Today's online version of Larry Ott's story about the three Western New York natives working on Greg Biffle's crew has an extended look at their weekend that's not in the paper. Check it out here.
It's an interesting glimpse into what a crew member does to prepare for raceday, as well as what the trio were responsible for once the green flag flew.
The long weekend -- extended by one day due to Sunday's rainout -- concluded with Tony Stewart making it a fifth impressive victory at the Glen. I also compiled some highlights and lowlights.
Good morning from Watkins Glen International. It kinda feels like I'm in a version the movie Groundhog Day because it's race day, take two.
Join me in the nifty box below for an interactive blog of the race. I won't tell your boss if you don't.
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Here's the lead-up to race time:
We'll be blabbering here as we count down to this afternoon's one-day delayed Sprint Cup series' Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips At The Glen (and our one-day delayed live chat). NASCAR's schedule states that the green flag will fly at 12:19 p.m.
Here's yesterday's blog and today's Buffalo News story about the rainout, in which I talked about first-time Sprint Cup starter Andy Lally having to wait another day for his debut.
8:16 a.m. It's kind of a surreal scene here today after the race was rained out Sunday. As I drove in one of the Glen's side doors -- Gate One off of Meads Hill Road -- several campers and cars were on their way out of the track. I'd imagine that plenty of people, as much as they'd like to see the race, either had to hit the road last night or have to stick around until tomorrow.
As I drove past the outside of the Esses portion of the track, the super-powered-blow-drying trucks were going by. I had to roll up the window because I was catching a significant part of the breeze.
8:20 a.m. Oh yeah. The most important thing, of course: we have sunny skies right now. The weather.com forecast calls for scattered thunderstorms and a 60 percent chance of rain. We're keeping our fingers crossed as we type.
9:51 a.m. Just went for a quick walk around the pits and garage area, both which were buzzing with activity. I took the two pictures you see here -- note those sunny skies.
9:53 a.m. News local auto racing expert Larry Ott was also out in the garage checking in with local guys Rodney Fetters (Niagara Falls), Ryan Gamble (Sanborn) and he'll be seeing Glenn Waldron (Colden) a little later -- they are all part of Greg Biffle's No. 16 Ford team, and Larry will be spending the day in the pits watching out their crucial day at the Glen goes -- Biffle is 12th in the points standings. Fetters is a jackman, Gamble a gas man and Waldron a mechanic. Should be a fun story.
10:38 a.m. The volume in the media room went up suddenly when a guy stuck his head in and started hollering at some reporters and media reps. The guy is made-for-television former driver Jimmy Spencer.
10:43 a.m. We have some good weather news. The weather.com forecast is now for scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon, with the precipitation chance down from 60 to 50 percent.
11:15 a.m. I'm off to see some serious bumping in traffic. Heading to the lunch room in the media center. That joke works every race.
11:31 a.m. We've got reporters grumbling about the food and one media member on the phone arguing with someone about what they've been charged for changing their flight. This is not a happy room.
11:33 a.m. After all this waiting, it's almost hard to comprehend we'll be racing in less than an hour.
I took another quick walk out to pit road and it's out phenomenal out right now.
I snapped the two pictures, one looking up the track from the entrance to the garage and one looking back. Fans are filing in. We'll have to see if the huge grandstand on the frontstretch is as filled as it was when we were about to go racing Sunday.
12:04 p.m. Every thing is ready to go. National Anthem is in the books. I'm switching over to the live blog window now.
Hello from NASCAR raceday at Watkins Glen International.
8:52 a.m. We arrive at the track after a grey, gloomy, drizzly, windshield-wiper-y drive up from Corning. All morning we'll be watching the Weather Channel to see if Mother Nature has any plans to disrupt today's 2 p.m. scheduled start of cars on the track.
9:49 a.m. While I've been doing a lot of Web-work, Larry Ott -- has he has done all weekend -- had been in and out of the garage tracking locals involved in today's race. He's already talked to Rodney Fetters of Niagara Falls, who is the jackman for Greg Biffle's crew. He's out talking to Ryan Gamble of Sanborn, who is the gas man for Biffle's team. With Glenn Waldron, a surface plate mechanic, also on the team, Larry's going to be hanging out with them for a lot of what is a crucial race for the No. 16 team (12th in points).
9:53 a.m. Great weather report from Larry. "It's not raining right now."
