Will Power, celebrated Penske Racing's domination at the historic 3.4-mile, 11-turn torture track of Glen. After securing the first 3 positions of the grid Penske Racing succeess was inevitable and Power who started the race from the pole position, returned to victories at the Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen, followed by his teammate Ryan Briscoe by 1.2181 seconds in
It was the fourth major open-wheel victory at Watkins Glen for Team Penske. Bobby Unser won in 1979 in 1980 and Rick Mears in 1981 (in CART).
Power, who increased his championship points lead to 32 over Franchitti, and 70-point advantage over Ryan Hunter-Reay in the Mario Andretti Road Course Championship standings after his 3rd road course victory of the season.
"I wanted it really bad; I really wanted to win. I can’t stand when you’re the quickest in qualifying and then you have a bad race. Honestly, it was the first race that I pushed on every single lap. Never once that I didn’t push.
We had to get the fuel number the whole race so I had to push really hard while saving fuel. I had to get the lap time while saving fuel. It was just a difficult race, but it was great. I loved it."
Reigning IZOD IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti finished third after trying hard to threat ho tried hard to threat Penske Racing driveesnke Racing drivers domnination and Raphael Matos tied his season best with a fourth place in the No. 2 HP de Ferran Dragon Racing car although 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.
"I can tell you that the last two races were tough for the KV Racing Technology team with not finishing. Overall, it was good day to get back into the top five again, and hopefully we can improve for the Toronto race. I love Toronto. It is a great track and I love to race there. I think we can get a strong run there and finish higher on today’s finish."
After pacing the field early, Power overtook Briscoe on Lap 44 with a low move entering the (Bus Stop) chicane. Franchitti used the same move three laps later on Briscoe to move into second and push the pacesetter.
With five laps left, Franchitti had the advantage over Power of one more Honda overtake assist push and an extra lap of fuel in the tank. He was 1.31 seconds back, seemingly setting up for a late-race maneuver that potentially could provide the victory. But the Firestone alternate tires on the No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car were giving way and Briscoe overtook Franchitti on Lap 60 for second.
Briscoe was 1.21 seconds behind Power on the white flag lap and "could smell the candy," but didn’t have enough for his teammate.
"Will was strong. It was a little bit frustrating, but with the downforce in the car I was able to look after my red tires a bit more than Dario. He was hanging on for dear life at the end and thankfully his went off about a lap sooner than mine did so I was able to get him. It’s a great way to bring home a Penske 1-2."
Franchitti added: "I’m disappointed with the last lap, but it was a fun race. I’m not sure anyone had anything for (Power). Will did a great job. When the tires started to go off, he did a better job of managing his tires."
Dan Wheldon, who started 20th in the No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing car because of a steering issue in qualifications and was spun because of contact by another car on Lap 17, jumped to sixth. Hunter-Reay advanced nine spots to seventh in the No. 37 IZOD entry for Andretti Autosport.
Weldon said:
"I knew once we got to the pit stop the team would get me some spots. Fortunately, because the car was so good, we were able to overtake people and as soon as we got the Firestone 'red' tire on I was able to come through the field. That was a very strong team performance today by the Panther boys."
Helio Castroneves, who started on the front row, overcame a flat left-rear tire caused by the front wing of Dixon’s car on Lap 7, to finish ninth.
"I think I proved I was the fastest car on three wheels out there," Castroneves said. "Unfortunately, we had the flat tire. He had a fast straight line car and probably could have made the pass without causing that contact, but we were both able to recover and finish in the top 10."
The 2009 winner, Justin Wilson driving the No. 22 Z-Line Designs car for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, was 10th. The Japanese kamikaze Takuma Sato had another awesome start for the race remaining in the top-5 in the first half of the race but finished the race back to 15th place which is his best season finish after the disappointing retirements in the previous races. Danica Patrick for one more race seemed to be lost in the back of the field finishing back in 20th position. Paul tracy who raced for reyer & Reinbold Racing fisnied 14th and he is preparing for the Canadian races with KVRacing
