“Mid-Ohio is one of my favorite tracks on the INDYCAR schedule and a place where we as a team have had some pretty good pace in the past, and hopefully that will be the case again this year. This is the first time we’ll be on the track there with the new car, so we really need to make the most of the practice sessions as a four-car team. I really want to get the DHL Honda a second win this season. We’re still in contention for the championship – a strong result is important to keep up in the fight.”
Track: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, a 13-turn, a 2.258-mile road course in Lexington, Ohio
Race distance: 90 laps / 203.22 miles
Push-to-pass parameters: 200 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 20 seconds per activation.
Firestone tire allotment: Seven sets primary, four sets alternate. Teams must use one set of primary and one new set of alternate tires in the race.
Twitter: @Mid_Ohio, @IndyCar, #Honda200, #INDYCAR
Event website: http://www.midohio.com/
INDYCAR website: www.IndyCar.com
2017 race winner: Josef Newgarden (No. 2 PPG Automotive Refinish Team Penske Chevrolet)
2017 Verizon P1 Award winner: Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet), 1:04.1720, 126.672 mph
Qualifying record: Simon Pagenaud, 1:03.8700, 127.271 mph, July 30, 2016
NBCSN television broadcasts: Qualifying, 1:30 p.m. ET Saturday, July 28 (live); Race, 3 p.m. ET Sunday, July 29, CNBC (live); 6:30 p.m. ET Sunday, July 29, NBCSN (re-air); Leigh Diffey is the lead announcer for the NBCSN broadcasts this weekend alongside analysts Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy. Pit reporters are Jon Beekhuis, Katie Hargitt, Kevin Lee and Robin Miller.
Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the chief announcer alongside analyst Anders Krohn. Jake Query and Nick Yeoman are the turn announcers with Dave Furst, Ryan Myrehn and Michael Young reporting from the pits. Verizon P1 Award qualifying and The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio will broadcast live on network affiliates, Sirius 216, XM 209, IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app. All Verizon IndyCar Series practice sessions are available on IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app.
Video streaming: All practice sessions for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio will stream live on RaceControl.IndyCar.com and on the INDYCAR YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/indycar).
At-track schedule (all times local):
Friday, July 27
11 – 11:45 a.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series practice #1, RaceControl.IndyCar.com (Live)
2:35 – 3:35 p.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series practice #2, RaceControl.IndyCar.com (Live)
3:40 – 4 p.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series pit stop practice, RaceControl.IndyCar.com (Live)
Saturday, July 28
10 – 10:45 a.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series practice #3, RaceControl.IndyCar.com (Live)
1:35 p.m. – Qualifying for the Verizon P1 Award (three rounds of knockout qualifying), NBCSN (1:30 p.m. live)
Sunday, July 29
2:55 p.m. – Driver introductions
3:35 p.m. – Command to start engines
3:42 p.m. – The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio (90 laps/203.22 miles), CNBC (live)
Race notes:
- There have been seven different winners in the 12 previous Verizon IndyCar Series races in 2018: Sebastien Bourdais (Streets of St. Petersburg), Josef Newgarden (ISM Raceway, Barber Motorsports Park and Road America), Alexander Rossi (Streets of Long Beach), Will Power (INDYCAR Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500), Scott Dixon (Raceway at Belle Isle-1, Texas Motor Speedway and Streets of Toronto), Ryan Hunter-Reay (Raceway at Belle Isle-2) and James Hinchcliffe (Iowa Speedway). Dixon’s win at Toronto on July 15 was his 44th career win, which ranks third on the all-time Indy car victory list.
- The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio will be the 34th Indy car race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Josef Newgarden won the race in 2017. Johnny Rutherford won the first Indy car race at Mid-Ohio in 1980.
