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Saturday afternoon at Mid-Ohio - the Stadium super Trucks hold Race 1…
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…of the weekend, and rather than tell you about it, we can show it to you!
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The SSTs will hold Race 2 on sunday afternoon, after the IndyCar race… Next up is the grid for USF2000 Race 3…
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Saturday afternoon at Mid-Ohio - The grid for USF2000 Race 3 has been released…
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The grid is made of either the driver’s 2nd best qualifying lap time or their best Race 2 lap time, whichever was better for them.
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Here is the way USF2000 will grid for Season Round 13: [R] denotes rookie
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Row 1
Pole - Michael d’Orlando, Cape Motorsports
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P2 - Myles Rowe, Pabst Racing
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Row 2
P3 - Jace Denmark, Pabst Racing
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P4 - Nikita Johnson [R], Velocity Racing Development
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Row 3
P5 - Dylan Christie, DEForce Racing
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P6 - Lochie Hughes [R], Jay Howard Driver Development
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Row 4
P7 - Billy Frazer, Exclusive Autosport
P8 - Thomas Nepveu, DEForce Racing
Row 5
P9 - Christian Weir, Turn 3 Motorsports
P10 - Bijoy Garg, DEForce Racing
Row 6
P11 - Jagger Jones [R], Cape Motorsports
P12 - Jacob Douglas [R], Exclusive Autosport
Row 7
P13 - Nicky Hays [R], Cape Motorsports
P14 - Spike Kohlbecker, Turn 3 Motorsports
Row 8
P15 - Nicholas d’Orlando [R], Velocity Racing Development
P16 - Viktor Andersson [R], Velocity Racing Development
Row 9
P17 - Jorge Garciarce [R], Jay Howard Driver Development
P18 - Danny Dyszelski [R], Jay Howard Driver Development
Row 10
P19 - Jackson Lee, Cape Motorsports
P20 - Evagoras Papasavvas [R], Jay Howard Driver Development
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Notable:
This is Michael’s 2nd pole of the weekend, but he will need to keep Myles Rowe behind him and he hasn’t been able to do that, so far.
Another great start for Dylan Christie, he is showing unusual speed, this weekend.
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Michael d’Orlando - another pole
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The race is upcoming…
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Saturday afternoon at Mid-Ohio - USF2000 closes out their weekend with Race 3…
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…and it will be remembered as Michael d’Orlando’s reply to Myles Rowe as the Cape Motorsports driver WINS from pole. P2 went to Jace Denmark for Pabst Racing from his P3 start while P3 went to his teammate Myles Rowe from his P2 start.
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On the opening lap as Michael led the field away Nikita Johnson for Velocity Racing Development went off in the Keyhole at Turn 2 and dropped from P4 all the way to the tail. Billy Frazer for Exclusive Autosport went from P7 to P4, Jacob Douglas for Exclusive from P12 to P7 and Jagger Jones for Cape Motorsports from P11 to P8. On lap 2 Jacob slid off the island on Turn 1 and dropped to the rear of the field. Nicholas d’Orlando for Velocity Racing Development went off in Turn 2 and did sufficient damage to need to pit, out of the race. On lap 4 Michael was 1.1 seconds ahead of Myles while Nikita set Fastest Lap at the rear of the field. On lap 6 Billy went off and on, and dropped to the rear of the field. On lap 8 Lochie Hughes for Jay Howard Driver Development passed Dylan Christie for DEForce Racing to take over P4. Michael set Fastest Lap.
On lap 10 Nikita Johnson reset Fastest Lap as he moved forward. By lap 13 Nikita was passing Jorge Garciarce for Jay Howard to take P12. On lap 15 Johnson was taking P11 from Jackson Lee for Cape Motorsports. On lap 17 Nikita passed Nicky Hays for Cape Motorsports to take P10. By this time Michael was 1.8 seconds ahead of Myles who was getting pressure from Jace Denmark. On lap 18 Nikita passed Bijoy Garg for DEForce to take P9. One lap later Jace passed Myles in Turn 1 for the P2 spot while soon Nikita was by Christian Weir for Turn 3 Motorsports to slip into P8.
On the final lap as Michael was about to cross the finish line Jorge Garciarce and Jackson Lee collided in the Carousel and spun off, but too late to yellow flag the race, as Michael WON by 3.3 seconds over Jace who was 2.4 seconds ahead of Myles. At the request of his team Michael also had reset Fastest Lap on the final lap to extract the one point available for it.
Another good one with a tight battle for the podium spots at the end.
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Notable:
While the WIN helps stem the points losses for d’Orlando it also gives him the confidence to know that Myles Rowe is defeat-able, still - something a lot of folks were forgetting.
