2010 IRL Rd.9--Camping World Indy Grand Prix

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It is said that there are two venues within the United States that exemplify the different forms of open-wheel racing.......Indianapolis for the ovals, and Watkins Glen for the road courses. With its' rich motorsports history, not just in Indycars but also in Formula 1, the Glen exudes racing through its' pores.......and for the fourth consecutive year, the stars of the series will visit the Finger Lakes region during the 4th of July weekend.


Past Pole & Race Winners, Watkins Glen..........................
~~1979: Al Unser, Sr., Bobby Unser
~~1980: Al Unser, Sr., Bobby Unser
~~1981: Mario Andretti, Rick Mears
~~2005: Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon
~~2006: Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon
~~2007: Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon
~~2008: Ryan Briscoe, Ryan Hunter-Reay
~~2009: Ryan Briscoe, Justin Wilson

Event Schedule.................
note.......all times US EDT/-4 hrs. GMT
--Practice Session 1: 3:30-4:30pm, 2 July 2010
--Practice Session 2: 9:05-10:05am, 3 July 2010
--Knockout Qualifying: 1:15-2:45pm, 3 July 2010
--Final Practice: 10:15-1045am, 4 July 2010
--Camping World Indy Grand Prix, 3:30pm, 4 July 2010

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Track Map, Watkins Glen International

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----Paul Tracy will compete in the Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen on July 2-4 in the No. 24 Honda Indy Toronto car for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Tracy had previously announced that he would drive in the Canadian races in July -- the Honda Indy Toronto and Honda Indy Edmonton.

Tracy, the 2003 Champ Car World Series champion, will be making his ninth IZOD IndyCar Series start and his second at Watkins Glen International. He is one of the most successful drivers in Indy car racing with 31 career victories.

"It's obviously a good feeling to get more races, especially being able to race at The Glen and building up momentum before going into the Canadian events," said Tracy, whose sponsorship package for The Glen includes wheel manufacturer Motegi Racing. "It's also great to have the support of Honda Indy Toronto and Motegi Racing for this race as well.

"I'm really excited about working with Robbie Buhl again and to get to work with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. I've known Robbie from our early days in racing back when we competed against each other in the Indy Lights Series. It's very exciting to branch out with another team I haven't been with before and I'm looking forward to a good weekend."

Practice kicks off at 3:30 p.m. (ET) July 2 on the 3.4-mile circuit. Watch all the action live on www.indycar.com . Tracy will fill in for the injured Mike Conway at The Glen. Decisions have not been made on a driver for other races as Conway convalesces in the UK.

"We are very happy to have Paul drive for us," Buhl said. "He's a great driver and a big personality and we are thrilled to have him driving for us in Watkins Glen. We were extremely strong there last year and with Paul's racing experience and him being teamed up with Justin Wilson, we feel that we'll have an extremely strong package for the weekend. We obviously wish that Mike could be with us, but we just want him to have a quick recovery. Paul was a perfect fit and we couldn't be happier to have him behind the wheel."

Wilson is the defending race winner, having taken a Dale Coyne Racing entry to Victory Circle. He has a pair of runner-up finishes early this season in the No. 22 Z-Line Designs car.

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Camping World Indy Grand Prix Entry List
Raphael Matos, #2 HP-DeFerran Dragon Racing
Helio Castroneves, #3 Team Penske
Dan Wheldon, #4 National Guard
(R)Takuma Sato, #5 Lotus-KV Racing
Ryan Briscoe, #6 Team Penske
Danica Patrick, #7 GoDaddy.com
E.J. Viso, #8 PDVSA-JetAmerica
Scott Dixon, #9 Target
Dario Franchitti, #10 Target
Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-11
Will Power, #12 Verizon Wireless
Vitor Meira, #14 ABC Supply Co.
Milka Duno, #18 CITGO
(R)Alex Lloyd, #19 Boy Scouts of America
Justin Wilson, #22 Z-Line Designs/Charter Media
Paul Tracy, #24 Honda Indy Toronto
Marco Andretti, #26 Venome Energy
Adam Carroll, #27 Boost Mobile
Mario Moraes, #32 KV Racing
(R)Mario Romancini, #34 Conquest Racing
(R)Bertrand Baguette, #36 RAC Belgium
Ryan Hunter-Reay, #37 IZOD
Alex Tagliani, #77 Bowers & Wilkins
(R)Simona de Silvestro, #78 Team Stargate Worlds
Hideki Mutoh, #06 Formula Dream

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It’s not often that a race car driver has the opportunity to exclaim “It was a perfect day for me.” A year of reflection and Justin Wilson reiterates his Watkins Glen International Victory Circle statement. Wilson led a field-high 49 (of 60) laps, including the final 15, and went on to present Dale Coyne Racing its first IZOD IndyCar Series victory.

