THE LINE

July 8, 2009

Justin Wilson, Dale Coyne Racing. Holding off two of the IndyCar Series' hottest shoes - Ryan Briscoe (No. 6 Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone) and Scott Dixon (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing D/H/F) after a Lap 54 restart, Justin Wilson, riding on the softer alternate "red" Firestone tires, pulled away and beat Briscoe to the flag by 4.9906 seconds in the Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen last Sunday afternoon. Dixon finished third. It was Wilson's second IndyCar win and the first ever IndyCar Series victory for Dale Coyne Racing in its 558th open-wheel racing start over 25 years (long time reader Tom Schultz rightly pointed out to us that Justin also recorded four Champ Car wins). Wilson's first win back came last August at Detroit's Belle Isle while driving for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, which was also the last time a driver other than one from Target Chip Ganassi Racing or Team Penske won an IRL event. “It feels fantastic,” said Wilson, who started on the outside of the front row and led a field-high 49 laps. “This is the most important win in my career; winning with Dale and showing what we can do. It’s a fantastic feeling.” "It took too long," said Coyne, who is competing in his 25th year of open-wheel racing as a driver and owner, about the long-awaited victory. "We knew Justin was a strong road racer. We almost showed it at St. Pete, and we showed it here." With his third place finish, Scott Dixon takes over the IndyCar Series point lead, with Briscoe and Dario Franchitti tied at 19 points behind. Franchitti’s No. 10 Polaroid-sponsored car for Target Chip Ganassi Racing spun and came to rest in the gravel in the Inner Loop on Lap 23. He returned and finished 15th. Next up for the IndyCar Series is the Honda Indy Toronto on the streets of Toronto next Sunday. The race will be telecast live in High Definition at 1 p.m. (EDT) by ABC. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network, XM channel 145 and Sirius channel 211. The radio broadcast also will be carried on www.indycar.com.

Some nice tributes came Dale Coyne's way after the win. Here are some as provided by IndyCar's media folk:

JIMMY VASSER (Co-owner, KV Racing Technology): “I know Dale (Coyne) has been working hard to build his team. I believe that Justin (Wilson) is one of the best guys out there. I’m not surprised, and I’m very pleased for all of them.”

BRIAN BARNHART (President, Competition and Racing Operations, Indy Racing League): “It couldn’t have happened for anybody better than Dale (Coyne). His dedication, commitment and perseverance is second to none. It all paid off for him today, and I wish him nothing but happiness and congratulations.”

MICHAEL ANDRETTI (Co-owner, Andretti Green Racing): “It’s great. They’ve been knocking at the door, and they did a great job. I’m really, really happy for Dale (Coyne). He’s been coming here for a long time, so to finally get it (the win) is good.”

ROGER PENSKE (Owner, Penske Racing): “Congratulations to Dale on his first IndyCar win. Dale has been a great friend and a great competitor for many years, and we are very happy for him and his team. They worked very hard for this. I thought Justin Wilson drove a great race, and he certainly deserved the victory today.”

MIKE HULL (Managing Director, Target Chip Ganassi Racing): “We’re absolutely ecstatic for Dale Coyne winning the race. For a guy like Dale to put in not only the perseverance, but more importantly what he’s done with his program this year. He stepped up to the plate with his program this year, and he’s gotten results. That’s an owner that’s taken the initiative to make it happen, and those are the kind of owners that make a difference in motor racing. He’s done it on two levels, and we’re very excited for him.”

(Ron McQueeney/IRL)
An elated Dale Coyne celebrates with his driver Justin Wilson after the first IndyCar victory for Coyne in 25 years of competition.

(Ron McQueeney/IRL)
Justin Wilson's No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Z-Line Designs machine was a blur all weekend.

(Ron McQueeney/IRL)
Justin Wilson celebrates his big win at The Glen with his jubilant Dale Coyne Racing crew.

(Ron McQueeney/IRL)
J.R. Hildebrand (No. 26 ARPRO) won the Corning 100 Firestone Indy Lights race at The Glen last Saturday. James Davison (No. 21 People's Liberation/Vision Racing) was second, and rookie Felipe Guimaraes (No. 29 Bryan Herta Autosport) finished third.

(Mark Weber/SCCA Pro Racing)
Dino Crescentini (No. 4 Stoptech/GMG Porsche 911 GT3), of Manhattan Beach, Calif., captured his first SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship win since 2005 on Saturday, holding off Eric Curran (No. 30 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Corvette), of Easthampton, Mass., by just 0.255-seconds at the finish of the 22-lap, 74.8-mile Toyo Tires Watkins Glen Grand Prix Presented by Lala Motorsports. James Sofronas (No. 14 Global Motorsports Group Porsche 911 GT3), of Newport Beach, Calif., finished third. Crescentini became the sixth different winner in six races this year. Brandon Davis maintained the point lead with 498 points. Sofronas and Andy Pilgrim moved past Tony Rivera, with 464, 448 and 443, respectively. Curran is fifth, with 426. Porsche extended its Manufacturers’ Championship Presented by RACER Magazine lead, with 35, to Ford’s 24, followed by Chevrolet (21), Volvo (18) and Dodge (15). This race will be broadcast Tuesday, July 22 at 2 p.m. (EDT). Next up is the Autobahn Country Club for Round Seven, July 24-26.

