Via IndyCar.com

Sonoma Raceway, which hosted the penultimate Verizon IndyCar Series race of the 2014 season, will be the site of the 2015 championship-deciding race.

The 85-lap GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma on Sunday, Aug. 30 (4 p.m. ET on NBCSN) will mark INDYCAR’s 11th contest on the 2.385-mile, 12-turn permanent road course and the first time since Nov. 11, 2007, that a non-oval has hosted the season finale.

Sebastien Bourdais won that race in Mexico City to claim his fourth consecutive Champ Car title. Will Power, who earned his first Verizon IndyCar Series championship this season, finished second in the race. Justin Wilson placed second in the championship standings.

“Our road course will be an outstanding venue to decide the series championship, and it will be a terrific way for our fans to wrap up the 2015 racing season in Sonoma,” said Steve Page, Sonoma Raceway president and general manager. “We look forward to working with the folks at INDYCAR and Verizon to make this a championship event second to none.”

The Verizon IndyCar Series champion has been decided in the finale the past nine years.

“Sonoma is one of those tracks that has really embraced INDYCAR. In our new way of doing business, we have a lot more pre- and post-event meetings with our promoters and work hand-in-hand with the promoters on ways to potentially enhance the show,” INDYCAR president of competition and operations Derrick Walker said.

This past August, Power, driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, set the Sonoma Raceway lap record of 1 minute, 17.4126 seconds in qualifying for the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. Scott Dixon overtook Mike Conway on Lap 83 of 85 to score a dramatic victory.

“Sonoma will be an outstanding place to end the Verizon IndyCar Series season,” said Power, the reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion who has won at Sonoma in 2010, ’11 and ’13 and started on the pole four times. “It’s an awesome venue with fans that really love our sport. It’s in one of our truly great race markets with superb weather. Sonoma Raceway is one of my absolute favorite tracks and I’m really excited for the season to end there. I think it will be a good change of pace from the previous years.”

Tickets go on sale Nov. 17 at www.racesonoma.com or by calling 800-870-RACE.

The Pocono INDYCAR 500 fueled by Sunoco on the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway tri-oval moves from early July to set up the finale. The Sunday, Aug. 23, race (2 p.m. ET on NBCSN) will be the third consecutive year that the raceway, which had been the site of memorable Indy car races from 1971-89, has hosted the Verizon IndyCar Series.

“We have been bombarded with questions from race fans regarding the Verizon IndyCar Series’ return to Pocono next summer,” track president/CEO Brandon Igdalsky said. “Our staff evaluated fan feedback and this, with cooperation from everyone at INDYCAR, we were able to find different date on the 2015 calendar, which we feel works better for everyone involved.”

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Photo via INDYCAR

Photo via INDYCAR

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