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Auto Racing notes: Will Power wins Indy Grand Prix

Will Power celebrates winning Grand Prix of Indianapolis at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Associated Press)
Associated Press
Will Power celebrates winning Grand Prix of Indianapolis at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Associated Press)

Will Power came to Indianapolis chasing more than a double. He wants a clean sweep. After Saturday, the defending IndyCar champion is halfway home.

Power led 65 of 82 laps in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, holding off Graham Rahal for his first win of the season and first at the famed Brickyard.

The Australian finished 1.5023 seconds ahead of Rahal and more than 7 seconds in front of Team Penske teammate Juan Pablo Montoya and can now focus on winning the Indianapolis 500 pole next weekend and the May 24 race.

“It’s absolutely possible (to win all four),” Power said after becoming IndyCar’s fifth winner in five races this season. “You have to think that, because it is. It’s possible. I’m going to try to do everything to make that happen.”

If anybody is capable of taking all four this month, it could be Power, who finished second, seventh, 20th and fourth in this season’s first three races. He’s already won two poles this season and is now second in the points behind Montoya.

Power knows he has a good chance, too, after Penske’s cars were the fastest in the first test of the new oval aero kits last weekend. And they have the dominant Chevrolet engines, which have won all five poles this season, four of the first five races and claimed eight of the top 10 spots Saturday.

Allmendinger re-ups

A.J. Allmendinger has signed a five-year contract extension to drive for JTG Daugherty in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup series through the 2020 season.

Allmendinger ran in nine races for JTG Daugherty in 2013 before running a full season a year ago, winning at Watkins Glenn to earn a berth in the Chase.

Allmendinger has two top-10 finishes this season.

Rosberg takes pole

Nico Rosberg finally clinched his first pole position of the season at the Spanish Grand Prix in Granollers, Spain, ending his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton’s bid for a fifth consecutive pole.

Home fans got something to cheer about as Carlos Sainz Jr. qualified in a season’s best fifth place for Sunday’s race.

The 20-year-old Spaniard is the son of two-time world rally champion Carlos Sainz.

The Catalunya circuit will continue to host races until 2019 after signing a three-year contract extension.

The track, which is located on the outskirts of Barcelona and is also used for preseason testing, will host its 25th race this weekend.