Myles Rowe and Jace Denmark were on the podium in all three races, this weekend. Jace Denmark has 2 WINS, Michael now has 3 WINS and Myles has 4 WINS. While there are other talents on the grid, these are the guys to watch for the title, at this point.
A GREAT run by Nikita Johnson. In two of the three races 14-year-old Nikita made mistakes that cost him and then made up for them somewhat by huge recovery drives. In this race he went from P20 to P8 at the end, almost all on race passes. A future champion is in the making, here.
Also, a great race for Dylan Christie for DEForce Racing who finished in P5. This adds to his P4 and P6 at Road America. Prior to the last few races, Chistie was middling, at best. Something has changed and we may see him on a podium anytime now.
Dylan Christie
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Your happy podium - That’s Jace Denmark in P2 on the left, Michael d’Orlando in P1 in the middle and Myles Rowe in P3 on the right:
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With these results, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Mid-Ohio:
1 - Myles Rowe, 296
2 - Michael d’Orlando, 281
3 - Jace Denmark, 264
4 - Jagger Jones, 228
5 - Billy Frazer, 215
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The next outings for USF2000 will be at Toronto for Rounds 14 and 15, in support of the IndyCar return to Canada, July 15-17. Next up, Indy Pro 2000 holds their last race of the weekend. The grid for this is in post # 10…
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Saturday afternoon at Mid-Ohio - Indy Pro 2000 runs their 2nd race of the weekend…
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…and closes their visit to Mid-Ohio with a “rookie-fest”, as rookie Kiko Porto for DEForce Racing takes his first series WIN from his P2 start. P2 went to rookie and pole-sitter Louis Foster for Exclusive Autosport while P3 went to rookie Yuven Sundaramoorthy in his 2nd IP2K podium for Pabst Racing, from his P3 start.
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At the start of the race Kiko took Louis for the lead in Turn 1. Nolan Siegel for DEForce took Enaam Ahmed for Juncos Hollinger for the P5 spot while Salvador De Alba for Jay Howard Driver Development first passed Wyatt Brichacek for Exclusive Autosport and then Jack William Miller for Miller Vinatieri to wind up in P7. On lap 2 Jack then fell to P11 as Enaam set Fastest Lap, beginning a series of others doing the same. On lap 3 Wyatt set Fastest Lap. On lap 4 Enaam recovered P5 from Nolan as Kiko set Fastest Lap trying to put a gap between himself and Louie. On lap 5 Reece Gold for Juncos set his own Fastest Lap from the P4 spot, trying to catch Yuven in P3. Reece would then lock up his right front tire while attacking Yuven and it would come back to haunt him.
On lap 6 Kiko reset Fastest Lap trying to escape Louie but the Brit reset Fastest lap on lap 7. On lap 9 Salvador passed Nolan to take over P6. On lap 10 Kiko again reset Fastest Lap. On lap 11 Louis responded with another Fastest Lap. Kiko was unable to get away, no matter what. The two were always only a car-length apart. Meanwhile, Reece Gold’s front tire would keep locking up at least once a lap, as it got worse. By lap 18 Enaam had caught Reece and took him for the P4 spot. Then, Reece was under attack from Salvador.
On lap 22 Sal set his own Fastest Lap as he went by Gold to take over P5. For the last three laps of the race Louie was all over Kiko, with no respite. The two were almost nose-to-tail for the rest of the race. Kiko held on under the pressure and came across the finish line 0.34 seconds ahead of Louis, who was 4.3 seconds ahead of Yuven.
A great battle for the lead for most of the race!
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Notable:
Kiko came to the series as the 2021 Champion of USF2000 but he has taken his time to learn the more powerful and tougher PM-22 car that IP2K uses. His best finish this season has been a couple of P4s, up to now.
While Louis came in 2nd his nearest points rival, Reece Gold, came home P6, so not much to worry about.
Enaam Ahmed and Salvador De Alba both had good races, with a P4 and P5 respectively.
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Your happy podium - That’s Louis Foster in P2 on the left, Kiko Porto in P1 in the middle and Yuven Sundaramoorthy in P3 on the right:
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With these results, here are your TOP FIVE in points leaving Mid-Ohio:
1 - Louis Foster, 282
2 - Reece Gold, 233
3 - Nolan Siegel, 227
4 - Enaam Ahmed, 218
5 - Josh Green, 209
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The next outings for Indy Pro 2000 are rounds 13 and 14 at Toronto, in support of the IndyCars’ return, July 15-17. This was the last on-track activity of the day. Sunday morning will start with the P-3 practice for the IndyCars, known as the “Warm-up”.