“It was just a great day to go out there and be quick,” said Wilson, who will attempt to successfully defend his title in the Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen on July 4. “The car felt great. Everything went right – apart from we couldn’t get a full tank of fuel. We could only get 19 gallons in the car every pit stop so that meant we were saving fuel like crazy the whole day until finally there was a yellow with 10 laps to go. That allowed us to save enough fuel so I could run flat out to the end. That’s why I managed to pull away from the rest of the field (to a 4-second victory over Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe). That’s what I was working with the whole time, but it worked for us as well.”

Wilson won on the Belle Isle street circuit in ’08 with Newman/Haas Racing in his first IZOD IndyCar Series season, but it wasn’t as fulfilling for the Colorado resident who turns 32 on July 31. “(The Glen) was more rewarding because I was able to overtake on track and be able to control the field as well,” said Wilson, noting that there were eight lead changes among six drivers. “At Belle Isle, I got alongside Helio (Castroneves) before I got squeezed in toward the wall and had to back out and that’s when (Race Control) deemed that to be blocking. At Watkins Glen, Ryan left me a little bit of road and I was able to complete the pass.”

Wilson said he enjoys the 3.4-mile, 11-turn Watkins Glen course that has played host to Formula 1 among multiple formulas for more than 50 years – mainly because it’s related to courses he competed on in Europe. Off-season facility modifications (replacing the tire barriers in Turn 11and the Inner Loops with the SAFER Barrier and paving some runoffs) are welcome by drivers.

“I think it’s one of the best tracks in the world,” he said. “Having won there last year I’m going to say that, but it’s just a great, fun track. There are a lot of fast corners and it hasn’t lost any of its character with the safety improvements. That’s key. When you come out of those fifth- and fourth-gear corners, you know when you’ve got it right. It’s like, ‘That feels good.’ ’’

He’ll attempt to regain that feeling in the No. 22 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing entry. Wilson had three top 10s, including a pair of runner-up finishes, in the four early season road/street course package and is eighth in the championship standings. The Glen race weekend kicks off a five-race road/street course swing that will impact the championship order. “I’m focused on this year, hoping we can go back there and be as competitive,” said Wilson, who started alongside pole sitter Ryan Briscoe each of the past two years. “It’s a different team, but I want to get back that same level of competition. Hopefully we can work it all out and repeat.”

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Watkins Glen Friday Practice
1. 6 Ryan Briscoe Team Penske 1:31.4143 132.714
2. 3 Helio Castroneves Team Penske 1:31.4974 0.0831 0.0831 132.594
3. 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 1:31.6781 0.1807 0.2638 132.333
4. 4 Dan Wheldon Panther Racing 1:31.7830 0.1049 0.3687 132.181
5. 22 Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 1:31.8628 0.0798 0.4485 132.067
6. 12 Will Power Team Penske 1:31.9317 0.0689 0.5174 131.968
7. 10 Dario Franchitti Chip Ganassi Racing 1:31.9896 0.0579 0.5753 131.884
8. 2 Raphael Matos de Ferran Luczo Dragon Racing 1:32.1617 0.1721 0.7474 131.638
9. 11 Tony Kanaan Andretti Autosport 1:32.1877 0.0260 0.7734 131.601
10. 32 Mario Moraes KV Racing Technology 1:32.2569 0.0692 0.8426 131.502
11. 26 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport 1:32.4117 0.1548 0.9974 131.282
12. 37 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport 1:33.0287 0.6170 1.6144 130.411
13. 06 Hideki Mutoh Newman/Haas Racing 1:33.0661 0.0374 1.6518 130.359
14. 8 E.J. Viso KV Racing Technology 1:33.1805 0.1144 1.7662 130.199
15. 34 Mario Romancini* Conquest Racing 1:33.2247 0.0442 1.8104 130.137
16. 24 Paul Tracy Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 1:33.2986 0.0739 1.8843 130.034
17. 7 Danica Patrick Andretti Autosport 1:33.3267 0.0281 1.9124 129.995
18. 5 Takuma Sato* KV Racing Technology 1:33.3399 0.0132 1.9256 129.977
19. 78 Simona De Silvestro* Team Stargate Worlds/HVM 1:33.5174 0.1775 2.1031 129.730
20. 19 Alex Lloyd* Dale Coyne Racing 1:33.6884 0.1710 2.2741 129.493
21. 77 Alex Tagliani FAZZT Race Team 1:34.2046 0.5162 2.7903 128.784
22. 14 Vitor Meira A.J. Foyt Enterprises 1:34.2438 0.0392 2.8295 128.730
23. 27 Adam Carroll AFS Racing/Andretti Autosport 1:34.4028 0.1590 2.9885 128.513
24. 36 Bertrand Baguette* Conquest Racing 1:35.7742 1.3714 4.3599 126.673
25. 18 Milka Duno Dale Coyne Racing 1:37.2840 1.5098 5.8697 124.707
*--2010 series rookie

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-----Drivers who have started from the pole in each of the five IZOD IndyCar Series events at Watkins Glen International are paired with last year’s race winner in the first qualifying group. The second group of 13 includes winners of the 2005-08 races, the current championship points leader and the reigning series champion.

