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If you ever needed an example of how well the DW12 races, look not further than Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. When IndyCar first raced at Mid-Ohio in 2007, after a three-year hiatus after CART’s last trip there in 2003; IndyCar was racing the IR-03 chassis, which was introduced when IndyCar was still running ovals only. To be fair, the chassis was designed with road & street courses in mind, but the series was definitely predominantly oval in the mid-2000s.

The IR-03 ran well at some non-ovals, but Mid-Ohio was not one of them. From 2007 through 2011, the IndyCar race at Mid-Ohio was a snoozer. Quite honestly, CART did not exactly put on barn-burners at the 2.258-mile road course located in Lexington, Ohio.

That all changed when the initial version of the DW12 raced at Mid-Ohio. Suddenly, what had previously been a parade was actually featuring some passing. Now, no one was confusing Mid-Ohio with the 2013 Indianapolis 500 – but a track that was considered practically un-raceable, had suddenly become quite lively. Since then, the DW12 has put on some very good shows at Mid-Ohio – and that’s something I never imagined myself saying prior to 2012.

But as improved as the racing was in 2012, the same driver won the 2012 race with the DW12 and the 2011 race with the old IR-03 – Scott Dixon. In fact, Dixon won the very first race that this version of IndyCar ran in 2007. Dixon would go on to win six IndyCar races at Mid-Ohio – the last being in 2019. Since then, Mid-Ohio has been dominated by Team Penske. The only exception was in 2020, when IndyCar raced a double-header at Mid-Ohio as a result of scheduling challenges during the pandemic.

Penske’s Will Power won the first race of the double-header, while Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta won the second. Josef Newgarden won in 2021 for The Captain, while Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin took the checkered flag in 2022. While everyone thinks of Mid-Ohio as Scott Dixon’s playground, it’s been Team Penske who has done the most damage there lately. In fact, Penske drivers have won five of the past eight races at Mid-Ohio. Except for Dixon’s win in 2019, Chip Ganassi drivers have not won a race at Mid-Ohio since 2014 when the winner was – Scott Dixon.

Personally, I’ve never been to Mid-Ohio. Everyone tells me that since I like Road America so much, that I’ll like Mid-Ohio also. They just say it’s a lot more rustic, which they say is code-speak for “old”. The track opened in 1962 and underwent a refurbishment in 1990, which fans jokingly say brought it into the 80s. Apparently little has been done since then. Given my dislike for change, that sounds like my kind of place. I heard similar things about Pocono, and I loved it. Logic would follow that I would love Mid-Ohio also.

The only real negative I hear about the place is that hotels are scarce in the area and that most fans rely on camping on the grounds. I like to think that my camping days are behind me for good. Whenever we go by the campgrounds at Road America, it always looks like everyone is having a good time. At the same time, I’m always thankful we have a hotel to go back to every night. To each his or her own.

All eyes will be on championship leader Alex Palou, who has a commanding 74-point lead in the standings. Those chasing him have nine races to try and win a few races, while hoping some bad luck falls Palou’s way. That’s a little more than half a season, so the championship is still in reach for at least the Top-Five drivers in the standings – Palou, Marcus Ericsson, Newgarden, Pato O’Ward and Dixon. As I said on Wednesday, I’m not ready to concede the Astor Challenge Cup to Palou just yet. While it will be challenging, I think several drivers can make the second half of the season very interesting.

Please take note that Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio will be shown live on USA Network, as well as Peacock – not Big NBC. This will be the second consecutive race to be on USA. The following race at Toronto will be shown exclusively on Peacock. After Toronto, all races return to Big NBC with the exception of the Gallagher Grand Prix at the IMS Road Course in August, which will air on USA.

Today’s Practice One will commence at 3:05 pm EDT and will last until 4:20 pm, airing on Peacock. Practice Two gets underway Saturday morning on Peacock at 9:45 EDT and will last exactly one hour. IndyCar Qualifying starts at 2:45 pm EDT on Peacock. The Morning Warm-up will take place Sunday at 10:30 EDT on Peacock, while race coverage begins Sunday at 1:30 pm EDT on USA Network, as well as Peacock, and the green flag at 1:53 pm EDT.

Who will win Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio? My sentimental side says Scott Dixon. I appreciate witnessing greatness and Scott Dixon has given us greatness at Mid-Ohio. But I’m not sure he will be that great this weekend. Alex Palou has been on such a hot streak since May, he has to cool off at some point – doesn’t he? I’m thinking this weekend that all of the Ganassi cars may be slightly off this weekend. Other than the fact that they have one win at Mid-Ohio since 2014, I have nothing other than a gut feeling telling me that.

I’m not sure what to expect from Colton Herta. His team may still be reeling after what happened at Road America, or they may have a great resolve to come back stronger than ever. Herta will probably be a significant factor this weekend. But the driver who I think is going to win is on a mission of his own. He finished second at Road America and did well to finish tenth at Detroit, after winning the Indianapolis 500. I think Josef Newgarden will win at Mid-Ohio on Sunday, leapfrogging over Marcus Ericsson and tightening the gap between him and Palou. This season is not over yet.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on June 30, 2023 at 4:04 am and is filed under IndyCar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.