Tag: Mid-Ohio

How Mid-Ohio showed O’Ward has ‘turned the key’

The full measure of Pato O’Ward’s growth as an NTT IndyCar Series driver was on display last weekend in Mid-Ohio. As rival and polesitter Alex Palou built a formidable gap during the opening stint, O’Ward was given multiple opportunities to chase, …

The full measure of Pato O’Ward’s growth as an NTT IndyCar Series driver was on display last weekend in Mid-Ohio.

As rival and polesitter Alex Palou built a formidable gap during the opening stint, O’Ward was given multiple opportunities to chase, just as he’d done many times in the past, and use his fearsome speed to coax extra performance out of his No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevy.

Palou was demonstrably faster over the first 20 laps, pushing out to a lead that reached more than six seconds at one point — an eternity in a mostly spec series like IndyCar — as the first round of pit stops loomed. But as the Chip Ganassi Racing driver motored away, O’Ward chose peace instead of violence with the treatment of his Firestone tires.

It was this mature decision in the initial phase of the 80-lap contest that made all the difference in how the rest of the race played out for O’Ward.

His inner voice, one that embraced the big picture with two more stints to complete, led the 25-year-old to apply the necessary experience and wisdom to embrace the long game. In the middle stint on the quicker Firestone alternates, the No. 5 Chevy came alive and scythed into Palou’s lead; when it was time for their final stop, a hiccup on pit lane slowed Palou, promoted O’Ward to the lead, and set the stage for an intense battle to reach the finish line.

The Ganassi driver was a rocket as the two closed the event on Firestone’s primaries, and in a rare twist, it was Palou who was sliding wide, dropping tires into the dirt, and over-driving his car to try and keep up with O’Ward. Learnings during the opening stint were applied by Arrow McLaren when they went head-to-head in the last stint. The adjustments resulted in more speed — enough to keep Palou at bay — and despite feeling strong pressure from behind, O’Ward was a vision of calm, which netted a 0.4993s win to defeat the championship leader and break into victory lane after an absence (not counting the after-the-fact St. Petersburg win) of nearly two years.

The previous knock on O’Ward was his lack of interest in the moments where tire conservation was needed to capture the win. With a fast car, the Arrow McLaren driver was prone to spend the opening half of a stint on a road, street, or oval circuit with his No. 5 Chevy generating lap times that were simply breathtaking. But that level of ferocity came at a price.

While his closest rivals held back — intentionally restraining themselves from using everything their Firestone tires could offer — in order to preserve some pace for the end of the stints, O’Ward often gave into temptation. He’d put on a big show and run away, but the inevitable cost was paid as the tires surrendered well before the next pit stop and he’d tumble backwards before fading into an unrewarding finishing position.

And to his credit, the young Mexican, now in his fifth full IndyCar season, didn’t put the puzzle together for the first time on Sunday. His 2023 season was his best yet when it comes to consistency and using his smarts as much as his raw speed, but the victory at Mid-Ohio was a breakthrough for O’Ward to package all he’s learned and send it to the top step of the podium.

“ I was thinking to myself, ‘If he pulls this off, it’s going to send a statement,’” says Arrow McLaren’s Tony Kanaan, “and I am 100-percent convinced that it did.” Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images

“I think Pato on Sunday turned the key,” Arrow McLaren sporting director Tony Kanaan told RACER. “I think this is part of his growth. There is a crucial moment when you have a choice. You go down the road, and it splits, and one way you go, you become like everyone else, or you go the other way, and you become the driver everybody’s expecting you to be. The way he drove on Sunday, I was thinking to myself, ‘If he pulls this off, it’s going to send a statement,’ and I am 100-percent convinced that it did. Things are going to change.”

And now it’s time to take what he engineered in Mid-Ohio and apply that formula — to become “Championship Pato” — in the eight races that remain. The win vaulted him from sixth in the drivers’ standings to third, 70 points behind Palou. Of the eight races left, six are on ovals, which suits O’Ward’s skills; two of his six IndyCar wins are from ovals.

