SONOMA, Calif. -- Jack Harvey maintained his dominance on the road courses by romping to victory in the first race of the Indy Lights Grand Prix of Sonoma.
Harvey's third win of the season aboard Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian's No. 42 entry him to second place in the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires standings -- 12 points behind race runner-up Gabby Chaves (Belardi Auto Racing) with one race remaining.
The scenario Aug. 24 for Chaves, who has led the title chase for much of the 14-race season, is clear. Even if Harvey wins the 60-lap feature and claims the bonus points for leading most laps and posting the fastest race lap, Chaves must finish second to secure the championship and a scholarship package worth $750,000 to assist with graduation to the Verizon IndyCar Series in 2015.
Harvey, who won both road course races earlier this month at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, continued that form by posting the fastest lap in qualifying to ensure him of pole position. He went on to win by 6.5130 seconds.
Zach Veach, who held second place in the standings entering the weekend, finished seventh in the No. 26 Andretti Autosport entry and slipped to 22 points behind Harvey.
"It was a pretty good race for me," Harvey said. "I did as much as I could do. I had the pole, won the race and had the most laps led so really the only thing I didn't do was get fastest lap. We weren't really surprised by that and we just have to go out there (in Race 2) and anything can happen."