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Sunday morning at Mid-Ohio - the IndyCars hold their P-3 practice…
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…known as the “warm-up”, this post-qualifying session is the last chance for teams to check whatever is most pressing on their agendas before the race. Is it tire wear and tire choice? Is it fuel mileage? Is it handling adjustments for the changing track? All we know is no one is checking out their qualifying set-up. That’s over and done. Since we don’t know each car’s agenda, the warm-up only tells you who is looking for confirmation of outright speed from their race set-up and the fast guys in warm-up will be fast in the race. We just know they will not be the only fast guys in the race.
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Here is the order of speed for the IndyCars P-3 session, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie
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1 - **David Malukas [**R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ HMD Motorsports - time of 1;07.7110s for a speed of 120.051mph
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2 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 1:07.9649s for a speed of 119.603mph
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3 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 1:07.9714s for a speed of 119.591mph
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4 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 1:08.0121s for a speed of 119.520mph
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5 - Callum Ilott [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing - time of 1:08.0900s for a speed of 119.383mph
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6 - Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
7 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport
8 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
9 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
10 - Takuma Sato, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
11 - Will Power, Team Penske
12 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner
13 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
14 - Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing15 -
16 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises
17 - Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport
18 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP
19 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
20 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
21 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
22 - Jack Harvey, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
23 - Jimmie Johnson, Chip Ganassi Racing
24 - Tatiana Calderon [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises
25 - Christian Lundegaard [R], Rahal Letterman Lanigan
26 - Simona De Silvestro, Paretta Autosport
27 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
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Notable:
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David Malukas
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The race is scheduled for broadcast on NBC starting at 12:30pm EASTERN time with concurrent broadcast on Peacock Premium. Next up, the Indy Lights race. The grid for this is in post # 19…
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Sunday morning at Mid-Ohio - The Indy Lights race…
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…will be remembered as the race where Andretti Autosport’s Hunter McElrea finally broke through for his first Lights WIN, this one from pole. Taking the P2 spot was teammate Matthew Brabham from his P4 start while P3 went to Linus Lundqvist for HMD Motorsports from his P2 start.
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The first lap set up much of the race as Hunter took off from pole, while Matt Brabham immediately took P3 from Benjamin Pedersen for GRG w/HMD Motorsports. At the same time Sting Ray Robb for Andretti took P5 from teammate Christian Rasmussen. Christian Bogle for HMD passed teammate Antonio Serravalle for P8. Danial Frost for HMD began to fall down the order from his P9 starting spot. On lap 2 Matty aggressively passed Linus for P2 in Turn 1 while Kyffin Simpson for TJ Speed Motorsports got by Ernie Francis for Force Indy for P10. Hunter set Fastest Lap as he began to get away out front. Danial pitted with a blown engine and was out. By lap 8 Hunter was 2.6 seconds clear of Matty who was already 6 seconds clear of Linus.
On lap 15 Hunter went half off the track in Turn 9 but rejoined without losing ground. Christian Rasmussen and Sting Ray Robb developed a big battle for the P5 spot, as Rasmussen tried to recover it. For three laps the two were almost nose to tail when Rasmussen finally dove inside of Robb in Turn 4 and reclaimed P5. By lap 21 Hunter reset Fastest Lap and was out front by 6 seconds while Matt was leading Linus by 9 seconds. It was all lost to them when on lap 23 James Roe for TJ Speed Motorsports went off in Turn 1 and got stuck in the gravel, bringing out a full-course caution. On the lap 25 restart Ernie got back by Kyffin to reclaim P10 as Hunter got away cleanly, with Matty in tow. Rasmussen was all over Benjamin Pedersen and finally took P4 from him with the same Turn 4/5 out-braking maneuver he had used on Sting Ray.
On lap 27 Ernie tried to take Antonio on the outside of the Keyhole at Turn 2 but went off and back on, instead, allowing Kyffin to reclaim the P10 spot. By lap 31 Hunter was again well clear of Matty by 1.7 seconds with Linus back 2.6 seconds behind Brabham. For the rest of the race there developed a battle between Sting Ray and Benjamin for P5, with Robb frustrated by what he called Ben’s “blocking” on his radio. Several times he tried to pass the Dane but found himself cut off. finally, on the final lap as both cars entered the Carousel at Turn 12, Robb used his remaining Push-to-Pass to take Benjamin on the inside, as they banged wheels. Jacob Abel for Abel Motorsports was behind them both and spun off, trying to avoid hitting them. He would drop from P7 to finish P11.
Hunter crossed the line 2.6 seconds ahead of Brabham who was 4.4 seconds ahead of Linus in P3. A great race, despite the domination of Hunter McElrea.
