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2010 marked the fifteenth season of the IndyCar Series.
Seventeen rounds would be contested to determine titles for teams and drivers.
The season opened in mid-March at Sao Paulo, Brazil and ended at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Florida in early October. In between these two weekends, there were races held at Saint Petersburg, Barber Motorsports Park, Long Beach, Kansas Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Iowa Speedway, Watkins Glen International, Toronto, Edmonton, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Sonoma, Chicagoland Speedway, Kentucky Speedway and Twin Ring Motegi. There were some newsworthy stories for the 2010 season. Perhaps, the biggest was announced on November 5, 2009, when the public was informed that the clothing company IZOD would be the series’ title sponsor. The multi-million dollar agreement was for six years (2010 – 2015). The series also saw the introduction of two new awards:
Teams continued to use the Dallara IR-05 chassis but the Honda engine deal was supposed to end in 2009. However, the contract for Honda to be the series only engine supplier was extended to the 2011 season. The Honda HR7R-HR11R used by entrants is 3.5-liter aluminum alloy V8-engine. The fuel-injected normally-aspirated motor produces 650-horsepower at 10,300-rpm. Finally, early in the year Indy Racing League founder, Tony George resigned. Replacing George as the leader of the series was Randy Bernard. The 2010 Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix was the eighth running of the Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix and round nine of the IZOD IndyCar season. Twenty-five competitors would race around Watkins Glen International’s eleven-turn 3.337-mile road course for sixty-laps.
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Will Power had led the championship since the season opener at Sao Paulo, Brazil. At Watkins Glen International, Power would add to his points tally. The Penske driver started on the pole and took the lead for the final time on lap-44 when he passed his teammate, Ryan Briscoe. The victory was Power’s third of the season. The win extended his lead over Dario Franchitti to thirty-two points. |
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Penske driver, Ryan Briscoe was victorious in round seven at Texas Motor Speedway. He entered Watkins Glen International fifth in the championship just eleven markers behind his teammate, Helio Castroneves. Briscoe qualified third and moved into first place on lap-40 but his lead was short-lived as Will Power passed him three circuits later. On the final lap, he passed Dario Franchitti for a runner-up finish. |
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The 2010 Indy 500 winner, Dario Franchitti qualified fourth at Watkins Glen International and moved into second place on lap-13. To keep up and challenge the race-leader, Will Power, Franchitti abused his tires. On the final circuit, he was unable to defend his position and lost the runner-up spot to Team Penske’s, Ryan Briscoe. However, Franchitti’s performance moved him to second in the title chase. |
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Raphael Matos drove the De Ferran Dragon Racing entry. Matos had an Indy Lights victory at Watkins Glen in 2008. His best Verizon IndyCar result to date was a fourth-place finish in the season opener at Sao Paulo, Brazil. In round nine, Matos was the eleventh quickest in qualifying. During the race, he made good progress and was as high as third until he lost the position to Dario Franchitti on the final round of pit-stops. |
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Another driver having a good weekend at Watkins Glen International was Brazilian, Mario Moraes. His best result to date was a sixth at the Grand Prix of Long Beach. Moraes moved to the second qualifying session and was ninth fastest. The KV Racing Technology pit-work and race strategy combined Moraes driving resulted in his best result of the season – fifth place. |
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Scott Dixon had three consecutive IndyCar victories (2005-2007) at Watkins Glen. Dixon entered round nine, second in points. He only had one finish outside the top six which was an eighteenth at Saint Petersburg. Dixon qualified seventh quickest but was up to fifth place by lap-4. Contact while passing Helio Castroneves took both drivers out of contention. Dixon finished eighth and dropped to third in the standings. |
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The big mover during the race was Dan Weldon. Weldon was gridded twentieth for the start of the event. His poor performance was attributed a toe-in problem which caused too much drag and hindered the car’s top-end speed. With the issue corrected for the race, Weldon moved through the field and by lap-10, he was in fifth place. He lost the position to a hard-charging Mario Moraes and finished sixth. |
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Despite a win at Long Beach and a runner-up finish at Sao Paulo, Ryan Hunter-Reay’s season lacked the funding to continue. At Watkins Glen, Andretti Autosport announced that he would run the rest of the IndyCar season after a group of team sponsors stepped up with the money. Hunter-Reay qualified sixteenth and ran as high a fourth but he stalled the car during a pit-stop and fell out of contention – he finished seventh. |
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| FIN. | START | DRIVER | CAR | ENTRANT | LAPS | RETIREMENTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Will Power | Dallara IR5 / Honda | Team Penske | 60 | - |
| 2 | 3 | Ryan Briscoe | Dallara IR5 / Honda | Team Penske | 60 | - |
| 3 | 4 | Dario Franchitti | Dallara IR5 / Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing | 60 | - |
| 4 | 11 | Raphael Matos | Dallara IR5 / Honda | DeFerran Luczo Dragon Racing | 60 | - |
| 5 | 9 | Mario Moraes | Dallara IR5 / Honda | KV Racing Technology | 60 | - |
| 6 | 20 | Dan Weldon | Dallara IR5 / Honda | Panther Racing | 60 | - |
| 7 | 16 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Dallara IR5 / Honda | Andretti Autosport | 60 | - |
| 8 | 7 | Scott Dixon | Dallara IR5 / Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing | 60 | - |
| 9 | 2 | Hélio Castroneves | Dallara IR5 / Honda | Team Penske | 60 | - |
| 10 | 6 | Justin Wilson | Dallara IR5 / Honda | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 60 | - |
| 11 | 25 | E.J. Viso | Dallara IR5 / Honda | KV Racing Technology | 60 | - |
| 12 | 14 | Hideki Mutoh | Dallara IR5 / Honda | Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing | 60 | - |
| 13 | 8 | Marco Andretti | Dallara IR5 / Honda | Andretti Autosport | 60 | - |
| 14 | 12 | Paul Tracy | Dallara IR5 / Honda | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 60 | - |
| 15 | 5 | Takuma Sato | Dallara IR5 / Honda | KV Racing Technology | 60 | - |
| 16 | 10 | Adam Carroll | Dallara IR5 / Honda | Andretti Autosport | 60 | - |
| 17 | 19 | Alex Tagliani | Dallara IR5 / Honda | FAZZT Race Team | 60 | - |
| 18 | 23 | Bertand Baguette | Dallara IR5 / Honda | Conquest Racing | 60 | - |
| 19 | 17 | Vitor Meira | Dallara IR5 / Honda | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 60 | - |
| 20 | 21 | Danica Patrick | Dallara IR5 / Honda | Andretti Autosport | 60 | - |
| 21 | 13 | Tony Kanaan | Dallara IR5 / Honda | Andretti Autosport | 60 | - |
| 22 | 18 | Mario Romancini | Dallara IR5 / Honda | Conquest Racing | 59 | Fuel |
| 23 | 24 | Milka Duno | Dallara IR5 / Honda | Dale Coyne Racing | 57 | - |
| 24 | 15 | Simona de Silvestro | Dallara IR5 / Honda | HVM Racing | 38 | Accident |
| 25 | 22 | Alex Lloyd | Dallara IR5 / Honda | Dale Coyne Racing | 22 | Steering |
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