If he can channel the same focus this weekend at Iowa, then at Toronto, and through the other stops on the tour, O’Ward stands a good chance of receiving a newfound level of respect from his peers. Nobody doubts his abilities to win a few races per season, but he has yet to strike fear within title contenders like Palou, or Will Power, or Scott Dixon, when it comes to settling the championship.

Using Mid-Ohio as the model, Kanaan sees a prime chance for O’Ward to reach IndyCar’s upper echelon if his form holds.

“You’ve got to take him seriously,” he said. “This win was personal, for many reasons, and I think that showed Pato and everybody else how strong he is. I am 100-percent convinced that, and it doesn’t matter who it was behind them, that when he took the lead, they would think, ‘Don’t worry about it, he’s gonna mess up, I’m gonna pass him. He’s not strong.’ And he made a statement there, because then all of a sudden you see Palou putting wheels off here and there. Like, not a normal situation.

“So maybe what Pato did surprised everyone, but it didn’t surprise me, because I have the inside information and what he did is the stuff that we’ve been working on through the offseason, back with Gil [de Ferran] with his F1 tests with Pato. I knew this guy was in there waiting to get out, which he did.”

And now the race begins to see if O’Ward and the No. 5 crew can chase down Palou and Power, two of IndyCar’s masters of controlled excellence, in the standings.

“When he got out of the car, we had the longest hug ever, but it wasn’t just because of the win,” Kanaan added. “I was holding him and helping him to sit down, because he was spent. He left it all out there. It was personal. He was in the shop today and did a speech for the mechanics. He’s confident, he’s pumped, he pumped the team, and that’s the Pato we need.

“So hopefully this will turn the key for good. I want to keep that momentum going and make this a habit. That’s why we signed him for the next five years, because that’s the kid that we believe is going to deliver for us, totally.”

Successful start for IndyCar hybrids

The NTT IndyCar Series had a 92.6-percent success rate with its brand-new hybrids on debut at Mid-Ohio. It’s an impressive figure to consider for the mid-season introduction of the Chevy- and Honda-built energy recovery systems, and in a perfect …

The NTT IndyCar Series had a 92.6-percent success rate with its brand-new hybrids on debut at Mid-Ohio. It’s an impressive figure to consider for the mid-season introduction of the Chevy- and Honda-built energy recovery systems, and in a perfect world, the number would have been 100 percent.

In a closely-fought battle between the two brands, Honda led 53 of the 80-lap race with polesitter Alex Palou and Chevy took 27 combined laps between Pato O’Ward and Scott McLaughlin. It was the 24 laps delivered in the lead to close the race by O’Ward that gave General Motors the honor of becoming IndyCar’s first engine manufacturer to win a hybrid race.

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“What an exciting race today at Mid-Ohio! Congratulations to Pato O’Ward, Gavin Ward and the entire No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet team on their outstanding win. Pato drove a skilled, patient race while his crew executed flawlessly on pit lane. It was a true team win,” said Mark Stielow, GM’s motorsports director.

“There were great battles throughout the field. With Scott McLaughlin bringing the No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet to the finish in third, it is very rewarding for everyone on the Chevrolet engineering side along with our teams who have all put in countless hours to reach today’s race to have two drivers on the podium for debut of the IndyCar hybrid power unit.”

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon was the only driver to encounter a heavily impactful hybrid-related problem in the package’s first appearance in competition; after the race, Rinus Veekay’s No. 21 Chevy was also reported to have charging issues on his way to 19th. The fact that 25 of the 27 energy recovery systems are believed to have worked as intended was a great demonstration of reliability for a project that was launched and overseen by IndyCar president Jay Frye and his technical team, plus both auto brands, and chassis supplier Dallara.

“The performance of the new IndyCar hybrid power unit at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was impactful and highly encouraging,” a statement from the series read. “All stakeholders in the IndyCar paddock share in the pride and excitement for the future that this milestone has generated. It is the result of a truly unique collaboration between Chevrolet and Honda and the culmination of hundreds of hours of engineering, preparation, testing and execution.

