After some twenty-five years on the AOWR scene, first as a driver & then as team owner, Dale Coyne has finally found his way onto the top step of the podium, thanks to Justin Wilson's uncanny ability to manage his tires better than almost anyone else in the series.

After starting from the second spot and following in Ryan Brisoe's wake for the opening laps, Justin slipped inside the Aussie going into the "bus stop" chicane on Lap 6 and, outside of the normal leader swaps that occur while drivers cycle through their pits stops, never really looked back. Having only used one set of the softer option tires (which are denoted by red sidewalls) in Saturday's qualifying, Wilson had two fresh sets at his disposal for the race, and he used them to keep ahead of the pack.

"It feels fantastic," he said afterwards. "This is the most important win in my career; winning with Dale and showing what we can do. I was grinning from ear to ear on that lasp lap. We've worked all year to improve on the road courses, and to dominate like this is fantastic." 

Ryan Briscoe would finish in the second spot, with Scott Dixon coming home in third. As a result of this race, Dixon is once again on top of the championship points standings.

It proved to be a pretty good day for another normal back marker squad, as rookie driver Mike Conway spent a good deal of the race in the second spot. A late pit stop issue dropped him down into fifth, and he ended up finishing in sixth, but it was still the best showing of the year for Conway and only the second top-six finish for Dreyer & Rheinbold Racing so far in '09.

Here are the complete race results for Watkins Glen:

http://www.indycar.com/stats/boxscores/2009/watkinsglen_07052009.pdf

The next IndyCar event will be on Sunday, July 12 at 1pm on the streets of Toronto. The Firestone Indy Lights Series will hold a support race on Saturday, July 11 at 12:30 pm. Both races can be seen via live video streaming at www.indycar.com.

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