IndyCars - Mid-Ohio: Doin' what comes naturally on a natural road course

The Sports Roundtable and Bar
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Saturday afternoon at Mid-Ohio - The Indy Lights hold Race 1 of the weekend…

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…and Andretti Autosport pulled down a podium sweep, with Pato O’Ward going from flag to flag in the lead. P2 at the end was Colton Herta and P3 was Dalton Kellett.

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Patricio O’Ward extends his points lead

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The opening lap looked frantic, with a lot of moves attempted but everyone stayed both clean and in qualifying position for the first several laps - Pato followed by teammate Ryan Norman, followed by Colton, followed by Aaron Telitz for Belardi Auto Racing, followed by Santiago Urrutia for Belardi. Finally on lap 7 Santiago ended a long stalk of his teammate Aaron with a risky pass in Turns 4 and 5 that paid off by taking P4, though it cost him some tire smoke. On lap 15 Aaron spun in the carousel and though he rejoined he dropped to P7 as a result, behind Dalton Kellett in P5 and Victor Franzoni for Juncos Racing in P6.

On lap 18 Telitz spun again, but in Turn 9. This time he brought out a full-course caution. At that caution Santi ducked into the pits to get reloaded with fresh tires to be able to mount a charge later in the race from P6. .Aaron would also rejoin in P7, two laps down.

On the lap 22 restart Colton was able to nip Ryan for P2 in Turn 1. Ryan then quickly fell to Dalton in the Keyhole, followed by Victor on the straight after and found himself in P5 within 3 turns. Santi UIrruti now went after Norman and the two clashed in Turn 5 of lap 23, spinning then both off the course. They would both get back on, with Santi still back in P6. Ryan would get called into the pits for a drive-though penalty but he was able to suffer that before Urrutia could collect the P5 position. For the rest of the race Herta would close on O’Ward and was at tines only a few car lengths off, but Pato was able to get him to use up his remaining puss-to-pass in feckless attempts to close the deal. O’Ward would WIN by a scant 0.63 seconds.

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Notable:

  • The one guy Herta needed to finish in front of was O’Ward, and though he looked very racy, despite his hand injury, he was not able to get past Pato, who extended his points lead on Herta with his 6th WIN of the year.

  • Dalton Kellett has done well on ovals in the past but this was his best road course finish to date.

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Here is your happy podium - That’s Colton Herta in P2 on the left, Patricio O’Ward in P1 in the middle and Dalton Kellett in P3 on the right:

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The Lights will hold Race 2 of the weekend on Sunday, with Pato O’Ward once again on pole. Next up. Pro Mazda hold Race 1 of their weekend. The grid for this race is in post # 9…

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Saturday afternoon at Mid-Ohio - Pro Mazda get to do Race 1 of the weekend…

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When it was over we had a new chasmpionship points leader, as Rinus VeeKay took down his 5th WIN of the season for Juncos Racing and the 3rd in a row. P2 was David Malukas for BN Racing and P3 was Rob Megennis for Juncos Racing.

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Rinus triumphant

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On the opening lap pole-sitter VeeKay followed by David Malukas took off. Rob Megennis from a P5 start was able to pass first teammate Carlos Cunha for P4 and then take Parker Thompson for Exclusive Autosport for P3 in Turn 1. Seconds later, String Ray Robb for Team Pelfrey got pushed off track out of P8 and onto the grass following the keyhole turns of 2 and 3, sending him to near the tail of the 24-car field. As Veekay and Malukas began to gap the field Carlos was able to nip Thompson for P5 on lap 3.

For the rest of the race it was really a contest to see who could catch whom and who could escape and a series of Fastest Laps began to be set by various drivers. The first was set by David Makukas on lap 8. Then Parker Thompson set it on lap 10. Then Rinus VeeKay set it on lap 11.