- The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio will be the ninth race on a road/street course in 2018. The first eight races were won by Sebastien Bourdais (Streets of St. Petersburg), Josef Newgarden (Barber Motorsports Park and Road America), Alexander Rossi (Streets of Long Beach), Will Power (INDYCAR Grand Prix), Scott Dixon (Raceway at Belle Isle-1, Streets of Toronto) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (Raceway at Belle Isle-2)
- Scott Dixon is the winningest Indy car driver at Mid-Ohio with five victories (2007, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2014). Emerson Fittipaldi won at Mid-Ohio three times, while Michael Andretti, Helio Castroneves, Teo Fabi, Bobby Rahal, Al Unser Jr. and Alex Zanardi all won at Mid-Ohio twice. Past winners Dixon, Charlie Kimball (2013), Graham Rahal (2015), Simon Pagenaud (2016) and Josef Newgarden (2017) are entered this year.
- Will Power and Michael Andretti have each won three pole positions at Mid-Ohio. Power, who won the pole in 2017 also won the pole in 2010 and 2012. Mid-Ohio pole winners entered in this year’s race are Power (2010, 2012 and 2017), Scott Dixon (2011 and 2015), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2013), Sébastien Bourdais (2014) and Simon Pagenaud (2016).
- Eleven drivers have won the race from the pole – Mario Andretti (1984), Bobby Rahal (1985), Roberto Guerrero (1987), Teo Fabi (1989), Michael Andretti (1990 and 1991), Al Unser Jr. (1994), Alex Zanardi (1996), Patrick Carpentier (2002), Paul Tracy (2003), Scott Dixon (2011) and Simon Pagenaud (2016).
- Seventeen drivers entered in the event have competed in past Indy car races at Mid-Ohio. Tony Kanaan (16) has the most starts at Mid-Ohio among the entered drivers. Eleven drivers have led laps at the track (Scott Dixon 223, Will Power 104, Josef Newgarden 78, Charlie Kimball 46, Sebastien Bourdais 38, Simon Pagenaud 37, Ryan Hunter-Reay 33, James Hinchcliffe 30, Graham Rahal 26, Conor Daly 22 and Kanaan 13).
- Chip Ganassi Racing has won 10 times at Mid-Ohio, including seven of the 11 races sanctioned by INDYCAR at the track. Ganassi’s winning drivers are Alex Zanardi (1996 and 1997), Juan Pablo Montoya (1999), Scott Dixon (2007, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2014), Dario Franchitti (2010) and Charlie Kimball (2013).
- Team Penske has nine wins at the track, including the last two races: Emerson Fittipaldi (1992 and 1993), Al Unser Jr. (1994 and 1995), Helio Castroneves (2000 and 2001), Ryan Briscoe (2008), Simon Pagenaud (2016) and Josef Newgarden (2017).
- Scott Dixon has finished in the top five in nine of his 13 races at Mid-Ohio, including five wins between 2007 and 2014…James Hinchcliffe has three top-five finishes in six career starts at Mid-Ohio…Will Power has finished in the top five in six of his nine starts at Mid-Ohio…Simon Pagenaud has finished on the podium four times in his previous seven starts.
- Seven rookies – including Ohio native Zach Veach (Stockdale) – are entered. Other rookies entered are Rene Binder, Pietro Fittipaldi, Jack Harvey, Matheus Leist, Jordan King and Robert Wickens.
- Tony Kanaan seeks to start his 296th consecutive race this weekend, which would extend his Indy car record streak that began in June 2001 at Portland. Scott Dixon has made 236 consecutive starts heading into the weekend, which is the second-longest streak in Indy car racing. Marco Andretti has made 212 consecutive starts, which is the third-longest streak in Indy car racing.
- Scott Dixon seeks start his 300th Indy car race this weekend, which would make him the ninth driver to accomplish the feat. Will Power will make his 200th Indy car start, the 23rd driver to accomplish the milestone. Mario Andretti made a record 407 starts in his Indy car career. Tony Kanaan has 355, most among active drivers.
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