“IndyCar looks forward to the continued evolution of the hybrid power unit as teams and drivers fine-tune the system to optimize performance beginning with the first use of horsepower assist on an oval next weekend at Iowa Speedway.”

The ERS unit had another first in the Mid-Ohio race when Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Romain Grosjean spun and stalled his No. 77 Chevy late in the contest. The Swiss-born Frenchman was able to use the ERS to start the car on his own and pull away without the need for IndyCar to call for a caution and dispatch the AMR Safety Team to resolve the matter.

O’Ward scores a ‘long time coming’ win over Palou at Mid-Ohio

“Long time coming,” was Pato O’Ward’s message to his team after producing a masterful performance to turn the tables on Alex Palou and secure his first on-track victory since Iowa in 2022. Although the Arrow McLaren driver was credited with the win …

“Long time coming,” was Pato O’Ward’s message to his team after producing a masterful performance to turn the tables on Alex Palou and secure his first on-track victory since Iowa in 2022.

Although the Arrow McLaren driver was credited with the win in St. Petersburg after Josef Newgarden was disqualified, there was no satisfaction taken from the result since it didn’t come with a trip to victory lane. On Sunday at the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, the Mexican appeared to be playing for second place as Palou streaked away from pole on the first stint.

The Chip Ganassi Racing driver had an advantage on Firestone’s primary tires, but when both pitted and went to the faster but less durable alternates, O’Ward’s No. 5 Chevy started cutting into Palou’s lead, and with the gap cut to almost nothing, their final stop is where their respective fortunes rose and fell.

With a 5s lead cut to 0.5s, O’Ward stopped one lap before Palou, got in and out of the pits with haste, and had hot tires to attack Palou who pitted on the next lap. But O’Ward wouldn’t need to do anything courageous to snatch the lead; Palou’s stop was clean from his No. 9 Honda pit crew, but he sat idle for an extra moment or two while trying to engage the transmission and fire back onto the circuit.

That tiny bobble was all it took for the charging O’Ward to power around Palou and hold onto a diminishing lead of his own to bring his on-track winless streak to an end after 714 days.

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“That was a hard-fought race,” O’Ward said after handing Chevy the first win of IndyCar’s hybrid era. “Great job by the team. It’s been a while. This is a proper win. We earned this one.”

Just 0.4493s separated Palou from earning his second straight win.

“Shame,” he said. “It was a good race. We couldn’t make the alternate tires last. I destroyed my front tires. We had a slow stop; [I] couldn’t engage first gear.”

Scott McLaughlin, 16.1s shy of O’Ward, salvaged the day with a third for a Team Penske squad that had its share of struggles with Will Power running out of the lead pack in 11th and Josef Newgarden who tried to make a three-stop pit strategy work before receiving three straight penalties—the only penalties in the race—for speeding on pit lane, failing to heed instructions from IndyCar, and another speeding penalty while serving a penalty. He’d end the day a distant 25th.

With O’Ward and Palou in a world of their own, McLaughlin and the Andretti Global duo of Colton Herta in fourth and Marcus Ericsson in fifth ran smart races while lacking the pace to chase the leaders. O’Ward’s teammate Alexander Rossi completed the top six.

Elsewhere, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen turned his strong qualifying performance of eighth into his best race finish of ninth, and not far behind him on the road in 13th, IndyCar rookie Toby Sowery was nothing short of impressive as he took his Dale Coyne Racing car from 25th to 13th.

IndyCar’s new energy recovery system was almost flawless in its first race.

Ganassi’s Scott Dixon was bitten by some form of hybrid-related issue before the green flag which ruined his race, but his was the only car among the 27 in attendance to encounter adversity with the system.

As it happened

The first hybrid IndyCar race got off to a disastrous start for perennial Mid-Ohio contender Scott Dixon whose No. 9 Ganassi Honda died on the final warmup lap, which forced Dixon to sit and wait for his powerless car to be pulled off the course where he climbed out and watched for 22 laps from the sidelines.