(Mark Weber/SCCA)
Seth Thomas (No. 38 BimmerWorld/GearWrench BMW 328i), of Cumming, Ga., took his second SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car win of the season in the Toyo Tires Watkins Glen Grand Prix Presented by Lala Motorsports. Charles Espenlaub (No. 73 MAZDASPEED/Stoptech/ProParts MAZDA6), of Lutz, Fla., and Andrew Aquilante (No. 35 Phoenix Performance Subaru Impreza WRX), of Phoenixville, Pa., completed the Round Five podium. Jason Saini’s Championship lead is now cut to three points over Pierre Kleinubing (478 to 475). Seth Thomas is now third with 472 points, followed by Peter Cunningham (455) and Kuno Wittmer (440). Acura continues to lead Mazda in the Manufacturers’ Championship Presented by RACER Magazine (36 to 33 points). BMW sits third with 22. Round Five of the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Championships will air on SPEED, Tuesday, July 22, at 2 p.m. (EDT). Round Six heads to Autobahn Country Club, in Joliet, Ill., July 24-26.

Bernard Ecclestone. Publisher's Note: While Dale Coyne was reminding us of what racing is supposed to be all about, Bernie Ecclestone was reminding us yet again just how far afield the sport's alleged "top level" has gotten from reality. The embarrassing shenanigans of Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosely over in Formula 1 seem to grow exponentially larger by the day, with this past week giving us Bernie's revelations on Adolf Hitler, of all topics. He told London's The Times in an interview that he was predisposed to "strong leaders," mentioning former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Max Mosley, outgoing head of Formula One’s governing body, as examples. But he didn't stop there, however. Then he exponded on democracy's flaws saying that it “hasn’t done a lot of good for many countries—including this one.” But there was more. “In a lot of ways, terrible to say this I suppose, but apart from the fact that Hitler got taken away and persuaded to do things that I have no idea whether he wanted to do or not, he was in the way that he could command a lot of people, able to get things done,” Ecclestone was quoted as saying. "In the end he got lost, so he wasn’t a very good dictator.” Oh my. Ecclestone also said the West had been wrong to depose Iraq’s Sadam Hussein, saying: “He was the only one who could control that country.” And we wonder why more and more people are turning away from F1 in droves. Until the Bernie & Max show is finally terminated and F1 reestablishes some semblance of reality, interest in that level of the sport will continue to wane. - PMD

Toyota. The global financial crisis has decimated Toyota's considerable war chest and now the fallout is starting to really hit. The Toyota-owned Fuji International Speedway has pulled out of hosting the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix in 2010 and beyond because of the company's reduced financial standing. The Fuji International circuit had been scheduled to alternate the race each year with the Honda-owned Suzuka circuit. So far Toyota will remain competing in F1, but that could change. Honda pulled out after the end of last season.

(Ron McQueeney/IMS)
Publisher's Note: Thanks to the media folk at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for sending the following excerpt along from the Tony Stewart/Ryan Newman Allstate 400 at The Brickyard press conference that took place at The Speedway today. - PMD

MODERATOR: Tony, we're going to start with you. You've been talking a lot lately about the success of your team, and it's surprising a lot of people. When you looked at the schedule for this year and set expectations, did the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard jump out as one of the goals for the team?

TONY STEWART: You know, honestly this was a project that was so big that I'm not sure that we really actually set goals other than what I had instilled in Bobby Hutchens and Darian Grubb and Tony Gibson and Ryan. I wanted us to go to the racetrack each week, give 100 percent, and our competition meetings are on Monday. I wanted us to go back on Mondays and sit down and discuss everything that happened during the weekend; talk about the things we did right, talk about the things we did wrong, and talk on both of those sides how we can make things better for the next week. So that was my goal, was just to make progress every week.

You know, the success that we’ve had up to this point of the season has come much quicker than any of us I think would have dreamed, but we’re very pleased with it, very excited about it. I feel fortunate about it.

Ryan has done a great job coming in and working with the new group of people, and I look at Ryan’s season up to date and I look at mine, and I’ve had the easy side of it. Ryan has absolutely been like a warrior through every weekend. He’s battled through adversity at every race, and that really makes me proud, not only of him as a teammate and a driver but also of his crew on the U.S. Army car and how they’re able to overcome each weekend. They’ve been able to do things I think battling adversity during the races that I think a lot of teams can’t do and get the result and the outcome that they’ve had.

From our side it’s been pretty painless up to this point. Our Office Depot/Old Spice team has done a great job, and I’m really proud to work with Darian Grubb. I’m excited about our relationship so far and how quickly it’s grown in such a short amount of time that we’re extremely excited about the progress of this race team and the organization, and watching how the organization has grown over the last year now.

See another live episode of "Autoline After Hours" hosted by Autoline Detroit's John McElroy, with Peter De Lorenzo and friends this Thursday evening, July 9, at 7:00PM EDT at www.autolinedetroit.tv.

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