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Dixon Scores Hat Trick At Watkins Glen

Watkins Glen, NY ? Scott Dixon made it three in a row at Watkins Glen International as he handily won the Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix, the 10th IndyCar Series race of the season.

Road courses feature twists and turns and the Grand Prix itself did just the same, as race strategies, crashes, frayed nerves, near misses and a post-race skirmish dotted the event. Also, a powerful thunderstorm roared through Watkins Glen an hour after the race ended.

Dixon started in the front row and chased fast qualifier Helio Castroneves until the latter crashed out of the race while leading. Running second at the time, Dixon took command and only relinquished the lead as pit stops cycled through. Dixon?s three consecutive victories at the historic track tied the standard set years ago by the late Graham Hill.

?It was a tough race,? Dixon said in victory lane. ?At times it was frustrating when you know your car is faster than the one ahead of you. You do know pit stops will cycle through and allow you to move forward, but it is difficult to wait. This was one of the toughest races I have been involved in.?

Regarding Castroneves?s crash, Dixon said, ?I could see Helio?s car starting to wiggle and I slowed a little bit, which enabled me to miss him.?

Commenting on his mastery of the tricky track, Dixon added, ?The Glen has become one of my favorite tracks, but during the last ten laps, I was waiting for something to break on the car. Now I am looking forward to going for four in a row.?

Dixon led the race twice for a total of 23 laps, and he averaged 116.813 miles per hour for the 60-lap race around the twisting 3.4-mile road course. His margin of victory was 6.2 seconds.

In winning, Dixon gave the Target Chip Ganassi Racing team its 13th IndyCar Series victory. For the season, Dixon won for the first time and teammate Dan Wheldon has won twice. The winner set an IndyCar Series record by finishing his 26th-straight race and he tied Wheldon for consecutive wins at a track. The latter has won three in a row at Homestead-Miami Speedway..

While Dixon was enjoying the victory lane celebration, a post-race incident erupted between second place driver Sam Hornish Jr. and fourth place Tony Kanaan along with their respective teams. It started out with a harsh exchange of words and it was followed by a brief scuffle. Security officials and team members broke up the tussle but not before everyone?s feelings became more inflamed.

The post-race flare-up was triggered by a mid-race incident when Hornish got into Kanaan while battling for position.

?I got a good run on him and got into him,? Hornish admitted. ?I thought he knew I was there. Sometimes you need to check your mirrors. It was an unfortunate incident. When the race ended, I thought he was going to run into my car and then when we got out of our cars, we started arguing. It was such a hot day and everyone?s tempers were up there.?

Hornish said he should have been enjoying his career-best finish on a road course instead of arguing with other drivers and having to field difficult questions about the incident.

Kanaan stated, ?He (Hornish) bumped me out of the way but I wasn?t going to hit him (afterward). After the race, I wasn?t very happy, and I got out of the car to talk with him. Sam?s (Hornish) father bumped me, and I think that?s totally wrong. I was not going to fight with Sam. We were both obviously hot and were talking about what happened and his dad came in and bumped me. When something happens on the track, we need to sort it out between ourselves.?

An IndyCar Series spokesman said series officials will review videotapes of the post-race actions, and it is likely that sanctions will come about.
With a masterful driver, Hornish secured second place with Indianapolis champion Dario Franchitti third followed by Kanaan in fourth.

?I think second (place) was what we were really hoping for,? Franchitti said. ?We lost a little bit of time in the pits, and I think that was the difference between second and third. This was a very, very tough race ? maybe one of the toughest. I am just going to keep fighting (Scott) Dixon week in and week out for the championship.?

Marco Andretti, who led nine laps, put in a strong run to end up in fifth.

Buddy Rice battled gamely to gain sixth place followed by Dan Wheldon.

Eighth through tenth places went to Kosuke Matsuura, Darren Manning and Jeff Simmons.

Danica Patrick ended up in 11th with Vision Racing teammates Ed Carpenter and Tomas Scheckter 12th and 13th, respectively.

Of the 18 starters, only Castroneves did not finish the race. Regarding his accident, Castroneves stated, ?I think I just over-thought things and ended up spinning. I knew Scott (Dixon) was fast in turn 1, so I was pushing to get up there in front of him and spun. I was thinking a turn ahead, and it cost us today.?

IndyCar Series Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Results Sunday of the Camping World Watkins Glen
Grand Prix IndyCar Series event July 8 at the 3.4-mile Watkins Glen
International, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses,
driver, chassis-engine, laps completed, reason out (if any) and money
earned:

1. (2) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running $131,400

2. (5) Sam Hornish Jr., Dallara-Honda, 60, Running $99,050

3. (3) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running $82,050

4. (4) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running $65,500

5. (6) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running $59,400

6. (7) Buddy Rice, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running $53,900

7. (10) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running $52,400

8. (11) Kosuke Matsuura, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running $49,000

9. (9) Darren Manning, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running $49,000

10. (12) Jeff Simmons, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running $47,400

11. (15) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running $45,800

12. (17) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running $44,400

13. (13) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running $43,000

14. (14) Scott Sharp, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running $41,300

15. (16) A.J. Foyt IV, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running $39,900

16. (18) Sarah Fisher, Dallara-Honda, 58, Running $38,500

17. (8) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 58, Running $37,000

18. (1) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 19, Contact $47,000

Race Statistics

Winner’s average speed: 116.813 mph

Time of race: 1:43:51.5094

Margin of victory: 6.2591 seconds

Cautions: 3 caution flags for 7 laps

Lead changes: 5 among 5 drivers

Lap leaders: Castroneves 1-19, Dixon 20-24, Meira 25-32, Wheldon
33, Andretti 34-42, Dixon 43-60.

Point standings: Franchitti 394, Dixon 347, Kanaan 319,
Wheldon 313, Hornish 297, Castroneves 257, Sharp 239, Patrick
232, Meira 220, Scheckter 214.

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