10:11 a.m. Not great weather report from James Johnson of the Rochester's Democrat & Chronicle. "Drizzling, off and on."
10:19 a.m. Just stepped outside the media center for my own weather report: I think we're going to go racing just fine today. Grey skies, but brightening.
10:20 a.m. Went to the bathroom and washed my hands alongside ... Boris Said, who will start ninth in today's race. That adds to my famous (or infamous) brushes with greatness (or not so much) in bathrooms at Watkins Glen International. A few years ago, when the bathrooms were in a trailer outside the rickety, cramped media center. I walked out and realized I had taken care of business next to then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer. Insert punchline here.
11:02 a.m. If you're Facebook friends with me, you can see video of my pace car ride yesterday. But I can't post it here due to NASCAR restrictions. Makes sense though that other media entities have the online rights.
11:06 a.m. Yikes. One of the greatest weekends ever for Buffalo sports fans ... and Patrick Kane gets arrested.
11:11 a.m. Off for the annual walk around the Glen infield.
11:54 a.m. A successful trip to the "mall." The Glen rearranged the merchandise trailers this year -- it was a longer walk, but the layout is much friendlier. It's less of a grid and more enjoyable to walk around. It's crowded but there seemed to be more space this year. I got a program, which comes with a small diecast -- I've got a diecast from each year they sold them when I've covered the race for The News.
The best news: no precipitation. It's overcast but the temperature is rising and it seems to me like the sun is ready to burn this stuff off. But I'm just a sportswriter
1:01 p.m. You want bumping and banging? You want major traffic? Try getting lunch in the media center! Baddump-bump.
1:10 p.m. Stepped outside the media center on the second level that looks over victory lane and the skies were overcast but the sun was trying to power through. Things look good.
1:12 p.m. Then again, I just got an email from a race fan drooling for some race action. "It's raining and thunder-bumping big-time here in
Hamburg, perfectly lined up for a 2:30-ish arrival in Schuyler County.
There's no way they get this thing in, is there?" We shall see, race fans.
1:39 p.m. One radar Web site-scouring reporter to another just drawled: "It looks like it's gonna rain from 3 to about 4:15 -- but after that it should be fine."
1:58 p.m. Our live blog post is up and we'll be hanging out there for the race ... and hopefully not any rain delays.
2:16 p.m. Check that. No race yet. We've been delayed, and that's a good thing. I was just atop the media center and saw a few lightning bolts. The cars have been covered and drivers are hanging out in the garage area.
TV showed some menacing-looking radar screens. The jumbotrons here read: "Heavy Rain. Please Seek Shelter."
2:30 p.m. The media center is getting crowded, and noisy, as photographers and cameramen come in from the storm.
2:39 p.m. Rain is coming down and puddling on pit road. Thunder audible here in media center.
2:55 p.m. You can bet that NASCAR will wait as long as they can to get the race in, particularly when you think about last week's race at Pocono being rained out.
Two consecutive races being moved back a day would be bad news in terms of TV ratings, attention for the series and the sponsors and logistics for all the teams (the next stop is next weekend Michigan).
If you work backwards from 8-8:15 p.m. as your daylight expiration time, and you guesstimate two hours for a official race (halfway through would be 45 laps), the race could conceivably start close to 6 p.m.
3:20 p.m. My sunny disposition is taking a hit, because I'm now having doubts about whether we'll get this race in. The radar says a system will pass through here, but my Facebook is gettng hit with status updates of Buffalonians complaining about the rain. Hmm. It's still dark grey skies and drizzling here, with blow-drying trucks making their way around the track.
3:32 p.m. More gloomy evidence: the weather.com page for Watkins Glen states there is a severe thunderstorm watch on until 7 p.m. Yikes. The hour-by-hour forecast calls for 65 percent chance of rain at 5 p.m. and sunny skies at 6 p.m., which one would think would be the latest the race could be started.
3:39 p.m. NASCAR's race page stated at 3:19 p.m. "The rain is now a drizzle as the storm looks to have moved past the
track. Drying efforts continue as it will take a couple hours to get
the track race-ready." We're going to be cutting it close if we go racing today.
3:43 p.m. It's pretty wild -- on television it doesn't nearly look as dark as it is here. A few shots of pit road were just on ESPN, while here just a glance out the window shows it a lot darker. I noticed that earlier this year while attending the U.S. Open golf tournament at Bethpage -- I was on the course as groups played up until the horn sounded to suspend play. Later when I watched the same action on television highlights, it looked much brighter than it actually was when I was in person.
