NTT Indy Car Series: Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio

Two-time winner and defending champion at Mid-Ohio, Josef Newgarden is looking to continue his winning ways. [John Wiedemann Photo]

by Paul Gohde

Thirty-eight Indy car races have been held at Mid-Ohio since the inaugural in 1980 (22 CART-Champ Car and 16 Indy Car). Drivers like the tight and sometimes flowing natural road course that opened in 1962 as a sports car and motorcycle circuit. Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing have been most successful here over the years, and with their cars coming to this beautiful Ohio facility in four of the first five places in the current points battle, the smart money says one of those entries should lead the parade. We’re at the half-way mark in the NTT Series season, and nothing has happened since February at St. Petersburg to make anyone think that things would change greatly in the final nine rounds.

Race Facts: The Mid-Ohio circuit measures 2.258-miles over its 13-turn run. The teams will race for 80 laps (180.64 miles) on Sunday… Eight entered drivers have won 15 races here at M-O: Scott Dixon (6), Josef Newgarden (2), Helio Castroneves (2), Will Power, Colton Herta, Simon Pagenaud, Graham Rahal, Alexander Rossi (one each) … Simon Pagenaud holds the track’s qualifying record at 1.03.870 (127.271-mph) set in 2016.

Recent Race History: Last season Josef Newgarden scored the first 2021 victory for Team Penske, ending a nine-race drought, after leading 73/80 laps and holding off a late race charge by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Ericsson. Team Penske’s win came as they also celebrated the 50^th Anniversary of their initial win by Mark Donahue at Pocono in 1971. Ericsson’s Ganassi teammates Alex Palou and Scott Dixon were next followed by Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi. Ericsson’s late race charge saw him cut Newgarden’s lead down to just 0.88 seconds at the flag after a combination of slower traffic, final pit stops, and his remaining Push-to Pass narrowed the final margin. Several observers thought that one more lap may have brought Ericsson to victory lane instead of NTT points-leader Newgarden.

2022 Season So Far: Driver Point Standings after eight races: 1) Ericsson (293 points, 1win) …2) Power (266, 1) … 3) Newgarden (261, 3) …4) Pato O’Ward (248, 1) …5) Palou (246)…Other winners: (Scott McLaughlin and Colton Herta-one each)…Manufacturer Points: Chevrolet, 678 points, 6 wins)…Honda, 618, 2).

Race Entries: The usual 27 road course cars/drivers are entered as Simona De Silvestro rejoins the series for her second race of the three planned for her Paretta Autosport Chevrolet team. Their next planned appearance will be at the Nashville street course.

Notes: TV: Race, NBC network, Sunday, 12:30 p.m. (ET)…Felix Rosenqvist has opted to stay with the McLaren team in 2023…2022 is Indy Car’s 28^th season…Scott Dixon has finished every lap of all eight Indy Car races in 2022.

Our Take: As stated earlier, the Penske and Ganassi teams have dominated throughout the season, and both are likely to continue that trend. Andretti Autosport, Dale Coyne and the others may find a way to consistently join that winning duo sometime, but until Indy Car comes up with its long-promised third engine supplier, Honda and Chevrolet will continue to dominate with Roger and Chip. We hope that new engine supplier (whoever it might be) comes on board soon.

“They Said It”: At a recent Indy Car press conference six-time Mid-Ohio winner Scott Dixon was asked about various comments others have made regarding his future and if/when he might move on to a different team or role in the sport. “I haven’t been a part of any of those conversations so I’m not really sure where a lot of those things come from. I know people talk; I even got a few messages from people asking about the same thing. Who knows what comes in the future? But if people are having those conversations, I haven’t been a part of them. I love doing what I’m doing…I don’t see anything for at least five years. I don’t see giving up soon. As of right now it’s not on the radar.”

Next Race: July 17, The Honda Indy Toronto.

Paul Gohde

Paul Gohde heard the sound of race cars early in his life.

Growing up in suburban Milwaukee, just north of Wisconsin State Fair Park in the 1950’s, Paul had no idea what “that noise” was all about that he heard several times a year. Finally, through prodding by friends of his parents, he was taken to several Thursday night modified stock car races on the old quarter-mile dirt track that was in the infield of the one-mile oval -and he was hooked.

The first Milwaukee Mile event that he attended was the 1959 Rex Mays Classic won by Johnny Thomson in the pink Racing Associates lay-down Offy built by the legendary Lujie Lesovsky. After the 100-miler Gohde got the winner’s autograph in the pits, something he couldn’t do when he saw Hank Aaron hit a home run at County Stadium, and, again, he was hooked.

Paul began attending the Indianapolis 500 in 1961, and saw A. J. Foyt’s first Indy win. He began covering races in 1965 for Racing Wheels newspaper in Vancouver, WA as a reporter/photographer and his first credentialed race was Jim Clark’s historic Indy win.Paul has also done reporting, columns and photography for Midwest Racing News since the mid-sixties, with the 1967 Hoosier 100 being his first big race to report for them.

He is a retired middle-grade teacher, an avid collector of vintage racing memorabilia, and a tour guide at Miller Park. Paul loves to explore abandoned race tracks both here and in Europe, with the Brooklands track in Weybridge England being his favorite. Married to Paula, they have three adult children and two cats.

Paul loves the diversity of all types of racing, “a factor that got me hooked in the first place.”

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