Scott Dixon stayed on slick tyres when most of the field switched to wets, then drove the final laps to win the first IndyCar race run in the rain.
Scott Dixon took the win at Watkins Glen on June 4, 2006, after the race was shortened to 55 laps by rain. He kept slick tyres on while most of the field switched to wets, and that call carried him past Vitor Meira and Ryan Briscoe.
Scott Dixon won the 2006 Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix on June 4, 2006, after switching his strategy at the decisive moment. The race was the fifth round of the 2006 IRL IndyCar Series, and Dixon took the win over Vitor Meira and Ryan Briscoe. It was the first race in IndyCar history to start on rain tyres, and the rain shortened the event from 60 laps to 55.
What was the 2006 Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix?
The Indy Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, backed by Tissot, was a round of the IRL IndyCar Series. It was the second edition of the event, and the season's first visit to the northeastern United States. The race was held on Sunday, June 4, 2006.
The circuit is a permanent road course of 5.42 km (3.37 mi) with 11 turns. The race was originally scheduled for 60 laps, or 325.4 km (202.2 miles), and was confirmed for the 2006 calendar in September 2005. It was the fifth of 14 scheduled races that season.
A wet race turned on one bold call: Scott Dixon stayed on slicks while most of the field pitted for rain tyres, and the gamble paid off.
How did the championship stand before the race?
Helio Castroneves led the drivers' championship with 156 points before the race, and Sam Hornish Jr. was second with 144. Dan Wheldon was third on 139, while Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan completed the top five with 120 and 119 points.
Dixon was the defending race winner at the Glen, so he arrived with a point to prove on a course he knew well.
Which teams and drivers changed for the event?
Ryan Briscoe returned to racing at the Glen after a fiery crash at Chicagoland Speedway the previous September. He drove the No. 5 car for Dreyer and Reinbold Racing, replacing Buddy Lazier for the round. Team co-owner Dennis Reinbold said the team would use the race to judge Briscoe's pace on road courses,
Hemelgarn Racing had shut down for the rest of 2006 after a second-lap crash at the Indianapolis 500 that took out both of its cars. That left P. J. Chesson without a team. Hornish had spent the weeks after his Indianapolis victory on a media tour, with a Letterman appearance set to air the day after the Glen race, while Marco Andretti had been disappointed by his Indianapolis result but had tested at the Glen the month before.
How did practice and qualifying go?
Three practice sessions came before the race. Castroneves was fastest on Friday morning with a time of 1 minute and 30.9112 seconds, and he improved to 1 minute and 30.6783 seconds in the afternoon. The first session was halted four times for spins by Scott Sharp, Kanaan, Danica Patrick and Tomas Scheckter,
Qualifying was cancelled on Saturday morning when weather stopped a medical helicopter from reaching the track. The grid was set by Friday practice speeds, which gave Castroneves the pole ahead of Kanaan, Andretti, Dixon and Wheldon. Hornish, Franchitti, Meira, Bryan Herta and Briscoe made up the top ten.
Scheckter was the fastest in the rain-hit final session, beating Cheever, Giaffone, Briscoe and Dixon, which was delayed by almost three hours and then run as one group. Late in that session Buddy Rice lost control in the first turn. On Sunday morning the field took a 30-minute warm-up in fog, and Castroneves was quickest, followed by Kanaan, who ended his session early after a spin. Cheever also spun in turn nine during the warm-up but restarted his car with help from marshals.
How did the race start in the rain?
The race started at 3:45 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on ABC, with Marty Reid commentating and Scott Goodyear and Rusty Wallace as analysts. Chris Greico, an executive with Tissot, gave the command for the drivers to start their engines. The air temperature was 14 C (58 F) and the track was damp, so all 19 drivers began on rain tyres.
Kanaan passed Castroneves in turn four on the opening lap and led the first eight laps. Scheckter became the first driver to change to slick tyres on lap 4, and most leaders followed him into the pits for slicks and fuel over the next two laps. Jeff Simmons stayed out on his wets, but his cold tyres sent him spinning on lap 9, which brought out the first yellow flag.
Which incidents shaped the middle laps?
At the lap 12 restart Scheckter had inherited the lead. A lap later Hornish spun leaving the seventh turn and Wheldon, who was close behind, barely missed him. Wheldon's engine stalled as he tried to restart, leaving him a lap down.
On the lap 16 restart Franchitti ran over a wet patch in the chicane and spun into the gravel trap, and Rice slid into the tyre barriers as other drivers backed off. Patrick backed into the wall on the next restart after slight contact from Cheever. Matsuura then oversteered into the tyre barriers in turn one and collected Simmons, and both cars were too damaged to continue.
