Justin Wilson called Sunday’s IndyCar Series victory at Watkins Glen International “the most important” of his driving career. Imagine how his team owner felt.
Dale Coyne, a former driver, had never won a race in the sport in 25 years of trying. Not in the Champ Car World Series, not in the IndyCar Series.
Coyne said it’s an inspirational message for any team trying to compete with the Penske and Ganassi teams that had won all eight races this season, 10 in a row over two years and 15 of the past 16 since Ryan Hunter-Reay won here last year for Rahal Letterman Racing.
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“It shows you can come (to the IRL), get the pieces you need, get the drivers you need, and do the job,” Coyne said. “Like we have.” Indianapolis Star
Wilson started on the front row of the Camping World Grand Prix alongside Briscoe and had the strongest car from the outset. He attempted to pass Briscoe in the sweeping, high-speed esses on the second lap and failed.
Briscoe was warned for blocking and Wilson slipped past him on the next lap in the same place and went on to lead nearly the entire race.
After the final full sequence of pit stops was completed with 15 laps remaining, Wilson regained the lead by 2 seconds over Briscoe. Hideki Mutoh brought out the fourth caution of the race with seven laps remaining to give Briscoe one final chance, but he was no match for Wilson and his sticky red tires, losing by nearly 5 seconds.
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Ganassi’s Scott Dixon was third, followed by Penske’s Helio Castroneves and Marco Andretti. Series points leader Dario Franchitti was involved in an early crash and finished 15th. That dropped him into a second-place tie with Briscoe and Dario Franchitti, 19 points behind Dixon. The Associated Press
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