CAMPING WORLD GRAND AT THE GLEN POST-RACE QUOTES:
JUSTIN WILSON (#18 Z-Line Designs, winner): "It was just the fact that we've just worked at this all year, and we've put a lot of effort into the road courses. To dominate like we did is fantastic. I've got to thank Dale (Coyne) for putting me into the car. I didn't think I would be driving, and here we are in Victory Lane. It feels great. I was grinning from ear to ear on the last lap. It just felt so good to do that for Dale. We've been trying to build this team up, and we're coming. This is my most important win in my career, winning with Dale and showing what we can do. It's a fantastic feeling."
RYAN BRISCOE (No. 6 Team Penske, second): "Big congrats to Dale Coyne and the whole team and Justin (Wilson). We got caught out by the yellow. We went a lap further than him in the first stint. That was going to get us the lead back, but unfortunately the yellow came, and we had to make two pit stops. That put us back. We had to work hard to come through the field. We had some great pit stops, and it was pretty exciting at the end with everybody on the softer compound. I had my hands full defending them."
SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing, third): "It was definitely pretty tough. We lost a spot at the start when I didn't shift down enough gears and (Mario) Moraes got by us. It was a tough first stint. We had about eight to 10 laps on them from qualifying, and they wore out pretty quick. We got caught out on strategy, and we didn't have enough. Congratulations to Justin (Wilson). He drove a fantastic race and was unstoppable today. Ryan (Briscoe) and I had a great race at the end, and thanks to the Target boys we had a good day."
HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske, fourth): "The goal is not to start in the middle of the pack. We definitely had a fantastic day. I knew the car was much better than 13th. On the second pit stop, those guys (Dale Coyne Racing) definitely had red tires and made a great, clean lap. But at the end of the day, we finished fourth. If you would have told me at the beginning of the race that we would finish fourth, I would have told you, 'No way, you don't know what you're talking about,' but it turned out to be a great day."
MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 26 Team Venom Energy, fifth): "I knew I had to worry about that guy (E.J. Viso), everybody does. It was a great effort for the Venom boys today. We definitely had the pace, and I think that's definitely promising for the future. It's definitely tough. You've got to get the right yellow, which we did. We were definitely lucky for that. I knew once we were on the lead lap we were going to have enough pace for the front-runners, and I knew it was going to be interesting."
DAN WHELDON (No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing, 10th): "Unfortunately it might have just been one of those days for the National Guard Panther Racing team. The car was very competitive; we just had a little bit of a slower pit stop on the last stop. But that happens. With our tire choice today we just got unlucky; when our red tires were on there were some sporadic yellows and when we had the blacks on it stayed green. It was just one of those days, but everybody at Panther continues to work very hard and did a good job this weekend, and we'll bounce back in Toronto."
EJ VISO (No. 13 PDVSA HVM Racing, seventh): "We had a pretty good race, forgetting the first few laps. I was behind Marco (Andretti) and he was blocking me a lot, and there was a point I was trying to overtake him in Corner 8, but he just blocked me so much, we hit each other. And he had a puncture, and I broke my front wing. Other than that, we had a good car. We had very, very good pit stops. We moved many positions in the pits. And I am very proud of being able to work very hard throughout the championship to achieve, little by little, better results. Now we head to Toronto."
MARIO MORAES (No. 5 KV Racing Technology/Votorantim, 14th): "The KV Racing Technology team gave me a very fast car all weekend. We had a great first stint. Then just as I was going to pit, the yellow flag came out, and I lost some track position. After the restart, I tried to make a move on (Ed) Carpenter. I don't think he saw me, and we touched on my left rear tire. I went hard over the rumble strips, which damaged my suspension and front left wing. Then it was a case of just trying to hang in until the end of the race. It is a shame because the team worked so hard, and the car was really fast."
ED CARPENTER (No. 20 Menards/Vision Racing, 16th): "It ended up being a disappointing race. We looked like we were falling into a decent strategy when we pitted and caught the yellow to find ourselves mid-pack after doing our pit stop. We took the restart in 10th spot, but it isn't a real race unless Mario Moraes does something stupid. He's very fast and very talented, but until he gets a little smarter, he's never going to run up front in a race. It's a shame because the KV Racing team is a good team that puts together fast cars, but all he does is run over people every race. That's what ended our day."
DANICA PATRICK (No. 7 Boost Mobile/Motorola, 11th): "It was a challenging race today. We were running up front at the beginning of the race, but as the day went on, I started to lose the car. I was bottoming out a lot at the end of the race, which made me lose position. We were really strong this morning so I'm disappointed that we ended up 11th. But overall, it was a good weekend for me. I feel like I'm getting more confident on the road courses, which is helpful since we are racing similar courses the next two weekends."