The proper race start on lap three saw polesitter Alex Palou lead into Turn 5 and build a 1.0s lead over Pato O’Ward. The jousting between Christians—Lundgaard and Rasmussen—over seventh place on lap four went to Rasmussen as Palou stretched his lead over O’Ward to 1.5s on lap five. David Malukas sat 2.2s back in third.

By lap 10, Palou was disappearing into the distance with 3.3s over O’Ward and 6.5s over Malukas.

Pit lane got busy starting on lap 11 as Kyffin Simpson dove in and committed to a three-stop strategy; Josef Newgarden and Rinus VeeKay did the same on lap 12. Marcus Armstrong, Felix Rosenqvist, and Nolan Siegel pitted on lap 13. Palou held 4.4s over O’Ward on lap 14 and Malukas was 9.9s arrears.

O’Ward was 5.7s back on lap 20—the one-quarter mark—and Malukas was a full 13.0s behind Palou, who was cruising. In fourth, Colton Herta was down 14.4s, Scott McLaughlin was fifth at 15.6s, and Marcus Ericsson was 17.4s shy of the leader.

Lap 22 saw Dixon emerge from the pits in an attempt to salvage his day in any way possible. Palou’s march continued as his gap to O’Ward grew to 6.3s on lap 25. By lap 27, O’Ward cut the lead down to 5.6s as he prepared to pit at the start of lap 28 and move from Firestone primaries to alternates—like the other leading drivers — on his two-stop strategy.

Third-place Malukas pitted as well, which forced O’Ward’s team to hold him as Malukas pulled into his pit box. The time loss for O’Ward wasn’t great, but Malukas stalled, which lost him even more time.

Palou was in at the start of lap 29 and had a slightly slow stop as a wheel gun issue added a few seconds to the stop. With the top three having pit stop issues, the damage varied as Palou returned with 5.7s over O’Ward and Malukas fell from third to 13th.

McLaughlin went for the overcut by pitting at the start of lap 31 and was rewarded by emerging in third ahead of Herta and Newgarden, who was in need of stopping soon on his three-stop plan. Fellow three-stoppers Siegel and VeeKay were in on lap 33.

Newgarden was in on lap 37 and resumed in 16th. Palou’s lead fell to 4.5s on lap 38 as he worked through traffic; McLaughlin was 11.5s back in third.

Palou focused on conserving his alternate tires in the race’s middle phase as O’Ward did the same, but on lap 42, Palou’s lead was down to 4.0s as O’Ward slowly drew the margin down. Was it a case of O’Ward catching, or Palou giving up outright speed to get more life out of his tires?

Running sixth on a three-stop strategy, Linus Lundqvist pitted—he’d need one more stop—on lap 45 and resumed in 17th. Without a caution at an opportune time, the three-stoppers were facing some rough results.

By lap 47, O’Ward had Palou’s lead down to 3.2s and McLaughlin was only 6.3s back. Second- and third-place drivers were going forward and the leader was going backward. lap 49 and it was down for Palou to 2.7s. O’Ward’s charge continued as 2.3s separated him from Palou on lap 50 as traffic was on the horizon.

Lap 52 and O’Ward was down by just 1.4s. Ericsson also took fourth from teammate Herta. The start of lap 53 had only 0.8s between Palou and O’Ward. O’Ward was in Palou’s wheel tracks on lap 54 with 0.5s between the contenders. The McLaren pitted at the end of the lap—the start of lap 55—to take primaries as Palou stayed out and lost a bit of time trying to get around Will Power.

Palou was in at the end of lap 55 and the race for the lead was on. A delay dropping the clutch gave O’Ward the lead as Palou watched O’Ward sweep by on pit exit. By lap 57, O’Ward held 1.5s over Palou. Could Palou summon his earlier pace on primaries, or would O’Ward hold firm in the lead?

Palou got the lead down to 1.1s on lap 59, but he spent the next lap stuck behind Pietro Fittipaldi and saw it swell to 1.6s. A bobble by Newgarden who hit the inside curb at Turn 11 slowed his progression as he flew across the grass but he didn’t lose an immense amount of time and resumed in fifth while preparing to make this third and final stop.

