It was unfortunate that a number of driver errors during the final laps of the Indy Racing League event at Watkins Glen on Sunday ruined what promised to be an exciting finish.

The most unexplainable happenings all took place during a caution period following an accident between Vitor Meira and E.J. Viso. Viso appeared to attempt an ill-advised inside pass of Meira, forcing Meira off track and into a tire barrier.

The first bizarre incident took place on pit road when Danica Patrick spun the tires on her Andretti-Green racing mount and spun into the pit area of Scott Dixon. Despite the fact that several team members were clearing away tires and pit equipment, no one was injured.

Then, when the field was coming to the restart, a car slowed in front of Milka Duno and A.J. Foyt, with nowhere to go, and made contact with Duno’s car. That took both cars out of the race.

With Darren Manning leading the race, Scott Dixon, running second, accelerated through a corner, which resulted in a spin. That collected Ryan Briscoe, who had the best car all day.

Dixon and Briscoe were able to continue, but were at the end of the lead lap cars.

That put Ryan Hunter-Reay in second. On the restart, Hunter-Reay made a classic inside pass entering Turn 1 on the Watkins Glen road course and pulled away to his first IRL victory.

Had it not been for the mishaps, it would have been interesting to see Dixon, Briscoe and Hunter-Reay vying for the win. All three cars appeared equal, so it would have made for some exciting racing action.

With the announcement last week that Chip Ganassi was folding the Sprint Cup team of Dario Franchitti, it should come as no surprise that Helio Castroneves will sign a new contract with Team Penske to remain with the IRL.

The Ganassi decision was made because they couldn’t secure sponsorship for Franchitti in NASCAR. If Ganassi couldn’t find a sponsor for Franchitti, the 2007 IRL and Indy 500 champion, what does that mean for teams with lesser known drivers when it comes to sponsorship dollars in 2009?

I know that Franchitti insists he will remain in stock cars; maybe he will. But it would be hard to believe that a sponsor could be found in short order if he returned to the IRL.

Maybe Castroneves saw the writing on the wall and decided to remain with Team Penske, which is not likely to suspend operations because of a financial problem.

In other racing news: Indiana native Tony Stewart is probably glad the next two Sprint Cup races are at Chicagoland Speedway this weekend and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27. Stewart’s win last year at Chicagoland broke a winless streak and he followed it up with a win in the Brickyard 400.

Ken de la Bastide can be reached at (765) 454 -8580 or via e-mail at ken.delabastide@kokomotribune.com