Scheckter led twelve consecutive laps through the chaos and did not pit until he gave up the lead to Wheldon for fuel. Wheldon pulled away to a 2.3-second advantage, but he too was struck by bad luck. His drive shaft broke during a routine stop, and he retired from the race.
How did the lead change during the pit stops?
Castroneves ran into trouble when his car received no fuel during his stop, and he had to pit again the following lap. Dixon emerged from the pit lane ahead of every other driver and moved into second place as the stops cycled through.
On the restart Scheckter failed to brake in time for the first turn and collided with Franchitti, spinning both cars. Their drivers got going again and the race stayed green. Dixon then moved to the inside and passed Rice for the lead into the chicane. Kanaan tapped teammate Herta, which cut a tyre and damaged his own front wing, and both were relegated outside the top ten.
With rain returning, officials turned the race into a timed event that would end at the two-hour mark. Drivers had to decide between slicks and wets. Rice, Patrick, Carpenter and Castroneves took wets in the pits, while Dixon, Meira and Briscoe stayed out on slicks and gambled.
How did the final restart decide the race?
On the restart, drivers on wets pushed through the slower traffic on slicks. Scheckter spun off in turn eight in the scramble for position, bringing out the seventh caution. He quickly restarted his car, and the caution lasted only a lap before the green and white flags came out for the final lap.
Dixon pulled clear and nursed his car to the flag, although he nearly ran wide after losing traction in turn seven. He held on for his fifth IndyCar Series win, which also made him the first driver to take two wins in IRL-sanctioned road-course events. Meira finished 2.3311 seconds behind, and Briscoe took third for his first IndyCar podium.
What were the final results?
Dixon won from Meira and Briscoe. Rice finished fourth and Giaffone fifth, and Carpenter, Castroneves, Patrick, Sharp and Scheckter completed the top ten. Kanaan, Hornish, Herta and Franchitti were the last classified finishers. Dixon's winning margin over Meira was 2.3311 seconds.
| Finish | Driver | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | Scott Dixon | Stayed on slicks; fifth IndyCar Series win; won $115,800 |
| Second | Vitor Meira | Finished 2.3311 seconds behind Dixon |
| Third | Ryan Briscoe | First podium finish of his IndyCar career |
| Fourth | Buddy Rice | Had led on the opening stint and finished on the lead lap |
| Fifth | Felipe Giaffone | Completed the top five |
What did the drivers say after the race?
Dixon said the team had been confident throughout the race because it knew it had the speed. He said the Target team with Dan Wheldon had fast cars all year, and that the Energizer car looked good in the winner's circle. He added that the conditions had been tough because it was hard to judge how hard to push.
Meira said he was pleased with second and that the team had fought hard for it. Briscoe, who was in the car for a one-off event, said he could not have been happier and hoped the finish would open more chances to race in IndyCar or Champ Car.
What did the result mean for the championship?
Dixon moved from fourth to second in the drivers' championship with 170 points, only twelve behind leader Castroneves. The win was also the final victory for Panoz as a chassis constructor. Hornish fell to third with 162 points, and Wheldon dropped to fourth on 157. Kanaan stayed fifth on 138.
The race had six lead changes among seven drivers, and seven cautions slowed it for 21 laps. Castroneves still led the championship after the Glen, with Dixon now close enough to challenge for the title. Dixon, Meira and Briscoe had stayed on slicks through the rain, and that gamble decided the podium.
How did the Cheever incidents shape the post-race talk?
Two incidents involving Eddie Cheever dominated the paddock conversation after the race. On the restart after lap 20 Patrick spun and ended up a lap down, and she blamed Cheever for the contact that put her there. She called him an idiot over the team radio, saying the pass he attempted on that restart was desperate and unnecessary.
The second incident came on lap 38, when Cheever exited the pits on a new set of tyres and skidded across the path of Michael Andretti's car in the ninth turn. Andretti veered into the tyre barriers and retired, and he was seen shaking his fist at Cheever as he climbed out. Andretti said the contact was blatant and deliberate, and he linked it to a feud that dates back to a 1992 race at Long Beach.
Cheever denied any intent and said the track had been very slippery on his new tyres. Days later he called the accusations incomprehensible and described the incident as a racing accident, pure and simple. The ESPN writer John Oreovicz was among those who wrote critically of Cheever's driving that weekend.
Dan Wheldon's problems, meanwhile, were largely mechanical. His race ended on lap 41 when a drive shaft broke, and that retirement tended to be overshadowed by the Cheever argument.