While the race ended under the caution flag, there was no doubt Scott Dixon had the dominating car and 2nd place Tony Kanaan wasn't going to run him down. The caution flag was brought out when Tomas Enge attempted to pass Helio Castroneves for 6th position  on the inside going into a turn. Helio mustn't have known Tomas was there, because he turned down into him and there was a big crash. Both drivers appear to be ok. To me Enge was doing what he needed to do, which was to finish as high as possible, and he was far enough into the pass that Helio should have seen him. Here is the final unofficial race results as posted by IndyCar T&S.

(The Restart) 4 laps to go at the green flag. I have to say the IndyCars look very nimble on the Watkins Glen course, I'm used to seeing the NASCAR cars tail-wagging through the chicane, the IndyCars barely slow down. There was a great shot of mid track passing, but Dixon appears to have no fears of being run down by the AGR cars of Kanaan and Franchitti. CAUTION, CONTACT BETWEEN CASTRONEVES AND ENGE, DIXON, TCGR AND TOYOTA WIN!

(The run to the finish, 12 laps to go) Sam Hornish was last of the off-cycle car to pit, and now Dixon is the "real" leader. I get a biding-his-time feeling about Kanaan, but he would have been better off to have kept Dixon behind him if he wanted to win the race. CAUTION, ALEX BARRON HAS SPUN AND WE WILL HAVE A FULL COURSE YELLOW!

(Going out on a limb here) I have said all weekend that around lap 37 at least some of the leaders will head for pit road for their final stop, time to see if I'm right. I may catch a mulligan on the call now, as the TV crew is talking "sprinkles." If that is the case, and there is a possible need to switch to rain tires, no one can afford an early stop. Bryan Herta and Alex Barron are the first to roll the dice, pitting on lap 40, and now we are seeing Enge and Matsuura in as well. The die is cast, Dixon is in now. If there is a full course caution now, depending who shakes out in front of Herta and Barron could have an E-ticket to win the race, and Dixon beat them all anyway. It just could be that Scott Dixon will win his first race in over two years.  Franchitti and Kanaan  have finally made their stops, and they were quick ones, since they needed less fuel. Kanaan beat Dixon around, but Franchitti made contact with him, doing no damage. A lap later Kanaan couldn't hold of Dixon and Scott was back in the lead. Castroneves is no longer in contention, at least for now.

(On the restart) Half way through the restart lap Scott Dixon drove around the outside of race leader Castroneves. Shortly after that Vitor Meira became the 3rd RLR driver to have troubles and came to pit road with rev-limiter issues.

(Lap 26, Dan Wheldon's hope for a caution may have  materialized, but as soon as all the other cars that stopped early there appears to be an incident or two with two the RLR cars that has brought out the caution flag, Both Danica Patrick and Buddy Rice are in trouble on the course, Rice has hit something, but Danica slowed to a stop and T&S shows she has been restarted. Wheldon gets to stop under the caution, but the leaders will remain on the track in their quest for a two stop race. Since Wheldon stopped on lap 29, he will have to stop again, and I expect that stop will come soon after lap 36 when the final pit window opens. Green Flag!

(Lap 20) We  are very close to seeing green flag pit stops for the leaders, but Scott Dixon is the first driver to show a contested pass can be made, getting past Tony Kanaan. The first to pit were Giorgio Pantano and Patrick Carpentier. The next lap Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon came in. On Pantano's stop he ran over an air hose, he may have to make a stop and go penalty. Kanaan and Franchitti are in on lap 23, it's good to have Honda fuel economy. but this may be a false gain, because it will be how soon before lap 37 that the leaders pit that will probably dictate the winner of the race IF it doesn't rain. Still, since Kanaan and Franchitti were the last of the leaders to pit, they will need less fuel and their stops will be faster. This leaves early-stoppers Wheldon, Hornish and Matsuura in the lead.

(Lap 4) Tomas Scheckter had a suspension (upright) failure and ended up in a "sandbox." Tomas is OK but is done for the day. While several of the leaders faked a move to the pits, only those from a very loose Dan Wheldon on back made stops. Danica Patrick gained a handful of spots while pitting. The race resumed on lap 8, and that should extend the first pit stops for the leaders to lap 20 or 21.

(The Start) well at least they will start in dry conditions, and should it remain that way, look for the first pit stops to come after lap 17 if the teams do try for a two-stop race. The race is off to an uneventful start although Dario Franchitti slipped a bit but didn't lose a position.

