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Power dominant in Watkins Glen win

Sun 4th, July 2010

Watkins Glen, NY (Sports Network) - Will Power gave his 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series championship bid a huge boost by winning Sunday's Camping World Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International.

Power, the pole sitter, passed Team Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe for the lead just after the final restart with 17 laps remaining in the 60-lap race at the 3.4-mile, 11-turn road course.

"I just knew that was my only chance on the restart that I was going to pass," Power said. "I knew [Briscoe's] tires had a little debris on them, so I just went for it. I got a good run and used the push-to-pass and got past him."

Power picked up his third victory of the season, but his first since March at St. Petersburg, FL. All three of Power's wins this year have come on street/road courses.

"I'm just so happy to have the car in victory lane again; it's been too long," said Power, who led a race-high 45 laps.

Penske drivers have started on the pole in all six races at Watkins Glen, but Power became the first one to win here. He also gave team owner Roger Penske his first open-wheel victory at Watkins Glen since 1981 with driver Rick Mears.

"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."

Dario Franchitti passed Briscoe for second with 16 laps to go, but Briscoe reclaimed the position just before they crossed the line to complete the second to last lap. Franchitti wiggled a bit coming out of the final turn, allowing Briscoe to make his move.

"I saw Dario start to struggle there the last couple of laps, so I was reeling him in," Briscoe said. "I thought I would never get him, because we had a lot more downforce, and I was about four miles per hour slower on the back straight, and that's how Will and Dario drove around me. It was a little bit frustrating, but it looks like with the downforce, we were able to look out after the tire a bit more. Luckily, they lasted a little bit longer than Dario's."

Franchitti, the defending series champion, finished third, while Raphael Matos and Mario Moraes completed the top-five.

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.

With the win, Power widened his points lead to 32 points over Franchitti and 40 ahead of Franchitti's Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon, who finished eighth.

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.

IndyCar is off next weekend before they run again on July 18 in Toronto.