TONY KANAAN (No. 11 Team 7-Eleven, eighth): "I really thought the Team 7-Eleven car was going to have a better finish today. We are working really hard to improve our race results, and it's frustrating when we finish lower than we expected. I'm headed to Indy tonight to work with my engineers this week, so hopefully we can figure out what we can do to make us more competitive moving forward. I'm looking forward to getting to Toronto since it's a track I have been to many times."
RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 14 ABC Supply Co. AJ Foyt Racing, 21st): "Everybody just stopped. We were just in fifth gear, sixth gear at top of the hill. It was the accordion affect. Everyone just stopped and ran into each other. It was just a bunch of cars racing in the back of the pack. We're just a victim of circumstances from where we were starting. It was just bad luck."
PAUL TRACY (No. 15 GEICO/KV Racing Technology, 20th): "I was just trying to get through the race. I was hoping to get some yellows and get a good finish. But I ended up being one of the yellows. I was just trying to follow (Ryan) Briscoe and follow (Scott) Dixon, but I just outdid myself and threw it into the wall." (About Watkins Glen): "It's a good track. I love the track, and I love the facility. The organizers here have treated me really well. Hopefully I get a chance to come back here next year. I wanted to get a good finish for myself and for GEICO, but I made a mistake."
HIDEKI MUTOH (No. 27 Formula Dream, 18th): "A very tough race for the No. 27 car. We changed our pit stop strategy at the beginning of the race, and it was in our favor for a while, but then the track stayed green longer than we expected. Then we lost position when we needed to pit. I really thought we could've had a stronger finish today, but it didn't pan out for us."
GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 02 McDonald's Racing Team, 13th): "The McDonald's team got a pretty good start, we were moving forward quite a lot and got up to 11th. Then we came in and stopped earlier than others, which was our strategy, but I'm not sure it was right now after the way the race played out just due to the fact that if we would have just stayed where we were, we would have come out a lot better. We kept taking steps backwards, unfortunately. I had a ton of fast laps there in a row and really got a nice gap ahead of everybody, and that was working out for us, but then when the two consecutive yellows came out and hurt us. We needed to get one run there where we could get some space, and that just didn't happen because the yellows came out. It just didn't play out for us, and we had to pit under yellow and go to the back of the pack. It's frustrating."
MILKA DUNO (No. 23 CITGO, 17th): "First I have to say thank you to the team, because after what happened in the warm-up this morning, they worked so hard for two hours to give me a good car for the race. We continue to improve and we will see next race."
MIKE CONWAY (No. 24 Dad's Root Beer/Dreyer & Reinbold, sixth): "It was a great result for everybody. We ran strong all day. It was a shame that we couldn't quite get the result in the end. It was a case of me coming out of the box, and I lost a couple of seconds and gave me the gap to Justin Wilson, and everyone came in between us. We were running top five and saving fuel. I struggled with the balance in the end, but we still brought the Dad's Root Beer car home in sixth place. I just have to thank the Dad's Root Beer crew; they did a great job all weekend, and I'm looking forward to Toronto."
ROBERT DOORNBOS (No. 06 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, ninth): "The race was the best part of the weekend for us. We ran the whole day, and I saw the checkered flag. Ninth place is not what were working for here, but we're trying to get things turned around and have the luck going our way. Obviously, yesterday was a disastrous day and since it was a two-day weekend, your weekend is gone because this weekend is about track position. There are good drivers out here, and it's hard to pass. The start was nasty. This place, it's probably known that people going up the hill on cold tires is quite tricky. Somebody down the back straight lifted, and then it was a chain reaction, so the closing rate was enormous and I hit the ABC car, I think, and he hit Matos again. I asked the boys to check for front-wing damage when I went by because I had a lot of understeer. I did have damage, so it was a good call by the team to change it. That obviously messed up the race a bit but we got P9. After the problem, we had a different strategy that everybody else. The two Newman/Haas/Lanigan cars pitted early and tried to go out of sequence. I had some fast laps, and we were closing up, and then the yellow came out, which was in our favor. But the 20 car of Ed Carpenter was just not closing up and was driving really slow. I'm not allowed to overtake or I will get a penalty, so I was shouting on the radio because that was a loss of maybe 10 seconds, and that's why we had to pit again. Everybody needs to listen up in the drivers' briefing. You have to push and close up even if you want to save fuel. I did enjoy myself in the race. Let's regroup and get a mega result in Toronto."
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SERIES OWNERS, OFFICIALS QUOTES ON DALE COYNE'S FIRST VICTORY
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."
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