Showers are a possibility when the IndyCars bring open wheel racing back to the historic old course at Watkins Glen, NY today, here's the weather forecast... That forecast calls for rain at noon and 6:00 PM as well, with cloudy conditions at 3:00 PM. Since the race starts at 3:30, lets hope the weatherman is spot on today. That isn't to say a few laps under wet conditions wouldn't raise the excitement level a notch, but I'd just as soon pass on an all-day drenching. Since the fast Toyota's appear to have been getting their edge on the street and road courses as well as the short ovals for drivability reasons, I'm sure their teams would welcome a flag to flag race in the rain. Should that be the case, I think that there was hint of just who to watch in the rain from the Friday morning practice session. Road Racer Giorgio Pantano led that session over Tony Kanaan, Patrick Carpentier, Tomas Enge and Dario Franchitti. Four of those drivers (Pantano, Carpentier, Kanaan and Franchitti) will start in the top six positions today. Pole sitter Helio Castroneves was 6th in the rain on Friday, when best speeds were in the 108 mph range, here's the Friday T&S link... Pantano is a full time road racer, far more accustomed to running in the rain than most of the IndyCar drivers, but the same could be said for Tomas Enge as well. One thing I would rather not see is rain coming and going, requiring changes back and forth between wet and dry tires. The Glen is too fast a venue for trying to run on a damp course with "dry" tires.

During the past two days of practice and qualifying the IndyCars have proven to be well-suited to The Glen, they have been fast, reliable and for the most part safe. There has been the usual amount of off-track excursions, but only Sam Hornish has dinged a car bad enough to require using his backup Dallara. The only thing we have yet to see is if these cars will be able to make contested passes at will today. Because that wasn't possible at Infineon Raceway, the race was a yawner, and  a stark contrast to the excitement of the street course at St. Petersburg, FL last April. I see some passing possibilities at The Glen, and if one of the Toyota teams is to win, they will need to find a way to get 'er done. The cars of Andretti Green Racing usually get the head-of-pit-road  pit positions due to their best combined team results. Because of that, at some point in the race an AGR car will come out of a caution flag pit stop ahead of the Toyota's, and if they can't get the lead back they'll be in for a long afternoon.

Let's look at pit stops, at Infineon the race went off in pit stop perfection, with the leaders catching yellow flag stops at times that fit their needs well, so those who started towards the back of the field were never able to recover by pitting off-cycle, in fact it made their plight worse. 

Today's race will run 60 laps (204 miles), in order for the teams to do a two-stop race the first stop can come no sooner than lap 17 and no later than lap 23 (if you have a Honda). At long courses like The Glen, you can't push the pit stop window, for if a driver runs out of fuel at mid-course, he is out of contention and perhaps out of the race.  The 2nd and last stop can't be made before lap 37, and I would look for most of the contenders to pit under green flag conditions at that time. Remember, usually the first car to pit that can run the remaining distance at tracks where it is difficult to pass has the best chance to win the race. I mentioned "having a Honda engine," there is no doubt they get the best mileage, so that may be another strike against a Toyota win, the Honda's just might be able to make that final stop earlier.

Now for the "Helio factor," Helio Castroneves very well could have won at both St. Pete and Sears Point, but at St. Pete he was impatient in forcing his way past AJ Foyt IV and the all-wheels-in-the-air contact took him out of the race. At Sears Point, because of a good pit position and a flawless stop made by Team Penske, Helio got out of the pits ahead of former race leader Ryan Briscoe when he may have never been able to pass him on the track. Briscoe also knew that if he couldn't get back around Helio during the restart lap he would be looking at the back end of the MTP Dallara the rest of the day. When Briscoe dove under the car of Danica Patrick in a desperation move, Helio had to try her on the outside to keep Briscoe behind him, Briscoe cue-balled Patrick into Castroneves and Helio missed another chance for a road race win. For Helio to win today, he will have to try to checkout on the AGR cars, because if he doesn't build separation, he'll more than likely fall behind at least one of them coming out of the pits. I am also reminded about how easily the Honda cars could force their way past the Toyota's on the three "passing zones" at St Pete, and I see some of the same opportunities at The Glen.  Now if we have a wet race, everything I have said above about pit positions, fuel mileage and bounce and pass Honda's goes out the window, and the last car running could be the winner.

I watched some of the Grand Am race today from The Glen, and those cars raced well and were able to pass, so there is hope. That said, I'm also reminded of the fact that the NASCAR Modified's, without wings, could pass at Nazareth Speedway, and the IndyCars, with all kinds of downforce, couldn't. it appears the Watkins Glen area has embraced the race and a good fan turnout is expected, I hope the weatherman cooperates today, and the race will be enjoyed by all.

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