The law of averages worked in Team Penske’s favor at Watkins Glen International on a beautiful Fourth of July afternoon.
Will Power, who a day earlier gave Team Penske its sixth consecutive pole start at The Glen, gave the team its first IZOD IndyCar Series victory at the historic 3.4-mile, 11-turn torture track by holding off teammate Ryan Briscoe by 1.2181 seconds in the Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen.
Power, who increased his championship points lead to 32 over Franchitti, takes a 70-point advantage over Ryan Hunter-Reay in the Mario Andretti Road Course Championship standings heading into the Honda Indy Toronto in two weeks.
Reigning IZOD IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti finished third and Raphael Matos tied his season best with a fourth place in the No. 2 HP de Ferran Dragon Racing car (the team lost telemetry early in the race, disrupting items including fuel mileage readings).
Mario Moraes improved his season best by one place, finishing fifth in the No. 32 KV Racing Technology car. Seven teams were represented in the top 10 of the 60-lap race that was slowed by only two caution periods. IndyCar.com
“It’s the first race I pushed the whole way,” Power said. “It was a difficult race. I loved it.”
Penske Racing has won five of nine events this season and has 59 victories on road or street courses, the most of any team in open-wheel racing.
After the second and final full-course caution of the race, Power, who had been dominant, was beaten out of the pits by Briscoe and was second when the race went green on lap 43. It didn’t take Power long to regain the top spot, passing Briscoe entering the chicane at the top of the hill coming off the high-speed esses the next time around.
“I knew that was my only chance,” Power said. “I made sure I got a good restart and got a run on him.”
“I was pushing 100 percent from start to finish,” Briscoe said. “I wanted to keep the pressure on. I saw his tires going away faster than mine. I wish I could have held on to the win.”
“It was fun,” Power added. “You’ve got someone on your tail right to the end.” The Associated Press
“I think it was just a great day for us,” Penske said. “We qualified well. We had different strategies, had high downforce and low downforce, and had just great pit stops here.”
Dan Wheldon took the sixth spot, and Ryan Hunter-Reay, who won the last IndyCar street/road course race in April at Long Beach, CA, came in seventh.
Dixon and Penske driver Helio Castroneves made contact on the seventh lap, forcing both drivers to pit unexpectedly for repairs. Castroneves wound up ninth.
Justin Wilson, the defending race winner, finished 10th.
Danica Patrick struggled throughout the weekend at Watkins Glen, as she started 21st and finished 20th. Patrick competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race last weekend at New Hampshire. She will race in the Nationwide event next Friday at Chicagoland. MiamiHerald.com
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IndyCar Series: Camping World Grand Prix At The Glen - Race Results
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