3:48 p.m. Some scuttlebutt from the garage, where Larry Ott just returned from -- a theory that if NASCAR got at least one lap in, then it would be on better footing as far as trying to get the entire race in. If it waits until later to start a race that obviously won't go the full 90-lap distance, that won't likely sit well with fans who paid to see a whole race. Then again, if I'm a fan, I probably have to go back to work tomorrow and would probably settle for a 50-lap fun. But that's just me.
In any case, Ott says it is raining right now. If NASCAR as looking to fit this entire race in, that window (guesstimate at least three hours) would appear to be closing quite quickly.
4:03 p.m. A full-time national Cup newspaper reporter is on the phone with what sounds like an editor. "We're done ... I'll file a story from my hotel." That doesn't sound good :-) No announcement has been made on television or to the media center.
4:06 p.m. The jumbotrons have it: "Heluva Good! at the Glen has been rescheduled to 12:00 pm tomorrow."
4:22 p.m. Just ran out to the garage to get some quotes from Andy Lally. I'm all wet but happy I got an angle and some good quotes for a halfway decent rainout story. Gotta update a lot of stuff on here.
WATKINS GLEN -- Hello again from Watkins Glen International. We've got two practices for the Sprint Cup cars today as well as qualifying and the race for the Nationwide Series. Here's how things went on Friday.
One fun thing on tap for today is a ride in the pace car. I was fortunate enough to do that last year -- here's link to the story and the blog entry.
10:42 a.m. It was a pleasant drive up from our Corning hotel and with sunny skies it looks like another great day at the Glen (thank goodness, the way this summer has gone).
10:58 a.m. The Nationwide cars are on the track right now for qualifying. The race is later on today at 3 p.m.
11:09 a.m. Brad Kesolowski just went for a little spin after the Inner Loop. Marcos Ambrose, the winner of last year's race, is atop the speed charts at the moment as qualifying winds down.
11:50 a.m. Kevin Harvick just posted a track-record lap -- to best Marcos Ambrose track-record lap -- to win the Nationwide pole.
Noon: The Sprint Cup cars are on the track for the first of two practice sessions today.
12:11 p.m. Syracuse University head coach Doug Marrone, who is the grand marshal for today's Nationwide Series race, the Zippo 200, is meeting the media. I just asked him about his recruiting world being challenged by the University at Buffalo as well as Buffalo native Mike Williams. Marrone spoke very highly of Williams. I'll get those quotes online as soon as I can [here they are].
12:44 p.m. Myself, Larry Ott and James Johnson of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle are off to go on a pace car ride. Booyah.
1:26 p.m. Larry and I had a heck of a ride in the pace car, driven by former Cup driver and Chemung native Brett Bodine. I'll post some pictures soon and Larry is going to write up his experience. Bummer for James -- we ran out of time and he couldn't get a ride.
2:24 p.m. After some lunch, we're back and typing away as the second practice session is winding down. Marcos Ambrose continued his fast day in the first session -- he was quickest in 1 minute, 11.916 seconds (122.643 mph), followed by Sam Hornish Jr., pole sitter Jimmie Johnson and Juan Montoya. Fifth was Max Papis, who is driving for Germain Racing which Lockport's Hillman family is a big part of.
2:41 p.m. Ambrose loves driving at this place. He had the quickest lap during Saturday's second practice session at 1:11.695 (123.021 mph). Johnson was second, followed by Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and Boris Said.
3:02 p.m. Just transcribed SU coach Doug Marrone's quotes at the Campus Watch blog.
3:04 p.m. We're going to have a live interactive blog going during Sunday's Sprint Cup race, but we're not sure about today's Nationwide race -- we have a lot going on here today and we might save the "live" show for the big race (feel free to offer feedback in the comments section below).
6:57 p.m.Marcos Ambrose wins the Zippo 200 -- the story for buffalonews.com is posted and will be updated.
7:03 p.m. Check out the live blog post for a cool picture I took from the upper level of the back of the media center. This blogging thing is pretty fun, huh? But it's a lot of work -- I've still got a lot to do.
1:48 p.m. Kurt Busch was fastest in the Sprint Cup's first practice session with a lap of 70.922 seconds (124.362 mph). Denny Hamlin was second, followed by Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Casey Mears.