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Notable:
This was going to be Hunter’s race no matter what, unless he threw it away, as he did at St. Pete at the start of the season. The Kiwi dominated all the practice and qualifying and seemed able to get away during the race whenever he needed to. His WIN puts him in the same category at Brabham - one of 11 drivers who have WON races in all three Road to Indy series.
Matthew had a mechanical during qualifying that he thinks cost him a chance at pole, but the race proved Hunter really was the fastest, though Matty was clearly the best of the rest. His P2 moves him back into 3rd in the points.
The Andretti cars had almost all the HMD cars handled. The team has shown remarkable affinity for the track in Indy Lights over many years.
Despite the 3rd place finish, Linus is still way ahead on series points and will have to have some rotten luck to be caught, but the battle for Vice-Champion is heated, with only 17 points separating the four drivers looking for it.
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Hunter speaks:
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With this result, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Mid-Ohio:
1 - Linus Lundqvist, 350
2 - Sting Ray Robb, 263
3 - Matthew Brabham, 254
4 - Hunter McElrea, 252
5 - Benjamin Pedersen, 246
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Next up for the Indy Lights will be Season Round 9 at Iowa Speedway, July 23rd, in support of the IndyCar double-header weekend. Next, the IndyCar race. The grid for this is in post # 20…
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Sunday at Mid-Ohio - The IndyCar race…
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…was one of the most eventful races of the season, with incredible action, incredible moments and some incredible results, as Scott Mclaughlin WINS his 2nd race of the year for Team Penske from his P2 start. P2 went to Alex Palou for Chip Ganassi Racing from a P7 start. But the real thrill was watching Will Power for Team Penske start the race in P21, fall all the way to the rear on a first lap spin and then come all the way back to take P3 at the end. That’s IndyCar!
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The race was colored brightly by a LOT of aggressive driving that produced a few of the 6 full-course cautions on the day, with others the result of mechanicals and solo offs for a few cars. The victims included Kyle Kirkwood who went off in Turn 9 while in the TOP TEN, Tatiana Calderon who slowed to a stop with a mechanical and a very frustrated Felix Rosenqvist who also broke on track while in P4. Romain Grosjean was shoved off the track in Turn 2 twice by teammate Alexander Rossi who also went off track with him the 2nd time but rejoined as Romain waited for a tow. Later, Romain punted teammate Colton Herta off the track in the same corner, but Herta was able to rejoin. Dalton Kellett was hit from behind and went off, beached on the inside of Turn 2 by Jack Harvey who was battling Simona de Silvestro through the Keyhole at the time.
Pole-sitter and early race leader Pato O’Ward saw his race come apart when his fuel system went off song, leaving him with ever-worsening drivability until he was finally unable to get fully out of the pits and had to retire. Callum Ilott also suffered from mechanical woes and had to retire from what looked like a TOP TEN finish. Points-leader Marcus Ericsson went from a P13 start to finish in P6 and keep his points lead, though Will Power drew 20 points closer to him. Josef Newgarden’s drive from P14 to P7 allowed him to stay 3rd in the points, but only by 1 point. The best off-the-podium result was from Rinus VeeKay who went from his P11 start to finish in P4, just ahead of Scott Dixon. Best rookie finish was David Malukas in P9 but rookie Christian Lundgaard went from P16 to finish in P11 - best of the Rahal Letterman Lanigan team.
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Here are but SOME of the many race highlights:
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Let’s hear from WINNER ScottyMac:
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…and also from Will Power:
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With this result, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Mid-Ohio:
1 - Marcus Ericsson, 321
2 - Will Power, 301
3 - Josef Newgarden, 287
4 - Alex Palou, 286
5 - Patricio O’Ward 256
The TOP FOUR are literally 1 result away from each other.
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We are at the half-way point in the season and the next outing for the IndyCars will be Season Round 10, the Honda Indy Toronto, in two weeks, with support from USF2000 and Indy Pro 2000, as well as IMSA’s Porsche Carerra Cup North America series.
Next up here is the Stadium Super Trucks Race 2, to close out the weekend…
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Sunday at Mid-Ohio - The Stadium Super Trucks close the show…
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Most fans try to leave the track after a race and fight the outgoing traffic. The smart ones stay and watch the highly entertaining SSTs instead and they are always rewarded with lots of fun.
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Here is video of the SST Race 2 from Mid-Ohio:
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That’s it from Mid-Ohio for this weekend. The Road to Indy gave us 6 great races, as usual, the SSTs did their part of the entertainment, and the IndyCar race was simply superb, with action all throughout the event. Next weekend, the USF Juniors will come to Mid-Ohio for Season Rounds 8, 9 and 10 and we will cover them in the Off-Season thread.
Until then, THANK YOU, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course!!
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