The big passer was Robb, who was trying to reclaim all he had lost on lap 1. By lap 12 Robb was all the way back to P11. On lap 13 Carlos Cunha set Fastest Lap. On lap 14 Robb was in P10. On lap 18 Rob Megennis set Fastest lap. On lap 21 Rinus set Fastest Lap once again, trying to keep Malukas behind him. On lap 22 Robb collected yet another spot and took over P9 - almost recouping all he had lost on lap 1. Three laps later the race ended without any further movement, but going a LOT faster than when it started.

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Notable:

  • With the WIN VeeKay now takes over the points lead from Thompson, who once led by almost 50 points. A series of bad luck has taken all that away. Dave Malukas starts on the pole on Sunday with Rinus in P2, Rob Megennis in P3 and Parker in P4. Thompson will need the luck to go his way, for a change.

  • Naturally, Sting Ray Robb WON the Tilton Hard Charger award for his many on-track passes on the day

Sting Ray Robb - hard-charger

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Here is your happy podium - That’s David Malukas in P2 on the left, Rinus VeeKay in P1 in the middle and Rob Megennis in P3 on the right:

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Pro Mazda will hold Race 2 on Sunday, first on-track activity in the morning. The grid for that race is in post # 17. This race was the last on-track activity of the day.

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IndyCar has released Day 2 highlights, including qualifying…

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Racer magazine’s Marshall Pruett caught up with Colin Braun at Mid-Ohio today…

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…as the young SportsCar ace driver foir CORE Autosport was trolling the paddock looking for possible racing opportunities in the IndyCar series:

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Talents like Braun are all over the world of Motorsports, but there are always such a limited number of opportunities.

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Spotter’s guide - Changes in livery since Toronto…

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There are a number of livery changes this week and also a few new drivers to look for. Let’s check 'em out:

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Ed Jones was in his regular NTT Data car at Toronto but jumps back into the same DC Solar car of two-tone blues and white that he drove at Iowa Speedway, earlier this month:

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Graham Rahal was in the red, black and white Rousseau Metals car at Toronto but jumps into the 5/3 Bank car of blue and white for Lexington:

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Sebastien Bourdais was in a blue car for Molex at Exhibition Place but returns to the yellow and black SealMaster car for Mid-Ohio:

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Pietro Fitipaldi will be the driver in the Paysafe Honda for Dale Coyne to the end of the season:

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Spencer Pigot was in the blue and white Preferred Freezer Services car for Toronto but returns to the very green Fuzzy’s Vodka car for Lexington:

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continued…

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Spotter’s guide - Changes in livery since Toronto…(part 2)…

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Simon Pagenaud drove the black and white DXC Technologies car on the streets of Toronto but returns to the easy-to-spot Menard’s yellow tennis ball for Ohio:

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Charlie Kimball was in the one-time blue and white Novo Nordisk Canada Diabetes car for Toronto but is back in the pretty green and black Tresiba car for Lexington:

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Rene Binder is the driver of the Juncos car, just like at Toronto, but he has a new sponsor. Instead of “Binderholz” the new sponsor on the flanks is HD Pellets Technologies, but the livery colors stay the same:

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Jack Harvey returns to battle in the stunning # 60 Honda of metallic dark pink and black with sponsorship from SiriusXM and AutoNation:

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Marco Andretti was in the Oberto car of red and white at Exhibition Place but is in the Ruoff Home Mortgages car of white, blue and green for Mid-Ohio:

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Sunday morning at Mid-Ohio - The Pro Mazda gang hold Race 2 of the weekend…

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…and SWEEPING the weekend is Nederlander Rinus VeeKay, with his 6th WIN of the season for Juncos Racing and 4th in a row. P2 was teammate Rob Megennis and P3 was 2017 USF2000 Champion Oliver Askew for Cape Motorsports.

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The race started with David Malukas for BN Racing on pole. David led away cleanly, with Rinus in tow, followed by Rob Megennis. As the cars exited the keyhole turn on lap 1 Mathias Soler-Obel for RP Motorsport Racing was able to eclipse Sting Ray Robb for Team Pelfrey and take P7. Quickly after, title contender Parker Thompson for Exclusive Autosport got pushed off track out of P4 and dropped to P9. Carlos Cunha in P5 for Juncos Racing was also off and on - possibly in contact with Parker - but lost a front wing in the process. He would pit and rejoin, a lap down. On lap 2 Parker would take P8 from Nikita Lastochkin for Cape Motorsports. Parker would then take P7 from Mathias.