Only six drivers from each group advance to the second round of PEAK Performance Pole Award qualifying July 3. Then there’s another cutdown to determine the Firestone Fast Six – the 10-minute shootout that will set the first three rows for the 60-lap Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen on July 4.

Add 11 drivers within 0.9974 of a second of practice pacesetter Ryan Briscoe, and that’s all background to illustrate the high level of competition on road/street courses. “If you lock a right front in qualifying on your best lap, it will be a difference of eight spots,” said Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay, whose career received a major boost with the victory at The Glen in 2008 and was 12th on the time chart in practice. “You have to nail the setup from the first session, you have to roll off the truck fast and you have to not chase your tail into Saturday and into qualifying.

“But also on Saturday the driver needs to get out there and absolutely turn as close as you could to a perfect lap and that’s what it seems you need to do to even get in the top five in the IndyCar Series right now. It’s nailing it all. Getting in the ballpark three or four years ago would put you in the top five; now getting in the ballpark will put you in the top 15.”

Fifteenth place in the 60-minute practice session on the 3.4-mile, 11-turn circuit on a glorious summer afternoon was Conquest Racing rookie Mario Romancini. He was 1.8 seconds off of Briscoe’s pace (1 minute, 31.4142 seconds; 132.714 mph).

Briscoe was the pole sitter the past two years (he finished second to Justin Wilson in ’09 and was 12th in ’08...). They’re paired in the first qualifications group with Helio Castroneves, who earned the pole in 2005-07 but is looking for his first victory at The Glen. Castroneves was second quick (1:31.4974; 132.594 mph) in practice in the No. 3 Team Penske car.

“Toward the end (of the session) the track was improving and the tires were coming in and we went a little bit quicker,” Briscoe said. “It’s still a long way off the pace (last year’s pole was a 1:28.5970 lap), but it’s a nice way to start.”

Three-time race winner Scott Dixon of Target Chip Ganassi Racing was third (1:31.6781) and Panther Racing’s Dan Wheldon (1:31.7830) was fourth. Wilson, driving for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, was fifth quick (1:31.8628) and Will Power, the third Team Penske driver and two-time race winner this season, was sixth (1:31.9317). “We made about three runs and the car had pretty good speed,” Dixon said. “I messed up on two of my quick laps, and I think there are two or three tenths in it, which puts us right in the ballpark. For a first attempt on the first run, I think both of the Team Target cars are pretty good.”

The other car belongs to Dario Franchitti, who was seventh (1:32.9896) on the time chart. Raphael Matos, Tony Kanaan and Mario Moraes filled out the top 10. Marco Andretti was that 11th driver within a second of Briscoe.

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Watkins Glen Saturday Practice
1. 6 Ryan Briscoe Team Penske 1:30.1910 134.515
2. 12 Will Power Team Penske 1:30.2072 0.0162 0.0162 134.490
3. 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 1:30.4900 0.2828 0.2990 134.070
4. 3 Helio Castroneves Team Penske 1:30.5153 0.0253 0.3243 134.033
5. 26 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport 1:30.5620 0.0467 0.3710 133.963
6. 10 Dario Franchitti Chip Ganassi Racing 1:30.5849 0.0229 0.3939 133.930
7. 22 Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 1:30.8604 0.2755 0.6694 133.524
8. 37 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport 1:30.9162 0.0558 0.7252 133.442
9. 8 E.J. Viso KV Racing Technology 1:30.9878 0.0716 0.7968 133.337
10. 5 Takuma Sato* KV Racing Technology 1:31.1184 0.1306 0.9274 133.145
11. 2 Raphael Matos de Ferran Luczo Dragon Racing 1:31.1632 0.0448 0.9722 133.080
12. 11 Tony Kanaan Andretti Autosport 1:31.2689 0.1057 1.0779 132.926
13. 32 Mario Moraes KV Racing Technology 1:31.4298 0.1609 1.2388 132.692
14. 06 Hideki Mutoh Newman/Haas Racing 1:31.4956 0.0658 1.3046 132.597
15. 19 Alex Lloyd* Dale Coyne Racing 1:31.7119 0.2163 1.5209 132.284
16. 7 Danica Patrick Andretti Autosport 1:31.7261 0.0142 1.5351 132.263
17. 4 Dan Wheldon Panther Racing 1:31.8575 0.1314 1.6665 132.074
18. 27 Adam Carroll AFS Racing/Andretti Autosport 1:32.1357 0.2782 1.9447 131.675
19. 14 Vitor Meira A.J. Foyt Enterprises 1:32.2812 0.1455 2.0902 131.468
20. 24 Paul Tracy Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 1:32.4126 0.1314 2.2216 131.281
21. 34 Mario Romancini* Conquest Racing 1:32.4581 0.0455 2.2671 131.216
22. 78 Simona De Silvestro* Team Stargate Worlds/HVM 1:32.5451 0.0870 2.3541 131.093
23. 77 Alex Tagliani FAZZT Race Team 1:32.7607 0.2156 2.5697 130.788
24. 36 Bertrand Baguette* Conquest Racing 1:33.3149 0.5542 3.1239 130.011
25. 18 Milka Duno Dale Coyne Racing 1:35.9549 2.6400 5.7639 126.434

