Round 13: Honda Indy 200 At Mid-Ohio. Lexington, Ohio. July 26-28.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Round 13: Honda Indy 200 At Mid-Ohio. Lexington, Ohio. July 26-28.


Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, was the idea of local business man Les Griebling, who convinced a number of friends from the local business community, to invest in a road course for weekend sportscar racing. The course, which followed the contours of the land, was designed by Griebling, and was opened in 1962. From 1970 to 1976, Mid-Ohio became an event on the SCCA/USAC Formula 5000 Championship calendar and from 1977 to 1980, hosted a round of the revived Can-Am series. AOWR returned when CART initially raced at Mid-Ohio in 1980, with Johnny Rutherford taking victory in the Chaparral-Cosworth DFX.

In 1981, the track was bought by road racing enthusiast Jim Trueman, the owner of Red Roof Inns and Mid-Ohio underwent its first major renovation. Permanent grandstands, new pit garages with spectator balconies, a media/hospitality center, underground tunnels and a new paddock were built as well as the Goodyear Tower. CART returned in 1983 racing there until 2003.

In 2006, Mid-Ohio underwent further renovation, with the whole track and pit lane being completely resurfaced and adding a 75,000 seat grandstand. In 2007, after a 3 year absence from AOWR, Mid-Ohio returned as a venue for the IndyCar series and this weekend will see the 10th running of the race as an IndyCar event.

In March 2011, the track was purchased from Truesports by Green Savoree Racing Promotions, which currently promotes the IndyCar street races at St Petersburg and Toronto.

Some Trivia:
Driver with most wins, Scott Dixon: 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014.
Team with most wins, Chip Ganassi Racing: 1996, 1997, 1999, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014.


Track Layout:
Mid-Ohio features two track configurations, one of 2.25 miles (3.621 km) and 13 turns, the other of 2.4 miles (3.862 kms) and 15 turns. The track runs clockwise, with the start line located on the back stretch after Turn 3 and the finish line in front of the pits. In 1963 the original sports car course was modified, as drivers were concerned it was too slow. Oak Tree Bend, which literally went around an oak tree, was removed and replaced by the Thunder Valley section.

In 1990, there were further modifications, with the track being widened, creating the 13-turn, 2.250 mile (3.621 km) layout, adopted by CART and which is now used by IndyCar. During the 2006 renovations, new link roads were added to the track's famous Keyhole section, creating three separate road course configurations.

Original track layout:


1963-1989 track layout:


1990-2005 track layout:


Current IndyCar track layout:


Length: 2.250 Miles (3.621 km)
Turns: 13

Lap record:
Simon Pagenaud, 30 July, 2016. 1:03.870, 127.271 mph (204.822) km/h.
Team Penske,
Dallara DW12-Chevrolet IndyCar V6.
Verizon IndyCar Series.


Last year's race:
Rossi made a good start from pole with Will Power tucking in behind, moving to the right to protect the inside from Ryan Hunter-Reay, who backed off, allowing Newgarden around the outside to claim third, with Wickens holding position in fifth. Takuma Sato, jumped ahead of Max Chilton but a retaliatory move by Chilton saw the two make contact in Turn 5, spinning Sato to a halt. Chilton sixth place on the grid went to waste as he dropped to the back, while Sato dropped to 17th. Scott Dixon was sixth and Graham Rahal seventh. Jordan King, who had benefited from the confusion caused by Sato’s spin, had weaved his car to eighth, having started 16th.

Marco Andretti, who had started on scrubbed reds, pitted early on Lap 13 for fresh reds.

Hunter-Reay was the first of the leading runners to pit, with Wickens and King following a lap later. A good stop from the Schmidt Peterson pit crew, ensured Wickens emerged ahead of Hunter-Reay who switched to blacks.

By Lap 23, Power and Newgarden had closed on Rossi’s tail, as the leader found himself held up by Jack Harvey. As all three were now backed up behind Harvey, their times dropped by 1.5 seconds, so Penske deciced to call Power in.

Newgarden who was now closely followed by Dixon pitted for blacks. As they exited pitlane, Power and Hunter-Reay swept past. However, Wickens on red tires and on a three-stop strategy, had a lead of nine seconds over Power. As Wickens continued to pull away from Power, the Penske driver was also having to work hard to stay clear of Hunter-Reay, who in turn was running just 1 second ahead of Newgarden.

Wickens pulled in for the second of three stops on Lap 38, having established a 14 second lead over Power, while Hunter-Reay stopped a lap later. Dixon came in just 14 laps after his previous stop, switching to scuffed reds, while Newgarden hit pitlane on Lap 42, also running a three-stopper, emerging ahead of Hunter-Reay.

Power and Rossi both on two stops, stayed out, running 5 seconds apart in first and second, with Wickens now on blacks up to third. Surprisingly, Power pitted on Lap 49, much too early for a two stop strategy in a 90 lap race and on cold tires he emerged from pitlane right in front of Newgarden, who used his push-to-pass to muscle down the inside of Power at Turn 2, who immediately had to fend off an attack from Hunter-Reay.

Rossi was rigidly sticking to a two-stopper and by Lap 55, was leading by 20 seconds ahead of Wickens, who was struggling to get around the battling lapped cars of Tony Kanaan and Sato.

Rossi made his second and final stop at the end of Lap 59, having held a 24 second lead but that wasn’t enough to stay ahead of Wickens who now a 1.8 second lead on Lap 60, even though he was still stuck behind Kanaan, despite managing to get past Sato. Finally Kanaan made the pass happen on Lap 62. Rossi had the advantage because he alone, among the top five had made his final stop. Wickens pitted on Lap 65, handing the lead to Rossi, with Power now second.

Rossi was now running a mere 1.3 second ahead of Power. However, Power was going to have to pit again, doing so on Lap 69. Thanks to putting in some good lap times, Power emerged ahead of Newgarden but could make no impression on Wickens, running around 4.5 seconds behind in third.

On Lap 74 Bourdais got past Pagenaud for seventh, down the back straight and after hassling Hunter-Reay for ten laps, overtook him to take sixth place.

Over the closing laps, Power pulled away from Newgarden and started catching Wickens but ran out of time to make a serious go of it. Rossi eased off considerably in the final couple of laps, allowing his lead over Wickens to be eroded from 18 to 12.8 second to win.

Wickens was 1.9 seconds clear of Power who was 3.3 seconds ahead of Newgarden. Dixon claimed fifth spot, with Bourdais sixth after a sterling drive from the back row. Hunter-Reay only just held Pagenaud to claim seventh, while local stars Rahal and Zach Veach completed the top 10.

Pole position:
Alexander Rossi, 1:04.6802. 125.677 mph (202.257 km/h)
Andretti Autosport
Dallara IR18-Honda HI18TT V6 Indy

Last year's winner:
Alexander Rossi
Andretti Autosport
Dallara IR18-Honda HI18TT V6 Indy

Laps: 90
Distance: 203.22 mi (327.05 km)
Race Time: 1:44:15
Average Speed: 116.957 mph (188.224 km/h)

Cautions 0

TV Coverage: NBC, July 28, 4:00pm ET.