On lap 8 the racing gods gave Rinus VeeKay a shout-out, as David Malukas slowed out of Turn 5 with an electrical gremlin that took him out of the race, handing Rinus the lead. The AMR crew pulled Malukas off the grass so as to let the race go on under green. For several laps the field stretched out. There was a great battle for 4th between Felipe Drugovich for RP Motorsport Racing and Sting Ray Robb. By lap 18 that battle also involved Parker and Sting Ray finally made the pass to take P4.

One lap later Cunha was off again in the carousel, bringing out a full-course caution. On the lap 22 restart a battle developed for P3 between Oliver Askew and Robb, while Parker battled Felipe for P5. Despite a lot of feints for a number of laps, no one changed positions and the race ended with Rinus 1.3 seconds ahead of Rob and Oliver, while Parker pulled in P6.

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Notable:

  • Not only was VeeKay gifted with the lead of the race, but his points rival Thompson had yet more bad luck on the weekend. Parker will need to have great races at both Gateway and Portland to salvage any hope for a title.

  • This was Robert Megennis’ best Pro Mazda finish and his 4th podium of the year.

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Here is your happy podium - That’s Rob Megennis in P2 on the left, Rinus VeeKay in P1 in the middle and Oliver Askew in P3 on the right:

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With this result, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Mid-Ohio:

1 - Rinus VeeKay 320
2 - Parker Thompson 295
3 - Carlos Cunha 252
4 - Oliver Askew 232
4 - David Malukas 232

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The next outing for the Pro Mazda gang will be at Gateway Motorsports Park, in support of the IndyCar, August 24-25. Next, USF2000 hold their final race of the weekend. The grid for this race follows…

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Sunday morning at Mid-Ohio - USF2000 grids for Race 3 of their weekend…

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When a MRTI series has three races on a weekend the 3rd race is gridded based on the fastest lap times of each driver in the 2nd race.

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Here is the way USF2000 will grid for Season Round 12, with the lap times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - James Raven [R], DEForce Racing - time of 01:21.3348s

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2 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], Cape Motorsports - time of 01:21.3815s

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3 - Keith Donegan [R], BN Racing - time of 01:21.4147s

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4 - Rasmus Lindh [R], Pabst Racing - time of 01:21.6800s

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5 - Julian Van der Watt [R], Team Pelfrey - time of 01:21.8005s

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6 - Michael D’Orlando [R], Team BENIK
7 - Jose Sierra [R], DEForce Racing
8 - Lucas Kohl, Pabst Racing
9 - Igor Fraga [R], Exclusive Autosport
10 - Yuven Sundaramoorthy [R], Exclusive Autosport

11 - Danial Frost [R], Exclusive Autosport
12 - Jacob Abel [R], Abel Motorsports
13 - Darren Keane, Newman Wachs Racing
14 - Russ McDonough [R], BN Racing
15 - Kyle Dupell [R], Team Pelfrey
16 - Calvin Ming, Pabst Racing
17 - Colin Kaminsky, DEForce Racing
18 -Dakota Dickerson, ArmsUp Motorsports
19 - Bruna Tomaselli, Team Pelfrey
20 - Kory Enders, DEForce Racing

21 - David Osborne [R], Newman Wachs Racing
22 - Kaylen Frederick, Pabst Racing
23 - Sabre Cook [R], Team BENIK
24 - Oscar DeLuzuriaga [R], Newman Wachs Racing

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Notable:

  • A number of drivers in Race 2 who were at the rear of the field actually pulled into the pits for fresh tires in order to set a fast lap to grid better for this race. We know that Keith Donegan did that, and it paid off.