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-----Team Penske earned its sixth consecutive pole position at Watkins Glen International and eighth in a row this season overall. That impressive statistic will mean little if one of its three drivers don’t come away with the victory in the Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen. Will Power, the Mario Andretti Road Course Championship points leader, won the PEAK Performance Pole Award for the fifth time this season with a lap of 1 minute, 29.3164 seconds on the 3.4-mile, 11-turn circuit during the Firestone Fast Six shootout.

Teammate Helio Castroneves (1:29.4609) was second – the first time this season a team has swept the front row – while Ryan Briscoe (1:29.9346) and reigning series champion Dario Franchitti will share Row 2. Team Penske started 1-2-3 at Edmonton in '09. Takuma Sato made his third Firestone Fast Six appearance in the No. 5 Lotus KV Racing Technology car and will be on the third row with defending race winner Justin Wilson in the No. 22 Z-Line Designs car for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.

The top six were separated by less than a second. Six different teams are represented on the first three rows. During Team Penske’s eight-race run, Briscoe (Texas) and Power (St. Petersburg) have transferred their pole starts into victories. The team hasn’t had as much success at Watkins Glen despite its pole starts (second by Briscoe in ’09 and Sam Hornish Jr. in ’07 are the highest finishes.

“It’s awesome to have the Verizon car on pole again,” Power said. “We’re certainly racking them up, but we’ve got to get the race win. The way the points are structured (a 10-point margin between first and second) you have to get that win. I was on it (in the Firestone Fast Six). I haven’t driven so hard, because I haven’t had such an advantage here. In the practice sessions, I was a little worried. I was thinking, ‘Man, it’s going to be tough to get pole.’ But we worked hard, and we got it all together.”

Added Castroneves, who had started on the pole the first three years at The Glen: “Certainly the competition is pushing us, but credit goes to my engineer Ron Ruzewski and the other ones as well. Each one of us wants to win, but as Roger (Penske) says in the end the team wins. Whoever is up there it benefits the team.”

Scott Dixon, a three-time winner of this race, missed advancing to the Firestone Fast Six by one-tenth of a second. Mario Moraes qualified a season-high best ninth on a road/street course in the No. 32 KV Racing Technology car. Adam Carroll, the former A1GP champion with Team Ireland who’s making his IZOD IndyCar Series debut in the No. 27 Boost Mobile entry for Andretti Autosport, will start 10th. Raphael Matos will start 11th in the No. 2 HP de Ferran Dragon Racing car. Paul Tracy, making his first race start of the season, qualified 12th in the No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing car.

“This qualifying result was a big improvement from some of the last races, so that’s a great positive,” said Matos, who recorded a season best. “I’m a little disappointed we didn’t get to move on to the Fast Six, but again, it’s good to have improved from some previous events. We have learned a lot this weekend. We’ll just keep working to continue that improvement. Tomorrow’s race will be long and physical. We’ll take what we’ve learned and use it to hopefully produce a good result.”

Tony Kanaan, the winner at Iowa Speedway two weeks earlier, missed advancing to Round 2 for the first time since Edmonton in ’09 (six races). He was seventh (1:31.1934) in Group 1. E.J. Viso, whose No. 8 PDVSA KV Racing Technology car made heavy contact with the left and right barriers in Turn 2 in the morning practice session, didn’t make a qualifying attempt and will start on the back row with fellow Venezuelan Milka Duno.

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-----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.

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, 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.

“I wanted it really bad; I really wanted to win,” said Power, the only multiple race winner this season. “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 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.

“I can tell you that the last two races were tough for the KV Racing Technology team with not finishing,” Moraes said. “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,” said Briscoe, who finished second to Justin Wilson in ‘09. “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.” Added Franchitti: “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. "I knew once we got to the pit stop the team would get me some spots," Wheldon said. "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 (clipped by the front wing of Dixon’s car on Lap 7) to finish ninth. Wilson, driving the No. 22 Z-Line Designs car for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, was 10th. "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."