Lap 63 and Palou carved O’Ward’s down to 0.8s. McLaughlin was 12.3s behind O’Ward and Ericsson — on alternates — was 17.0s back in fourth.

Sixty six laps down and now Palou was in O’Ward’s wheel tracks, 0.3s behind. Newgarden was in for his final stop and back in on lap 67 for speeding. He returned in 25th.

O’Ward was pushing and drew the lead out to 1.0s on lap 68, and imprecise driving from Palou and a slide out of Turn 13 had his deficit grow to 1.3s on lap 69. O’Ward was back in control with greater comfort.

Catching traffic, including Palou’s teammate Simpson, the leaders had a 0.7s separation on lap 70. Herta reclaimed fourth from Ericsson and Alexander Rossi was in sixth.

Lap 74 and it was 0.5s. Palou was close, but he’d need something remarkable to happen to get by O’Ward. Lap 77 and Palou was within one car length but he slid off the course and gave away a few tenths. Lap 78 and it was 0.5s, which was close for Palou, but not close enough as Romain Grosjean spun off the course on his own.

When the white flag flew, a 0.4s lead was in store for O’Ward, and he held onto it to claim his second race of the year.

RESULTS

Dixon victimized by hybrid system glitch

Unfortunately for Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, the six-time champion was the lone driver – the only one out of the 27 – to be struck by an ERS issue on Sunday at Mid-Ohio, and it came on the parade laps as the field prepared to take the green …

Unfortunately for Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, the six-time champion was the lone driver — the only one out of the 27 — to be struck by an ERS issue on Sunday at Mid-Ohio, and it came on the parade laps as the field prepared to take the green flag for the 80-lap contest.

Parked on the circuit with a stalled and powerless No. 9 Honda, Dixon was towed back to the paddock as the race got under way without him. He’d climb from the car as his crew and his Honda Racing Corporation US powertrain technician searched for the cause of the problem.

He’d join the rest of the drivers on lap 22, pulling away from the pits where a race-long effort to stay out of the way allowed the New Zealander to turn 40 laps before retiring when it became impossible to improve his position of 27th and last.

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Having entered the race holding third in the championship with a 32-point deficit to teammate Alex Palou, being the hybrid casualty came with a price as he fell to fourth in the standings and had his gap to Palou more than double to 71 points.

“Kind of weird,” Dixon said. “There was no alarm. But when I looked down, because the team said, ‘You’ve got to go into recharge,’ something started discharging the capacitor immediately, like at an excessive rate. So some kind of failure there with the power side of the hybrid, which is definitely not a great way to start it for the first time.”

Collet dominates Indy NXT at Mid-Ohio to earn first career win

Caio Collet left no doubt. The Brazilian rookie led all 35 laps from the pole to earn his first career Indy NXT by Firestone victory Sunday in the Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio. Collet drove his No. 18 HMD Motorsports entry to a 6.8091s victory over …

Caio Collet left no doubt.

The Brazilian rookie led all 35 laps from the pole to earn his first career Indy NXT by Firestone victory Sunday in the Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio. Collet drove his No. 18 HMD Motorsports entry to a 6.8091s victory over runner-up Louis Foster in the No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies car fielded by Andretti Global.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better weekend,” Collet said. “We led every session, pole position, fastest lap. I think the car was great since Friday. The first lap, I felt really, really good. I managed to put the weekend together, and I’m really, really happy.”

Jacob Abel finished third in the No. 51 Abel Construction entry fielded by Abel Motorsports.

Rookies filled three of the top five finishing positions on the 13-turn, 2.258-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Callum Hedge placed fourth in the No. 17 HMD Motorsports car, followed by fellow first-year driver and teammate Christian Brooks in the No. 39 HMD Motorsports machine.

Collet produced a command performance all weekend, earning the “grand slam” of leading both practice sessions, winning the pole and the race, and completing the fastest lap of the race. He was never threatened, both at the start and on the only restart of the race, on lap four.