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Sunday morning at Mid-Ohio - USF2000 holds their 3rd race of the weekend…

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Season Round 12 will be remembered as the capper for Champion Kyle Kirkwood, as the Floridian driving for Cape Motorsports took the WIN, sweeping the weekend and collecting his 9th WIN in a row and 10th of his stellar season. P2 was James Raven for DEForce racing in his series debut weekend and P3 went to Pabst Racing’s Rasmus Lindh for his 4th podium of the year.

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Kirkwood, again - we are so used to this!

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It only took 1 corner for Kyle Kirkwood to get the lead from pole-sitter James Raven, who was too slow on the start. As the crowded field got to Turn 5 three cars went off together - Darren Keane for Newman Wachs, Dakota Dickerson for ArmsUp Motorsports and Kory Enders for DEForce Racing. Kory was out but the others rejoined as the track went full-course yellow. On the lap 4 restart “Pepe” Sierra for DEForce jumped past Lukas Kohl for Pabst and Julian van der Watt for Team Pelfrey to take P5. By lap 5 Kaylen Frederick for Pabst, who had started the race from P23, was already up to P10.

On lap 7 Kaylen took P9 from Michael D’Orlando for Team BENIK. On lap 8 Kaylen took P8 from Lucas Kohl and P7 from Igor Fraga for Exclusive Autosport. At the same time, Jose Sierra was judged to have jumped the re-start on lap 4 and had to suffer a drive-through penalty from P5, and sending him to the tail end. On lap 11 Kaylen was battling with Julian van der Watt for P5 when the two touched, sending Julian off in Turn 5. That cost Kaylen a drive-through penalty that erased all his race heroics up to that point. He would finish in P19.

On lap 18 Rasmus Lindh, who had hounded P3-starter Keith Donegan for BN Racing for most of the race, finally took him in a battle through Turns 4, 5 and 6. Two laps later the race ended with Kyle 6 seconds clear of James, who was 3 seconds clear of Rasmus.

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Notable:

  • The record for race wins in a season of USF2000 is 12, held by JR Hildebrand in the 2006 season of 14 races. In this similar 14-race season, Kyle can match that record if he wins the last 2 races at Portland.

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Here is your happy podium - That’s James Raven in P2 on the left, Kyle Kirkwood in P1 in the middle and Rasmus Lindh in P3 on the right:

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With this result, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Mid-Ohio. The battle now is for Vice-Champion and Team Champions.

1 - Kyle Kirkwood 375 (Champion)
2 - Rasmus Lindh 194
3 - Igor Fraga 188
4 - Lucas Kohl 181
5 - Calvin Ming 166

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The next outings for USF2000 will be the series finales at Portland, Aug 31-Sept 2, in support of the IndyCar’s return to the venue. Next up, the Indy Lights hold their last race of the weekend. The grid for this race is in post # 15…

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Sunday morning at Mid-Ohio - The Indy Lights hold Race 2 of their weekend…

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…and the dominance of Patricio O’Ward continues, as the Mexican teen for Andretti Autosport SWEEPS the weekend, but it wasn’t handed to him. P2 was once again teammate Colton Herta. Giving Andretti Autosport a podium weekend SWEEP, P3 went to Ohio-native Ryan Norman in his 3rd podium of the year.

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Pato O’Ward - high flyer

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From pole Pato took off at the green flag, followed by Aaron Telitz for Belardi Auto Racing and Colton. By the time Victor Franzoni for Juncos Racing reached Turn 1 he was being passed for 4th place by Santi Urrutia for Belardi. Victor then had to defend a side-by-side attack by Dalton Kellett for Andretti that lasted from Turn 2 all the way to Turn 6, but he managed to keep Kellett in P6. Meanwhile, Colton was passing Aaron for P2 and Santi then passed Aaron for P3 - a busy first lap.

On lap 4 Dalton put a wheel off in Turn 1, allowing Ryan Norman to take P6 from him. Pato was meanwhile gapping the field and was 2 seconds ahead of Colton, making him safe from being attacked with push-to-pass. (The feature only works for an attacking car and only if it is less than 1.5 seconds in arrears).By lap 10 Victor was battling with Aaron for the P4 spot from Turn 3 on and the two touched in Turn 5, spinning Aaron into the weeds and bringing out a full-course caution. Aaron would rejoin a lap down in P7.