2:16 p.m. We pushed our live chat back 15 minutes since Mr. Jerry Sullivan is "on the air" right now.
3:12 p.m. Just completed the chat, and the Sprint Cup cars are on the track for qualifying.
A moment ago, a short press conference was held to unveil a painting by motorsports artist Sam Bass which has been reproduced as this weekend's event poster. Bass was asked about the incident earlier this year in Nashville in which a guitar he painted was smashed to bits by Kyle Busch after Busch won a Nationwide race.
Bass, as detailed in this story, again handled the question with class. He said people want to "set up some sort of celebrity deathmatch" between the two, but Bass has received so much publicity about the incident he's been astounded.
3:21 p.m. An update on the Nationwide Series -- the first Zippo 200 practice has Kyle Busch (73.371 seconds; 120.211 mph), Denny Hamlin, RobbyGordon, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano leading the way.
3:32 p.m. Kyle Busch seemed to nearly lose his No. 18 car coming out of the Inner Loop that interrupts the backstretch, but he put up a lap that is second after eight drivers. Busch can flat-out drive.
3:55 p.m. Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Marcos Ambrose and Kyle Busch are the top five as we're through 16 drivers. A total of 47 will attempt to qualify for the 43-car field, including Max Papis in the No. 13 Toyota which has Lockport natives Mike Hillman Sr. and Jr. leading the team.
A total of 11 drivers are listed as being required to qualify on time. In addition to Papis, they are familiar faces Ron Fellows and Boris Said, veterans Joe Nemechek and Dave Blaney as well as Brian Simo, Scott Speed, David Gilliland, P.J. Jones, Andy Lally and Tony Ave.
4:03 p.m. Qualifying update: David Stremme is fifth; Ryan Newman sixth; Kyle Busch seventh.
4:20 p.m. Sam Hornish locked up the brakes and got a little grass time on his lap and is 24th of 25 cars at the moment.
4:35 p.m. Greg Biffle posted a nice lap and is in the seventh spot, bumping Busch to eighth.
4:44 p.m. Tony Stewart, who had the 34th-best practice lap earlier, is currently in the 12th spot.
4:48 p.m. Jeff Gordon 27th, Dale Earnhardt Jr. 28th, Carl Edwards at 29th. Yikes.
4:57 p.m. The go-or-go-home guys are taking their turns now.
5:08 p.m. Max Papis, driving for the Germain Racing team full of the Hillman family of Lockport (read more about them in Larry Ott's story in Saturday's paper), put down a strong lap and will make the race. Andy Lally will be the first New Yorker in the race in a long time after also runnig a strong lap -- both he and Papis should be in the top 20. Boris Said has posted the ninth-best lap while Ron Fellows may have been holding his breath for a moment -- he just was guaranteed a spot in the field when other cars couldn't match his time. Fellows will start towards the back of the pack, however.
5:17 p.m. Scott Speed is the final driver on the course; he's trying to knock Joe Nemechek out and make the race. David Gilliland and Brian Simo are on the outside looking in.
5:19 p.m. Speed makes it in 26th position, bumping Nemechek out. The field is set, led by Jimmie Johnson on the pole. The starting line up is at NASCAR.com.
Here's some phone video of Johnson talking about the portion of the track known as "the Esses."
5:50 p.m. The top three qualifiers have done their turns in the media room. The Nationwide cars are on the track, and Jason Leffler went for an awful hard crash -- apparently he is OK after being released from the infield care center. I'll be doing some writing for a while.
9:10 p.m. Stories have been filed for the paper and will be up on the Web shortly. Small note -- Ron Fellows had the best time in the second Nationwide practice, followed by Marcos Ambrose, Robby Gordon and Carl Edwards.
In today's News I have a feature story on Greg Biffle (left) while Western New York auto racing guru Larry Ott sizes up NASCAR Sprint Cup's top 12 in points heading into this weekend's racing at Watkins Glen International. Ever since the 10-race postseason chase began in 2004, the Glen has been at a crucial point in the countdown. This year it is again in its traditional spot: five races to go.
Biffle was a great interview last week during an event in Rochester. He's a down-to-earth guy who sounds like a driver who paid his dues as he worked his way up the NASCAR food chain -- which was a big part of my story. I like his idea of an age limit for drivers for the reasons he talked about: giving NASCAR's trucks and Nationwide series a lift while giving super-young drivers some seasoning.
