Power wins at Watkins Glen

[July 05, 2010]  WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) -- Will Power won the Camping World Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International with a commanding performance Sunday, giving Team Penske its first IndyCar Series win at the storied road course.

Penske drivers had won the first five poles at Watkins Glen but had never won.

Power, the series points leader, started from the pole and led 45 of 60 laps around the 11-turn, 3.4-mile road course. He beat teammate Ryan Briscoe by 1.2 seconds for his third win of the season, all on road or street courses.

"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.

Dario Franchitti was third, followed by Raphael Matos and Mario Moraes, his best finish of the season. After one week driving in NASCAR, Danica Patrick finished 20th, one spot ahead of where she started.

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."

Franchitti passed Briscoe for second at the same spot two laps later but never mounted a serious challenge. Briscoe passed him for second entering the first turn, a 90-degree right-hander, of the final lap.

"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 complexion of the race changed early when Helio Castroneves, who started second, and Scott Dixon made contact on the back straight heading up through the esses on lap 7. The contact punctured the left rear tire of Castroneves' No. 3 Penske Honda and Dixon's front wing was damaged, forcing both to pit.

On different strategies the remainder of the race, they ran up front when the other cars made their first pit stops but never could challenge Power. Dixon finished eighth, one spot in front of Castroneves and more than 12 seconds behind the winner.

Power was in command from the start, leading the first 18 laps before pitting for the first time.

Dixon inherited the lead for the next 10 laps before pitting again and Power resumed control, ahead of Briscoe and Matos.

Teams started the race with different strategies. Each received six sets of primary tires, the most durable road course compound, and three sets of alternate, or red-sidewall, tires. The "reds" contain a softer tread that provide more grip and faster times, but they wear out more quickly.

Both tires were used at The Glen last year, and at the start of Sunday's race the top three cars of Power, Castroneves and Briscoe were among the 11 that started on primary tires. Five cars in the top 10 on the grid -- Franchitti, Takuma Sato, defending race winner Justin Wilson, Dixon and Moraes -- started on reds.

The tire strategy didn't work when Castroneves had a poor start, holding Franchitti up when the green flag waved to start the race.

Despite having to save fuel in the closing laps -- Franchitti ran one extra lap than the Penske duo before his final pit stop -- Power pulled away after Franchitti had briefly begun to close the gap.

"We managed to go that one lap extra, and that helped us," Franchitti said. "It gave us a little more fuel to go by Ryan and catch Will. At that point, I was fairly happy the way things were going. It was on the blacks that I felt I struggled."

[Associated Press; By JOHN KEKIS]

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.