Final Thoughts on Mid-Ohio
We are a few days removed from the Honda 200 at Mid-Ohio. As I mentioned Friday, life occasionally gets in the way. I had a family obligation this past weekend that prevented me from posting an article on the race here on Monday. Since it is now ancient history, I won’t rehash the usual Random Thoughts that I normally post on Monday.
Instead, I came away with two main thoughts of the race after watching the replay. First, the race was a typical Mid-Ohio parade, but with an exciting ending that prevented Alex Palou from gathering an additional ten points he may need by the end of the season. Also, I know many might disagree with me, but I found myself a little underwhelmed by the debut of the IndyCar hybrid component.
Alex Palou won the pole on Saturday, and looked to be in complete control of the race early on. Once the green flag finally fell, Palou opened up a huge lead almost immediately. He led a total of 53 laps, relinquishing the lead for two laps after his first pit stop. It was Palou’s second pit stop on Lap 55 that led to his undoing. Just a slight bobble when he tried to launch from his pit, was enough to allow Pato O’Ward to slip past Palou coming out of the pits. That was the race right there. O’Ward led Palou by almost half a second when he took the checkered flag, 24 laps later.
Even coming in second, Palou extended his lead over Will Power by 48 points. With the win, O’Ward moved into third place in the points – trailing Palou by 70 points. With six of the last eight races being ovals, it’ll be interesting to see if Palou can perform well enough to maintain his points lead and win the championship. Time will tell.
The race itself seemed to take a backseat to all of the hype surrounding the long-awaited debut of the hybrid components that were added to the existing engines of each car. I was really looking forward to the debut of the hybrids. I will admit that until last week, I was unaware that a full charge only lasted for 4.5 seconds and that drivers would only be allowed to deploy the electrical power twice per lap. To me, it seems that the added power was just enough to compensate for the additional 100 pounds that the hybrid component brings to the overall weight of the car.
Of course, the hybrid era got off to an inauspicious start when Scott Dixon’s hybrid unit failed before the green flag flew. They finally got him out, but it was on Lap 40. According to Marshall Pruett of Racer.com, Dixon’s problems were totally hybrid-related. It cost him third place in the championship. According to Pruett, Rinus VeeKay also had an issue where his hybrid unit would not charge. He was able to keep running, but finished nineteenth.
But 25 of the 27 cars that started Sunday’s race did not have any hybrid-related issues. That’s fairly impressive for the debut of a major component that was mandated for every car. But overall, I was disappointed in how little significance the hybrid played in the outcome of the race.
I’m not sure what I expected, but I thought that there would be a bigger charge than 4.5 seconds for full deployment. I guess it doesn’t really matter if I was slightly underwhelmed. This was wanted by the two engine manufacturers. If it leads to a third one entering the series at some point, it was all worth it.
I will be curious to see what impact, if any, the hybrid unit has at the short oval at Iowa.
Speaking of Iowa, Susan and I have had a change of summer plans. We had planned to sit out July and not go to any races. Instead, we are planning to leave tomorrow for our first-ever trip to Iowa Speedway. Our budget won’t allow us to add a race without giving one up. We have made the painful decision to forego Gateway this year. This will be our first time to miss Gateway since it was revived in 2017 (except for 2020), but we are very excited to be going to Iowa for the first time. We are hopeful to attend the other double-header at Milwaukee over Labor Day weekend, then of course – the season finale at Nashville Superspeedway.
George Phillips
Oilpressure 
July 10, 2024 at 7:43 am
Buy some lotto scratchers in every state to and from Iowa and you will find the extra money for your Gateway race in the games of chance are some stay-at-home pocket change.
July 10, 2024 at 9:44 am
You hit the nail on the head. If the hybrid helps attract a 3rd OEM…..mission accomplished. Othewise…blah.
July 10, 2024 at 9:49 am
Maybe I am being naive however is it not possible for Mid-Ohio to reprofile one or two corners to allow passing. Makes sense to me. Perhaps some other circuits could follow suit.
Good first race for Sowery. I do wish Coyne would find the budget outside of pay drivers. It’s interesting yet too hand to mouth for me.
July 10, 2024 at 11:21 am
Would be informative as wekll as worth your while to reading Dale’s background.
Dale has invested his own finances to continually keep his team afloat over many, many, years.
Why would a team owner do so? ? ?
“Pay Drivers” are a necessity.
Imagine that Dale would not mind your investing in his team.
July 12, 2024 at 8:15 am
Pay drivers are not a necessity if a team can get budget from other sources as I suggested in my post. That enables a team to pick drivers they believe would bring home the silver ware. In the case of Coyne Bourdais and Wilson spring to mind. For sure Dale has put masses of his hard earned money into the team which is another reason it would be great to see him find a non driver external source of income.
July 10, 2024 at 10:44 am
TBH, 4.5 seconds per blast was plenty at Mid-Ohio. Outside of two straights, there aren’t many other spots on the circuit you’d really be able to utilize the extra power.
Regarding the end of the race, Palou closed on Pato’s rear wing multiple times and ate up a small lead that Pato had. My wife generally continues her reading while I watch races, but even she was put on the edge of her seat in the final stint. The pit bobble certainly cost Palou the lead, but it’s not like he didn’t have a chance. Mid-Ohio wasn’t a masterpiece overall, but it was hardly boring.
July 10, 2024 at 11:11 am
While not a high bar to clear, “not being embarrassing” was probably the biggest goal the series had with the hybrid debut and that was certainly accomplished. That’s cold comfort for Scott Dixon, but no one would be complaining if it had happened to Sting ray Robb instead.
The hybrid unit Indycar has is a remarkable little device, if not a terribly interesting one. The scoring chyron lighting up like a Christmas tree was kind of interesting, though I would probably change the color scheme so it doesn’t look like drivers are gaining or losing positions when deploying or charging the unit as it does when using red and green.
July 11, 2024 at 2:01 am
Looks like Mid-Ohio was a good race and it’s great to see that a 3rd team now plays a role in the championship battle with O’Ward.
The downside of the Mid-Ohio weekend was obvious from practice 1: Nothing had been done to improve safety of the gravel trap on the outside of Turn 3 where Simon Pagenaud had the violent multiple-flip crash that has sidelined him to this day.
Landfill and paving it over should not be that hard to move the gravel trap up from being a golf-style bunker to become more at level with the racetrack so that out of control cars won’t need to dip down anymore which they will not at speed.
Thanks for letting us know that you’ve got a whole lot of season ahead of you. All the best to you and your wife for your travels. And looking forward to your coverage, of course.