PRUETT: The Battle of Watkins Glen

The final 12 laps of Sunday's IndyCar Grand Prix at Watkins Glen were a celebration of ragged-edge brilliance from two road racing monsters.

A young lion, on the cusp of an overdue follow-up victory after winning the Indy 500 as a rookie, being chased without mercy by the best IndyCar driver of his generation – a four-time series champion and four-time Watkins Glen winner – made for a thrilling showdown. Scott Dixon, known for catching his prey, came up short as he and Alexander Rossi waged a classic lap-for-lap duel in the sprint to the checkered flag.

Operating at maximum attack, the return from yellow saw Rossi post his first flying lap of 1m26.4091s to Dixon's 1m26.7086s: advantage Rossi by 0.2995s. Lap 51 saw Rossi inch forward with a 1m24.9191s lap to Dixon's 1m25.1203s: another advantage of 0.2012s. Lap 52 also went to Rossi who added 0.1722s to his lead – a modest yet invaluable 0.6729s considering who was on his heels.

Dixon struck back on Lap 53 with a 1m24.1463s, his best of the race which also cut 0.3469s from Rossi's lead. Returning the favor on Lap 54, Rossi set his best of the 60-lap contest with a 1m24.2821s, which clawed back 0.1233s from Dixon.

To full appreciate their torrid pace, third-place finisher Ryan Hunter-Reay, Rossi's Andretti Autosport teammate, was 0.8938s slower than Dixon on Lap 53. On Lap 54, where the two Andretti drivers set their fastest laps of the day, Hunter-Reay was 0.5735s down to Rossi. Together, the Rossi-Dixon train was in a different league on Sunday.

The sprint from Lap 55 through Lap 60 went by with the protagonists trading anywhere between hundredths to a tenth of a second. Rossi won Lap 55; Dixon took Lap 56; Rossi recaptured it on Lap 57 and 58, and Dixon won Lap 59 and 60 by a combined 0.1601s.

In the end, Dixon's late push wasn't enough, thanks to the strength of Rossi's opening laps, and he finished 0.9514s ahead of Chip Ganassi Racing's lead driver. Behind them, Hunter-Reay was a distant 7.192s arrears at the checkered flag.

Fully aware they took part in something rather extraordinary, Rossi and Dixon reveled in their Honda-powered battle royale.

"I knew he was going to be pushing like hell at the end, and so it was really 12 qualifying laps, and I had the car to do it," Rossi said. "We had time, we had the pace, the performance, the tire life – everything was going our way."

"It was fun to contend with Rossi there for the win," Dixon added. "Big congrats to him and good to see Honda run strong at Watkins Glen."

Dixon's race strategist, who's presided over almost all of his IndyCar victories, had nothing but praise for the winner.

"If people don't understand Rossi's background, they should read what he did to get to Europe," CGR's Mike Hull told RACER. "He won the North American Formula BMW championship, which catapulted him to the global championship where he won that shootout. Everything it takes to do that at such a young age speaks to what you can do under pressure.

"He did well as an American in Europe, and it says a lot about his character to get to the level that he reached with all the pressure he faced. Put him in a high-pressure situation like the one he was in with Scott Dixon behind him, and what we saw Sunday was a byproduct of his toughness. Personally, I have great respect for that."

An appreciation for Rossi's breakthrough performance was also found on his timing stand.

"When the yellow came out for the incident with Josef, the reaction was, 'Oh no...Scott's going to be right on our tail,'" said Rob Edwards, Rossi's race strategist and Andretti Autosport COO. "If you look at the record of his success, not only at Watkins Glen, Dixon's the benchmark which everyone measures themselves against. Having him behind you with 11 or 12 laps to go is not the position anyone wants to find themselves in, but absolutely hats off to Alex.

"He put his head down and opened up a decent enough gap to focus on consistency and speed. Afterwards, it feels all the better because he did have to put it together and hold Scott off. It's all the more satisfying. It does show how far Alexander has come in two seasons now, and how much there is to come the next two seasons."

Hull expects to have more headaches delivered by Rossi as he reaches his full potential in IndyCar.

"With a quality driver like he is, it takes two years to start to see the results of his efforts, and by year three, that's when you start to see their complete capabilities," he said. "He's on a great team with great lineage and great teammates, and I'm sure he'll get there next year."

A win would have bolstered Dixon's championship aspirations, but Hull isn't disappointed in how the race concluded.

"We want to win every race at Chip Ganassi Racing, so you could call our second a blue-collar finish for Scott because it was the best we could manage and helped a lot in the championship standings," he said. "Those two pulled away from Ryan Hunter-Reay and that group with ease; those two raced it out, and Rossi came out on top. Full credit to him and his team for getting to the finish line first."