IndyCar: Mid-Ohio Honda Indy 200 Preview

The Track

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is located just outside the village of Lexington.

The track opened as a 15-turn, 2.4-mile (3.86 km) road circuit run clockwise. The back portion of the track allows speeds approaching 180 mph (290 km/h). A separate starting line is located on the backstretch to allow for safer rolling starts. The regular start/finish line is located on the pit straight.

In 1990 the track underwent a refurbishment. A new retaining wall was built, the entire track was resurfaced, widened and concrete was paved in the apexes of the turns to prevent asphalt deterioration. In addition, a straightaway was paved through the chicane, allowing for two different track layouts, the original 2.4-mile (3.9 km) circuit and a new 13-turn, 2.258 mile (3.634 km) circuit. In 1990, the CART series, along with other racing series, began utilizing the 2.258-mile (3.634 km) layout.

In 2006 a second major refurbishment saw several improvements. The entire circuit was repaved and the concrete patches in the turn apexes were removed.

Fast Facts

Race weekend: Friday, July 2 – Sunday, July 4

Track: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, a 13-turn, a 2.258-mile road course in Lexington, Ohio

Race distance: 80 laps / 180.64 miles

Push-to-pass parameters: 200 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 20 seconds per activation.

Firestone tire allotment: Six sets primary, four sets alternate to be used during the event weekend. One additional set of primary tires may be used by teams fielding a rookie driver. Teams must use one set of primary and one set of new (sticker) alternate tires for at least two laps in the race.

Twitter: @Mid_Ohio, @IndyCar, #Honda200, #INDYCAR

2020 race winners: Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet) and Colton Herta (No. 88 Capstone Turbine #ShiftToGreen Honda)

2020 NTT P1 Award winners: Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet), 1:06.3343, 122.543 mph and Colton Herta (No. 88 Capstone Turbine #ShiftToGreen Honda) 1:26.2788, 94.215 mph

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

NBC Sports telecasts: Qualifying: 8 p.m. ET Saturday, NBCSN (same-day delayed); Race: Noon ET Sunday, NBC (live). Leigh Diffey is the lead announcer for NBC Sports telecasts this weekend alongside analyst Townsend Bell.

Peacock Premium Live Streaming: All NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice sessions and qualifying will stream live on Peacock Premium, NBC’s direct-to-consumer livestreaming product.

INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the chief announcer alongside analyst Davey Hamilton. Jake Query, Nick Yeoman and Michael Young are the turn announcers with Joel Sebastianelli and Alex Wollf in the pit lane. The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the HPD Ridgeline will air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM 205, indycar.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA. All NTT INDYCAR SERIES practices and qualifying are available on SiriusXM 205, indycar.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app.

At-track schedule (all times local):

Friday, July 2

2:30-3:15 p.m.: NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice 1, Peacock Premium (live)

Saturday, July 3

9-9:50 a.m.: NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice 2, Peacock Premium (live)

Noon-1:15 p.m.: Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (Three rounds of knockout qualifying), Peacock Premium (live); TV: NBCSN (8 p.m. ET, Same-day delay)

3:30-4 p.m.: NTT INDYCAR SERIES final practice, Peacock Premium (live)

Sunday, July 4

11:58 a.m.: “Drivers, start your engines”

Noon: NBC on air

12:05 p.m.: The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the HPD Ridgeline (80 laps/180.64 miles), NBC (Live)

Race notes:

• There have been seven different winners in nine NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this season. Alex Palou (Barber Motorsports Park, Road America), Colton Herta (Streets of St. Petersburg), Scott Dixon (Texas Motor Speedway-1), Pato O’Ward (Texas Motor Speedway-2, Raceway at Belle Isle Park-2), Rinus VeeKay (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course-1), Helio Castroneves (Indianapolis 500) and Marcus Ericsson (Raceway at Belle Isle Park-1) have all won in 2021. The modern record (1946-present) for most different winners in a season is 11 in 2000, 2001 and 2014.
• There have been eight different winners in the last 10 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races (Josef Newgarden, Alex Palou, Colton Herta, Scott Dixon, Pato O’Ward, Rinus VeeKay, Helio Castroneves and Marcus Ericsson) The only repeat winners in that stretch are O’Ward (Texas-2, 2021 and Belle Isle-2, 2021) and Palou (Barber 2021 and Road America 2021)
• The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by HPD Ridgeline will be the 38th INDYCAR SERIES race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Will Power and Colton Herta split the doubleheader races in 2020. Johnny Rutherford won the first INDYCAR SERIES race at Mid-Ohio in 1980.
• Scott Dixon is the winningest INDYCAR SERIES driver at Mid-Ohio with six victories (2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2019). Emerson Fittipaldi won at Mid-Ohio three times, while Michael Andretti, Helio Castroneves, Teo Fabi, Bobby Rahal, Al Unser and Alex Zanardi all won at Mid-Ohio twice. Past winners Dixon, Graham Rahal (2015), Simon Pagenaud (2016), Josef Newgarden (2017), Alexander Rossi (2018) Will Power (2020-Race 1) and Colton Herta (2020-Race 2) are entered this year.
• Will Power has won five poles at Mid-Ohio, the most of any driver. Power won the pole in 2010, 2012, 2017, 2019 and 2020-Race 1. Mid-Ohio pole winners entered in this year’s race are Power, Scott Dixon (2011, 2015), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2013), Simon Pagenaud (2016), Alexander Rossi (2018) and Colton Herta (2020-Race 2).
• Fourteen drivers have won the race from the pole – Mario Andretti (1984), Bobby Rahal (1985), Roberto Guerrero (1987), Teo Fabi (1989), Michael Andretti (1990, 1991), Al Unser Jr. (1994), Alex Zanardi (1996), Patrick Carpentier (2002), Paul Tracy (2003), Scott Dixon (2011), Simon Pagenaud (2016), Alexander Rossi (2018), Will Power (2020-Race 1) and Colton Herta (2020-Race 2)
• Twenty-two drivers entered in the event have competed in past INDYCAR SERIES races at Mid-Ohio. Scott Dixon (17) has made the most starts at Mid-Ohio among the entered drivers. Ryan Norman, one of four rookies who will make their first start at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, will make his NTT INDYCAR SERIES debut. Thirteen drivers have led laps at the track (Dixon 261, Will Power 205, Josef Newgarden 89, Alexander Rossi 71, Colton Herta 61, Sebastien Bourdais 38, Simon Pagenaud 37, Ryan Hunter-Reay 33, James Hinchcliffe 30, Graham Rahal 27, Takuma Sato 16, Felix Rosenqvist 15 and Marcus Ericsson 1).
• Chip Ganassi Racing has won 11 times at Mid-Ohio, including eight of the 15 races sanctioned by INDYCAR at the track. Ganassi’s winning drivers are Alex Zanardi (1996, 1997), Juan Pablo Montoya (1999), Scott Dixon (2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2019), Dario Franchitti (2010) and Charlie Kimball (2013).
• Team Penske has 10 wins at the track with Emerson Fittipaldi (1992, 1993), Al Unser Jr. (1994, 1995), Helio Castroneves (2000, 2001), Ryan Briscoe (2008), Simon Pagenaud (2016), Josef Newgarden (2017) and Will Power (2020-Race 1)
• Scott Dixon has finished in the top five in 11 of his 17 starts at Mid-Ohio, including six wins between 2007 and 2020 … Will Power has finished in the top five in nine of his 13 starts at Mid-Ohio … Simon Pagenaud has finished on the podium four times in his previous 11 starts.

Entry List

Sponsor Honda Facts

• Honda-powered drivers and teams have won 16 of 23 races run at Mid-Ohio since the company entered Indy car racing in 1994, including 11 of 18 races run with engine manufacturer competition.
• Led by race winner Colton Herta, Honda drivers swept the top five finishing positions in the second event of a doubleheader Mid-Ohio race weekend in 2020.  Alexander Rossi and Ryan Hunter-Reay made it a 1-2-3 result for the Honda-powered Andretti Autosport team; with local favorite Graham Rahal and Marcus Ericsson rounding out the top five.
• With five Honda-powered victories at Mid-Ohio, defending series champion Scott Dixon is the most successful IndyCar Series driver at this track.  Dixon won with Honda in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012 and again in 2019. His Chip Ganassi Racing teammates, Dario Franchitti and Charlie Kimball, won in 2010 and 2013, respectively, giving the team eight total, and five consecutive Honda victories at Mid-Ohio.
• Rahal led another Honda 1-2 finish at the 2015 Honda Indy 200, with the late Justin Wilson finishing second after a fierce battle in the closing laps.
• In the Championship Auto Racing Teams era, Honda drivers won five of the nine races from 1994-2002, more than any other manufacturer.  Alex Zanardi led a 1-2 finish for Target Chip Ganassi Racing in 1996 with Jimmy Vasser second.  Zanardi won again in 1997.  Juan Pablo Montoya led a 1-2-3-4 result for Honda in 1999, being followed to the checkers by Paul Tracy, Franchitti and Vasser.  Helio Castroneves and Gil de Ferran finished 1-2 for Honda and Team Penske in both 2000 and 2001.
• American Honda has a long history of involvement in central Ohio and at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.  Honda was the first Japanese company to establish auto manufacturing operations in the United States, opening Honda of America Manufacturing in Marysville, Ohio, in 1982. The company has had an Official Vehicle relationship with Mid-Ohio since 1994.
• Today, Honda operates multiple manufacturing facilities and a major Research & Development center in Ohio.  Combined, they employ more than 13,000 associates and have the capacity to produce more than 650,000 vehicles and 1.18 million engines annually.
• Honda has served as title sponsor of the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio since it returned to the IndyCar Series schedule in 2007.