Honda Indy at Mid-Ohio Race Preview

“I’ve always enjoyed going to Mid-Ohio and rate it as one of my favorite tracks to race on. I raced here in Skip Barber when I was a teenager and earned my first-ever IndyCar podium at Mid-Ohio. It would be great to add a win for the the DHL team to those memories. We have some positive momentum coming off the last two races at Iowa and Toronto and hopefully we can roll that into another successful weekend at Mid-Ohio.”

Fast Facts

Track: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, a 13-turn, 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

2016 race winner: Simon Pagenaud (No. 22 PPG Automotive Refinish Chevrolet)

2016 Verizon P1 Award winner: Simon Pagenaud (No. 22 PPG Automotive Refinish Chevrolet), 1:03.8700, 127.271 mph

Qualifying record: Simon Pagenaud, 1:03.8700, 127.271 mph, July 30, 2016

NBCSN television broadcasts: Qualifying, 2 p.m. ET Saturday, July 29 (live); Race, 3 p.m. ET Sunday, July 30, CNBC (live); 7 p.m. ET Sunday, July 30, NBCSN (re-air); Kevin Lee is the lead announcer for the NBCSN broadcasts this weekend alongside analysts Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy. Pit reporters are Jon Beekhuis, Katie Hargitt, Anders Krohn and Robin Miller.

Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the chief announcer alongside analyst Davey Hamilton. Jake Query and Nick Yeoman are the turn announcers with Dave Furst, Rob Howden and Michael Young reporting from the pits. All Verizon IndyCar Series races are broadcast live on network affiliates, Sirius 214, XM 209, IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app. All Verizon IndyCar Series practice and qualifying 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)

INDYCAR Mobile app: Verizon’s INDYCAR Mobile app is available across all carriers. Exclusive features for Verizon Wireless customers will stream live through the app and include enhanced realtime leaderboard and car telemetry; live in-car camera video streaming for select drivers during Verizon IndyCar Series races; live driver and pit crew radio transmissions during races and live Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network audio streaming during all track activities.

At-track schedule (all times local):

Friday, July 28
10 – 10:45 a.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series practice #1, RaceControl.IndyCar.com (Live)
2:15 – 3 p.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series practice #2, RaceControl.IndyCar.com (Live)
3:05 – 3:20 p.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series pit stop practice, RaceControl.IndyCar.com (Live)

Saturday, July 29
9:55 – 10:40 a.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series practice #3, RaceControl.IndyCar.com (Live)
2:05 p.m. – Qualifying for the Verizon P1 Award (three rounds of knockout qualifying), NBCSN (Live)

Sunday, July 30
11:15 – 11:45 a.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series warmup, RaceControl.IndyCar.com (Live)
3 p.m. – Driver introductions
3:40 p.m. – Command to start engines
3:47 p.m. – The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio (90 laps/203.22 miles), CNBC (Live)

Race notes:

  • There have been nine different winners in the 12 previous Verizon IndyCar Series races in 2017: Sebastien Bourdais (Streets of St. Petersburg), James Hinchcliffe (Streets of Long Beach), Josef Newgarden (Barber Motorsports Park and Streets of Toronto), Simon Pagenaud (Phoenix Raceway), Will Power (INDYCAR Grand Prix and Texas Motor Speedway), Takuma Sato (Indianapolis 500), Graham Rahal (Raceway at Belle Isle-1 and Raceway at Belle Isle-2), Scott Dixon (Road America) and Helio Castroneves (Iowa Speedway). Bourdais’ win at St. Pete on March 12 gave him sole possession of sixth on the all-time Indy car victory list. Power’s win at Texas on June 10 tied him with Dario Franchitti and Paul Tracy for ninth on the all-time list with 31 wins. Dixon’s win at Road America on June 25 was his 41st career victory and he will tie Michael Andretti for third all-time with his next win. Castroneves’ win at Iowa on July 9 ended a 54-race winless streak and gave him sole possession of 12th all-time with 30 wins.
  • The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio will be the 33rd Indy car race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Simon Pagenaud won the race in 2016. 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 2017. The first seven races were won by Sebastien Bourdais (Streets of St. Petersburg), James Hinchcliffe (Streets of Long Beach), Josef Newgarden (Barber Motorsports Park and Streets of Toronto), Will Power (INDYCAR Grand Prix), Graham Rahal (Raceway at Belle Isle-1 and Raceway at Belle Isle-2) and Scott Dixon (Road America).
  • 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 have all won at Mid-Ohio twice. Past winners Dixon, Castroneves (2000 and 2001), Charlie Kimball (2013), Graham Rahal (2015) and Simon Pagenaud (2016) are entered this year.
  • There have been six different Mid-Ohio pole winners since Helio Castroneves won back-to-back poles in 2007-08. Other Mid-Ohio pole winners entered in this year’s race are: Will Power (2010 and 2012), Scott Dixon (2011 and 2015), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2013) 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).
  • At least 19 drivers entered in the event have competed in past Indy car races at Mid-Ohio. Tony Kanaan (15) has the most starts at Mid-Ohio among the entered drivers. Twelve of those drivers have led laps at the track (Scott Dixon 223, Helio Castroneves 147, Will Power 90, Charlie Kimball 46, Simon Pagenaud 37, Mikhail Aleshin 33, Ryan Hunter-Reay 33, James Hinchcliffe 30, Graham Rahal 23, Conor Daly 22, Kanaan 13 and Josef Newgarden 5).
  • Chip Ganassi Racing has won 10 times at Mid-Ohio, including seven of the last 10 races 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 eight wins at the track: Emerson Fittipaldi (1992 and 1993), Al Unser Jr. (1994 and 1995), Helio Castroneves (2000 and 2001), Ryan Briscoe (2008) and Simon Pagenaud (2016).
  • Scott Dixon has finished in the top five in nine of his 12 races at Mid-Ohio, including five wins between 2007 and 2014…James Hinchcliffe has three top-five finishes in five career starts at Mid-Ohio…Carlos Munoz has finished in the top five in two of his three Mid-Ohio starts…Will Power has finished in the top five in five of his eight starts at Mid-Ohio…Simon Pagenaud has finished on the podium four times in his previous six starts, including last year’s win.
  • Two rookies – Esteban Gutierrez and Ed Jones – are expected to compete. Jones has raced at the circuit before in Indy Lights.
  • Tony Kanaan seeks to start his 278th consecutive race this weekend, which would extend his Indy car record streak that began in June 2001 at Portland. Teammate Scott Dixon has made 219 consecutive starts heading into the weekend, which is the second-longest streak in Indy car racing. Andretti Autosport’s Marco Andretti has made 195 consecutive starts, which is the fourth-longest streak in Indy car racing.
  • Helio Castroneves will attempt to make his 340th career Indy car start, which ranks third on the all-time list. Tony Kanaan is fourth all-time with 338 starts.
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