scott Dixon won the race while Colombia's Juan Pablo Montoya finished sixth, leaving both deadlocked on 556 season points but Dixon the season champion for a fourth time by virtue of a most season wins tie-breaker three to two.