Biffle is trying to hang on to a chase spot as he's currenlty in the 12th position. The main man in Ott's story is Kyle Busch, who is on the outside looking in at No. 13.
I'm scheduled to be part of a conference call with Busch this afternoon, which should be interesting -- it's certainly a surprise that he's not in the chase right now, and there will certainly be some talk about that. I'll have an update later on as well as throughout the weekend.
In case you missed it, Sabre fans -- Ryan Miller will be at the track Friday evening.
The racing weekend at Watkins Glen International starts on Friday, and Sabres goalie Ryan Miller (left) will be a part of it.
Miller will be the grand marshal for Friday night's Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series event, the Crown Royal 200.
Fans will get a chance to meet Miller during a special autograph session at 5 p.m. Friday. Miller will be at The Pyramid -- the souvenir store located in the infield of the track -- to sign autographs and promote his charitable endeavor, The Steadfast Foundation. During the appearance, Miller will sell limited edition Steadfast Foundation/Watkins Glen International hats with all proceeds benefiting The Steadfast Foundation.
First-year Syracuse University football coach Doug Marrone will be the grand marshal for Saturday's Nationwide Series race, the Zippo 200.
Several local military groups will be participating in the prerace festivities as well.
During the singing of the National Anthem for Saturday's Zippo 200 and Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race, color guards from all different military branches will be posted around the 2.45-mile circuit. They include the U.S. Niagara Falls Air Force Color Guard of Niagara Falls, the U.S. Navy Color Guard of Buffalo will be joined by the color guard of the Army’s 27th Combat Brigade of Syracuse.
Prior to Sunday's race, the nation's colors will be presented at the start/finish line by the West Point Military Police Honor Guard. Each member of the West Point Military Police Honor Guard has served the country in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. The unit's primary purpose is to render military honors at military funerals but they also present the nation’s colors for various ceremonies and events.
Following Saturday's anthem, multiple Black Hawk helicopters from the N.Y. Army National Guard of Albany will pass over the grandstands. Sunday's flyover will be made by four F-16C Fighting Falcons of the 174th Fighter Wing from Syracuse.
I'll have updates throughout the weekend from the Glen.
TORONTO -- We're coming to you live from Exhibition Place, site of today's Honda Indy Toronto. Another week, another mini-road trip to an IndyCar Series event. We'll have to see what's in store for today -- Justin Wilson's win for victory-starved Dale Coyne Racing was a pretty great story last week at Watkins Glen.
10:50 a.m. I was dropped off out front and joined a lot of fans making their way to the venue.
This is such a great city. Everytime I cover this race I promise myself that I have to make the short trip up here -- truly one of the world's best cities. And of course, I haven't tripped here since I last covered this race a few years ago.
10:54 a.m. Arrive in the media room, which this year is located outside the track as part of Exhibition Place's National Trade Center. You can actually walk out of the media room and across the busy, wide hallway to see the frontstretch leading to the very sharp Turn One -- from where I'm sitting, I can see some sunshine and a grandstand through the doorway. Kind of nice to have a glimpse of the track.
In past years that I covered the race here, the media room was inside the track in the Automotive Building. But it wasn't easy to step out of the room and see the track -- you literally covered the race from a room without windows without seeing the track at all. I always feel like I'm giving away a trade secret when people ask me where I get to watch the race -- essentially the only way to effectively cover a race (especially on a street/road course) is by watching television -- not unlike what a lot of people will do on their couch today.
11:28 a.m. A whole lot of photographers are on the move out of the media room. That means only one thing -- the food is being served.
11:34 a.m. A nice selection of tasty wraps and sandwiches. But nothing to drink! Advantage, Watkins Glen -- by at least a few laps.
11:37 a.m. Race grand marshal Gene Simmons, the famous tongue-brandishing member of KISS, is shown on the closed-circuit television awarding the winner of Miss Honda Indy Toronto. Shockingly, he looks like he is enjoying his role.
12:37 p.m. After some housekeeping, I'm heading outside to get a look at prerace activities.
12:50 p.m. Firehawk, the Firestone tire mascot, throws T-shirts into the bleachers. A few attempts are weak. He is booed by the crowd. Good to see mascot taunting is a universal language.
1:17 p.m. Here's some video of Gene Simmons' command to start engines, from outside the frontstretch, looking across to pit lane (thank you, new iPhone). From right to left, the frontstretch goes past pit lane and on to Turn One.
