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INDYCAR: Wilson Dominates Watkins Glen
Written by: Marshall Pruett   
07/05/2009
Watkins Glen, NY
 
It’s fair to say Justin Wilson and his Z-Line Designs Dale Coyne Racing team entered the Watkins Glen IndyCar race on a low after suffering a seemingly endless string of crashes and poor finishes after taking third at St. Pete to open the season.
The win at Watkins was just what Bad Ass and his Dale Coyne Racing team needed after a punishing string of poor finishes on the ovals. Wilson now heads to the Toronto and Edmonton street courses. (Getty) ยป More Photos

The next seven races would see ‘Bad Ass’ finish in 22nd, 14th, 23rd, 15th, 15th, 18th and 14th. But when it came time for redemption, Wilson drove his #18 Dallara-Honda into the distance, leading 46 laps of the 60 lap race.

After watching the Ganassi and Penske drivers win every round in 2009, being the unlikely man to break their domination (and with a privateer effort) wasn’t lost on Wilson.

“We’ve put our efforts into the road courses because we knew that’s where we could be strong. To think, at the start of the year I didn’t think I’d be driving and here I am having won a race. I was grinning from ear to ear on that last lap. We’ve been trying to tell people we’re on our way, and I think this lets them know.”

For team owner Dale Coyne, his first win in a quarter century of trying as an owner and driver wasn’t met with an overflow of emotions. The faithful entrant knew his dedication would eventually pay off, saying “It took too long” with a smile.

Runner-up Ryan Briscoe honored the efforts of Wilson and Coyne. “Big congrats to Dale Coyne and the whole team and Justin (Wilson). We got caught out by the yellow. We went a lap further than him in the first stint. That was going to get us the lead back, but unfortunately the yellow came, and we had to make two pit stops. That put us back. We had to work hard to come through the field. We had some great pit stops, and it was pretty exciting at the end with everybody on the softer compound. I had my hands full defending them.”

Watkins Glen got off to a mostly clean start, despite Ryan Hunter-Reay finding his left front wheel at odd angles after a first lap tangle with Luczo Dragon’s Rafa Matos. The defending race winner’s hopes for a repeat win were over by the end of lap 1. It was his second first-lap exit with A.J. Foyt in three appearances for the Texan.

Polesitter Ryan Briscoe took the lead into turn 1 and used a higher downforce package to hold off a persistent threat from Wilson in the early going as the Briton came close to passing the Aussie going into the Bus Stop chicane. Wilson finally got by under braking into the chicane on lap three after Briscoe got a poor run out of turn one.

The Z-Line Designs car went for a lower downforce package – different than what we’d soon learn the all of the Penske and Ganassi cars would utilize, and Castroneves, Dixon and Franchitti often found themselves on the rev limiter on the longer straights. Wilson held onto his Dallara in the opening laps and leapt at the chance to pass Briscoe. Once past, it became clear that Bad Ass would be the man everyone had to beat on Sunday.

KV Racing’s Mario Moraes made an impressive move to jump the third, holding off Target’s Dixon in fourth and Franchitti in fifth. The inconsistent Brazilian youngster has shown flashes of brilliance this year, and with more experience, could be a regular threat in the series. Sadly, his third place wouldn’t last long as he attempted to defy gravity and
the laws of physics later in the race.

E.J Viso’s desperate attempt to pass Marco Andretti on lap five left the AGR driver with a flat right rear tire, ending his hopes of a solid finish. Andretti wasn’t done though, blocking the leaders as Wilson attempted to pass Marco on lap eight. Once Wilson and Briscoe got by, the lapped driver insisted on holding off Moraes and the Target cars, creating an impossible gap between the top two cars and the runners in third through fifth.

Moraes got by four laps later, but not before he’d lost almost six seconds to Briscoe. AGR’s Tony Kanaan made a lot of progress in the opening laps, moving to seventh after starting ninth.

Dreyer & Reinbold’s Mike Conway held fifth after thirteen laps, ahead of Dario Franchitti and hot on Dixon’s tracks. Kanaan would get by Dario to take 6th on lap seventeen as the Scot dealt with dire understeer.

Bad Ass was able to hold a slight lead over Briscoe – about a second on most laps – up to his first pit stop at the end of lap eighteen. Wilson also switched to Firestone Blacks, as did most of the front runners.

Team 3G’s Richard Antinucchi brought out a caution on lap nineteen when he went off in turn one; Briscoe pitted immediately (despite the pits being closed) to get a splash of fuel to continue (similar to Franchitti’s splash at Richmond that handed the lead and win to Scott Dixon). One the long road course, Briscoe suffered little for the extra stop under yellow.

Briscoe emerged in second behind Moraes but regained his position when the pits opened and the Team Penske crew got the Aussie out ahead of Mario. Marco Andretti stayed out during the yellow and was waved around, regaining his lost lap.

The big winners were Wilson and Conway – both pitted before the yellow and found themselves with an appreciable margin over Briscoe (eleventh), Dixon (thirteenth) and Franchitti (fourteenth) when the green flag waved on lap 23.

Conway was passed by Graham Rahal on the re-start before a yellow flew when Franchitti found himself backwards in the gravel at the Bus Stop, Moraes flying over Ed Carpenter, and Carpenter with a punctured right front tire.
A foolish attempt by Moraes to pass Carpenter at the apex of the first chicane found the KV car airborne and Carpenter with a holed Firestone. As the crash caused a panic for those immediately behind this incident, Franchitti was hit and spun into the sand trap. The #10 Target car wasn’t damaged, but the points leader lost a lap, resuming in nineteenth place.

Despite his collateral damage, Moraes continued unscathed in tenth until the IndyCar Series levied a drive-through penalty for Moraes once the action got back under way on lap 26.
Hideki Mutoh re-started in third after Rahal pitted for a splash of fuel. Like Moraes, Mutoh was on a charge early on, but it wouldn’t last.

Paul Tracy had a quiet day on his first trip to Watkins before backing his car into the barriers on lap 29, bringing out the race’s third yellow. PT’s day was over immediately, but the popular Canadian will be back next week at Toronto.

The top-10 runners at the halfway point were Wilson, Conway, Mutoh, Wheldon, Castroneves, Patrick, Briscoe, Dixon, Matos and Kanaan.

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