Ryan Briscoe wins Grand Prix of Sonoma, Will Power secures championship advantage with two races remaining

Ryan Briscoe won Sunday's GoPro Indy Grand Prix at Sonoma Speedway but it might be remembered as the day Will Power unofficially clinched a stronghold on the 2012 Series Championship.

Power led the most laps, 57, but was cycled out of the lead after the first caution came out on lap 65. Power had just left pit road but was slotted behind teammate Briscoe on the restart. It was a reversal of the first two-thirds of the race, with Power unable to chase down Briscoe, who won his first race of 2012 and first since Texas in 2010.

Power didn't have a lot of reasons to press the issue, or his faulty push-to-pass, as championship rivals Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon were both involved in a lap 1 accident, with Ryan Hunter-Reay suffering a similar fate on lap 75. With second-through-fourth in the championship all suffering problems, Power accepted a runner-up and extended his championship lead to 36 points over Hunter-Reay, who finished 18^th.

Sunday was a total success for Team Penske between Briscoe's victory, Power's championship advantage, and the team's one-two finish. Even Castroneves rebounded from his lap 1 accident to finish sixth, considerable improvement given the lack of cautions early in the race.

The caution didn't fly until lap 65, the first time in nearly three races. But once they fell, they negated pretty impressive efforts by Sebastian Bourdais, Josef Newgarden and Alex Tagliani.

Dario Franchitti, Rubens Barrichello, Graham Rahal, Castroneves, Simon Pagenaud, JR Hildebrand, Tagliani, and Tony Kanaan rounded-out the top-10.

More on Team Penske's day, the championship battle, and a complete finishing order can be found after the jump.

Ryan Briscoe really needed this win for validation if nothing else. He's been largely overshadowed by his Penske teammates entering a contract year and just hasn't been the same since losing the 2009 Series Championship. He has options, with the latest rumors suggesting that Briscoe could spearhead Penske's new sports car program, with an annual entry into the Indianapolis 500.

But Sunday served as a reminder that Briscoe can still get it done on a weekly basis in an open-wheel race car. Beyond that, Briscoe is a gentleman in the paddock and an excellent spokesman for all of Penske's marketing projects. Losing him would be a major blow to a sport looking to retain momentum entering the next few seasons.

Here's hoping they work something out.

His teammate, Power, needed a day like Sunday to build a championship cushion leading into the final two races of the season. Everyone knows that Power will be a threat at Baltimore but team No. 12 has to be concerned about the 500-mile World Championship at Auto Club Speedway. Recent debacles at Kentucky have thrown into doubt Power's luck and ability to win on the high banks.

He might need the buffer.

Did Sonoma all but secure the championship for Will Power or is the title hunt still undecided? Answer this question and discuss your favorite topics from Sunday's race in the comments section below.

Onto the Streets of Baltimore...

Race Results

2012 GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma
Pos	Driver	Diff.	Gap	LL	BL#	BL	LSP	OSR	Start	Status
1	Ryan Briscoe	-	-	1:20.0612	3	1:19.6693	20	5	2
2	Will Power	0.4408	0.4408	1:19.6173	7	1:19.3676	21	43	1
3	Dario Franchitti	1.0497	0.6089	1:19.5187	81	1:19.4047	24	0	6
4	Rubens Barrichello	8.8529	7.8032	1:20.7281	81	1:20.4001	22	9	11
5	Graham Rahal	9.4667	0.6138	1:20.9742	43	1:20.2787	23	9	13
6	Helio Castroneves	11.2575	1.7908	1:21.0581	2	1:20.4706	23	0	4
7	Simon Pagenaud	12.3087	1.0512	1:21.0723	31	1:20.3840	23	29	9
8	JR Hildebrand	22.8121	10.5034	1:21.4478	60	1:20.5839	21	8	15
9	Alex Tagliani	39.6868	16.8747	1:22.9754	10	1:20.5483	7	45	8
10	Tony Kanaan	1 LAPS	1 LAPS	1:21.3885	5	1:20.6288	13	0	16
11	Justin Wilson	1 LAPS	1.2003	1:21.1970	41	1:20.3718	13	19	20
12	James Jakes	1 LAPS	1.0788	1:21.1324	22	1:20.6461	13	30	24
13	Scott Dixon	1 LAPS	0.5456	1:21.2062	17	1:19.7634	9	39	5
14	Mike Conway	1 LAPS	4.2997	1:20.8761	83	1:20.6044	13	4	14
15	Sebastian Saavedra	1 LAPS	2.3024	1:22.1947	48	1:20.3785	13	29	23
16	EJ Viso	1 LAPS	2.7274	1:22.1833	80	1:20.5125	13	2	17
17	Simona De Silvestro	1 LAPS	2.2855	1:22.7458	83	1:21.8605	13	41	27
18	Ryan Hunter-Reay	1 LAPS	0.6289	1:19.6112	82	1:19.1848	6	27	7
19	Oriol Servia	1 LAPS	3.5732	1:20.8357	81	1:20.3764	2	27	18
20	Ed Carpenter	1 LAPS	3.1645	1:24.1187	38	1:21.9283	13	90	25
21	Charlie Kimball	3 LAPS	2 LAPS	1:21.3828	80	1:20.7865	8	21	21
22	Sebastien Bourdais	22 LAPS	18 LAPS	1:45.1217	6	1:20.2166	0	0	3	Contact
23	Josef Newgarden	23 LAPS	1 LAPS	1:27.5085	22	1:20.8039	1	0	22	Contact
24	Katherine Legge	37 LAPS	14 LAPS	5:41.1815	27	1:21.1415	0	72	19	Mechanical
25	Marco Andretti	39 LAPS	2 LAPS	4:15.5268	24	1:20.5811	0	0	12	Mechanical
26	James Hinchcliffe	50 LAPS	11 LAPS	11:31.5360	5	1:21.2440	0	63	10	Mechanical
27	Takuma Sato	83 LAPS	33 LAPS	1:25.1128	2	1:25.1128	2	0	26	Off Course