Power back on top at Watkins Glen

The Australian led home his countryman and Penske team-mate Ryan Briscoe in a one-two, with the latter passing Dario Franchitti for the runner-up spot on the final lap.

The race was a close fought battle between Penske and Ganassi from the outset.

Though Penske held its one-two-three at the start, with Briscoe taking second from Helio Castroneves, the Ganassi duo were soon swarming around behind them.

Castroneves, Franchitti and Scott Dixon went down the backstraight three abreast on lap four without changing positions, though Franchitti was able to overtake the Brazilian at the same spot next time around.

But when Dixon tried to do likewise two laps later, contact was made, smashing the Ganassi car's front wing and giving Castroneves a puncture.

The delayed pair would briefly reappear at the front as their enforced three-stop strategies played out later in the race, but effectively the incident distilled the lead battle into a three-way fight between Power, Briscoe and Franchitti.

The latter lost touch a little mid-race, when the charging Raphael Matos passed Franchitti for third just after a restart. But the reigning champion got back ahead at the final stops - which also saw the leading Penske duo swap places as Briscoe got out first.

Briscoe did not stay in front long, though, as Power pounced on the restart lap after a caution caused by HVM's Simona de Silvestro crashing out.

The points leader pulled away after that, leaving Briscoe to squabble with Franchitti, who also got ahead to claim second a couple of laps later. He could not shake the Australian off though, with Briscoe slicing past at the start of the last lap and ensuring a Penske one-two.

Matos came home an excellent fourth for De Ferran Dragon, ahead of the equally impressive Mario Moraes (KV).

Panther's Dan Wheldon caused an early yellow when contact with Alex Lloyd (Dale Coyne) left him spun and stalled. But he got going without losing a lap, and benefited from a charging drive and perfect pit timing to recover to sixth.

Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport) had to battle through the field twice - first to make up for his 16th place on the grid, then after stalling in the pits and falling to last. Despite all this, he finished seventh ahead of the recovering Dixon and Castroneves.

Last year's Watkins Glen winner Justin Wilson never featured in the lead battle this time, dropping back during the opening stint and ultimately taking 10th for Dreyer & Reinbold, ahead of KV's EJ Viso, whose alternative three-stop strategy got him up front at times after his practice crash left him last on the grid.

With the yellow timing making fuel mileage an issue in the second half of the race, several drivers lost positions by making third pitstops in the expectation that everyone ahead would eventually have to. Paul Tracy was among them in 14th place on his one-off outing with Dreyer & Reinbold. He had been a top ten factor in the opening stint, driving with his usual determination to fend off Andretti Autosport's debutant Adam Carroll, whose similar strategy dropped him from a likely top ten to 16th.

Takuma Sato ran as high as fourth, but tumbled down the order when he pitted a lap before his KV crew had anticipated. That and changing to three stops left him 15th, while Andretti's Tony Kanaan dropped from a top ten finish to 21st when he had to pit for a fuel top-up on the final lap. His team-mate Marco Andretti also dropped positions late on with severe wear on the 'red' tyres, ending up 13th having been another top eight contender.

Pos  Driver               Team                    Time/Gap
 1.  Will Power           Penske             1h40m27.4391s
 2.  Ryan Briscoe         Penske                 + 1.2181s
 3.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi                + 1.4573s
 4.  Raphael Matos        De Ferran Dragon       + 5.3454s
 5.  Mario Moraes         KV                     + 9.3229s
 6.  Dan Wheldon          Panther                + 9.7523s
 7.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti              + 10.5003s
 8.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi               + 12.0546s
 9.  Helio Castroneves    Penske                + 12.9834s
10.  Justin Wilson        Dreyer & Reinbold     + 13.5635s
11.  EJ Viso              KV                    + 18.7591s
12.  Hideki Mutoh         Newman/Haas           + 20.2279s
13.  Marco Andretti       Andretti              + 26.6965s
14.  Paul Tracy           Dreyer & Reinbold     + 27.7310s
15.  Takuma Sato          KV                    + 28.8774s
16.  Adam Caroll          AFS/Andretti          + 29.3624s
17.  Alex Tagliani        Fazzt                 + 35.3753s
18.  Bertrand Baguette    Conquest              + 36.5350s
19.  Vitor Meira          Foyt                  + 36.9869s
20.  Danica Patrick       Andretti              + 38.2675s
21.  Tony Kanaan          Andretti              + 38.6700s
22.  Mario Romancini      Conquest                 + 1 lap
23.  Milka Duno           Dale Coyne              + 3 laps

Retirements

     Simona de Silvestro  HVM                38 laps
     Alex Lloyd           Dale Coyne         22 laps