1:19 p.m. We're off and racing and Will Power has a bummer of a start from the second spot -- while all the cars made the sharp turn into Turn One, he coasted into the corner with a cut tire due to contact on the start. No such problems for Dario Franchitti. Graham Rahal had some contact on the start, which forced him in for a pit stop. Ryan Briscoe had a flat right rear, necessitating a pit stop.
1:31 p.m. We're back to racing after Dan Wheldon's spin brought out the yellow. As soon as I typed that, Ed Carpenter's nose of the No. 20 car is stuck into the wall.
1:45 p.m. Paul Tracy got a huge roar in prerace introductions, and he's getting more cheers from the hometown fans as he's moved up to fifth in the running ourder after starting 15th. Alex Tagliani leads with Tracy second after Franchitti went to the pits.
1:55 p.m. Tagliani left in front as Tracy comes in for a great pit stop. Tracy comes out roaring and passes rookie Mike Conway; Conway tries to catch up and really slams his back end into the wall. Ouch.
1:57 p.m. Tagliani in and out smoothly on lap 35 (of 85); Mario Moraes assumes the lead.
2:07 p.m. Helio Castroneves leads Ryan Hunter-Reay and Tagliani and we're more than halfway through -- 44 of 85 laps.
2:13 p.m. Castroneves into the pits and surrenders the lead, leaving Tagliani and Tracy on top again. On lap 51 of 85. After a couple of early yellows, this race is flying.
2:20 p.m. Speaking of flying, check out the view from the outside of near start/finish. The sounds alone are pretty cool (thank you again, iPhone).
2:23 p.m. Graham Rahal spins as Castroneves was coming into the pits; Rahal went inside Carpenter in a turn and Carpenter's rear banged into Rahal's front. Tagliani leads Dixon, Moraes and Matos -- all four only have had one stop so they will be coming in with nearly everyone else.
2:32 p.m. Jimmy Vassar is "flabbergasted" that Tracy had to allow Franchitti in front of him after a pitting issue related to the start of the caution period. Soon after, Dario makes a slick move past Helio for the lead as we approach 20 laps to go. Tracy is now stalking Helio.
2:35 p.m. The media room -- and many living rooms -- erupt in an "OHHHHH!" Tracy roared along side Helio, and the two went side-by-side before Helio banged Tracy into the wall. Wow. Helio made it to the pits, but he has too much damage and his day is done.
2:41 p.m. Under caution, Dario leads Briscoe, Justin Wilson, Will Power and Danica Patrick. Going green, some nice action as Will Power gets past Wilson and Wilson holds off Patrick.
2:45 p.m. Dixon passes Patrick for fifth while E.J. Viso and Moraes have some troubles. Speaking of troubles, Kanaan is out of his car after a bad day.
2:47 p.m. Moraes, Thomas Scheckter and Tagliani involved in an incident that brings out the caution. With 11 laps to go, Franchitti had more than a one-second lead on Ryan Briscoe, who was followed by Power, Wilson, Dixon and Patrick.
2:49 p.m. Scheckter waited for Tagliani to come around again and he threw something at his car before finally ducking into a safety vehicle. Replays showed Sheckter waiting, waiting, then pointing to his head as he hurled his golves at Tagliani. Good stuff.
2:54 p.m. The field takes the green -- there are seven laps to go. Dario and Briscoe check out on Power, although he catches on to Briscoe soon enough. Dario doesn't look like he'll be caught, especially with all the racing behind him -- Wilson and Dixon are battling each other, and they're not too far behind Power. Great move by Dixon to pass Wilson.
2:57 p.m. Approaching five laps to go, Dario leads Briscoe by 1.8 seconds; four laps to go it is 2.2; three left 2.3; two left 2.1.
3 p.m. White flag for Franchitti, who has a 2.1-second lead.
3:01 p.m. Dario Franchitti WINS the Honda Indy Toronto.
Ashley Judd, his wife, is being interviewed by ESPN. Hey, bring her in the media center!
Time to write. Final top 10 according to scoring monitor: Dario, Briscoe, Power, Dixon, Wilson, Patrick, Hunter-Reay, Andretti, Tagliani, Matos.
5:44 p.m. My story is complete at buffalonews.com. Dinner, drive and a ??-minute wait at the border to come.
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