On the lap 13 restart Victor received a drive-through penalty and came out in P6. Colton, now close to Pato due to the caution, began to attack. For the next several laps he hounded the Mexican, using his push to pass to close. Despite running no more than a car length away at times, he couldn’t seal the deal. Meanwhile, Ryan, who had moved to P4 when Aaron and Victor clashed, went after Santi for several laps and was finally past him on lap 20 in Turn 2. For the last ten laps Pato was able to gap Colton again and won by more than 4 seconds.

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Here is your happy podium - That’s Colton Herta in P2 on the left, Pato O’Ward in P1 in the middle and Ryan Norman in P3 on the right:

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With this result, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Mid-Ohio:

1 - Pato O’Ward 395
2 - Colton Herta 363
3 - Santiago Urrutia 325
4 - Victor Franzoni 279
5 - Ryan Norman 269

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The next outing for the Lights will be at Gateway Motorsports Park August 24-25, in support of the IndyCar event. Next, the IndyCars race! The grid for that race is in post # 20…

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Sunday at Mid-Ohio - The Indycar race delivers!

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Mid-Ohio has often been a parade, due to the difficulty of passing there in the past, but if today is any indication, the new aero kit is the solution. Today’s IndyCar race in front of a huge crowd saw action on every lap throughout the field with over 150 on-track passes in a race that went from flag to flag without a single caution.

In the end the WINNER - with a dominating performance - was Alexander Rossi for Andretti Autosport. P2 was rookie Robert Wickens for Schmidt Peterson and P3 was Will Power for Team Penske.

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Rossi led most of the race - 66 of the 90 laps - as the only car running a two-stop strategy that could have gone wrong at any point, but never did, as the race was clean throughout, despite a LOT of very close competition and passes being made at places that cannot be made at Mid-Ohio. He would be leading by almost 13 seconds at the end. But that P1 dominance didn’t at all diminish the race, because there was so much battling all day among other competitors. In addition, everyone was on edge waiting for the inevitable caution that the multitude of off-course excursions in practice and qualifying predicted. That would have spoiled Rossi’s strategy and bunched the field for a mad dash at the end.

It never happened. Yes, there was some contact and nudging and even a spin for Takuma Sato, yet all 24 cars ran the whole race - but only one of them on the magic 2-stopper.

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Notable:

  • The WIN propels Rossi into 2nd place in the points over Josef Newgarden, who finished P4. Points-leader Scott Dixon finished P5, and thus lost only 2 points to Josef but 24 to Rossi.

  • It was Rossi who proposed the 2-stop strategy and though the team tried to shoot it down they decided to try it in the race - see if Alex could both be fast and conserve enough fuel. Early on, he proved he could so the team stuck with it.

  • Sebastien Bourdais for Dale Coyne was a passing machine. Starting dead last from a bad qualifying, the former 4-time champion had nothing to lose and drove like it, making incredible passes - 20 in all - to wind up P6 at the checkers. It was a devastating performance that awed everyone.

  • Also impressing and for the same reason was Simon Pagenaud for Team Penske who started P17 and finished 8th, with 16 on-track passes.

  • Scott Dixon did salvage 1 extra point for Fastest Lap of the race. He still leads by 46 points.

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Here is your happy podium - That’s Robert Wickens in P2 on the left, Alexander Rossi in P1 in the middle and Will Power in P3 on the right:

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With this result, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Mid-Ohio:

1 - Scott Dixon 494
2 - Alexander Rossi 448
3 - Josef Newgarden 434
4 - Will Power 407
5 - Ryan Hunter-Reay 399

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The next race for the IndyCars will be at the super-speedway at Pocono, for the ABC Supply 500, Aug 18-19.

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IndyCar has released a Race Re-Mix of the race…

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Thank you Mid-Ohio for the great weekend of racing, with all the Mazda Road to Indy action followed up by another great IndyCar event!

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