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Foster stayed in touch during the first half of the race, staying within 1.2s at the halfway mark, but Collet inexorably pulled away over the second half, building a gap of 3.4s by lap 29 as Foster and Abel struggled with tire wear. Collet also produced the fastest lap of the race in the final five trips around the repaved asphalt ribbon.

While Foster’s two-race win streak ended, his lead increased in the championship with his sixth consecutive top-two finish this season. He’s first in the standings with 386 points, followed by Abel with 345 and Collet with 315.

There are five races remaining this season for the IndyCar development series, with four on ovals. The next event is the first oval race of the season, the Iowa 100 this Saturday, July 13 at Iowa Speedway.

Neither Foster, Abel nor Collet – the top three drivers in the standings – have an oval win in Indy NXT. Collet will make his first career oval start this Saturday at Iowa, and he knows his status as a championship contender hinges on his quick adaptation to circle tracks.

“I’ll answer that question next Sunday at this time and see how my first oval race goes,” he said.

RESULTS

Malukas reaching ‘max potential’ already with Meyer Shank

At the rate he’s going, Arrow McLaren would be wise to ask David Malukas if he’d be willing to come back and drive. On his NTT IndyCar Series return two weeks ago at Laguna Seca with Meyer Shank Racing – the Illinois native who injured himself in …

At the rate he’s going, Arrow McLaren would be wise to ask David Malukas if he’d be willing to come back and drive.

On his NTT IndyCar Series return two weeks ago at Laguna Seca with Meyer Shank Racing — the Illinois native who injured himself in the preseason, got cut in April after missing the opening four events for McLaren and was picked up in June by MSR — qualified the No. 66 Honda inside the Firestone Fast 12, despite the lingering issues with his left wrist.

He’d race inside the top 10 and was on pace for a top-10 finish at Laguna until a late puncture dropped him back to 16th. Saturday’s work at Mid-Ohio was yet another revelation for Malukas as the 22-year-old rocketed into the Firestone Fast Six, then claimed third, right behind former McLaren teammate Pato O’Ward and polesitter Alex Palou.

It’s the Lithuanian-American’s best road or street course qualifying performance since his opening campaign in 2022, and with MSR’s technical alliance with Andretti Global, it also made Malukas the quickest driver across the five-car squad that includes MSR’s Felix Rosenqvist and Andretti’s Colton Herta, Marcus Ericsson, and Kyle Kirkwood.

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Granted, it’s only qualifying, but Malukas’ arrival has been nothing short of a revelation for MSR during a season change that started with a pole at Long Beach with newcomer Rosenqvist.

“Talk about a turn around,” Malukas said. “This year has been an emotional rollercoaster and just looking back on everything, I’ve been allowed to reach my max potential. At Laguna, there was so much pace there, but with the hand, I had to break it in and get it back to where it needs to be.

“I knew coming into here the guys have done an incredible job prepping the car, and Josh with Honda did an awesome job as well. I knew that the set up was there and the car was there and we just had to put it together. It was a perfect situation for me and I couldn’t be happier.”

Malukas showed he was special at times during his rookie and sophomore seasons with Dale Coyne Racing, and with a new chance to grow at a bigger team like MSR, he’s making the most of the opportunity.

“I feel incredible here, and it’s a big team effort,” he said. “That was very much the team’s job there. They did a really good job. I just turned left and right. That’s all I did.”

Palou masters IndyCar’s hybrid system en route to Mid-Ohio pole

The first pole in IndyCar’s hybrid era belongs to Chip Ganassi Racing and Alex Palou, who secured his second consecutive pole with the No. 10 Honda and the Spaniard’s third of the season. Palou’s final lap produced a 1m05.3511s tour, and behind him, …

The first pole in IndyCar’s hybrid era belongs to Chip Ganassi Racing and Alex Palou, who secured his second consecutive pole with the No. 10 Honda and the Spaniard’s third of the season.

Palou’s final lap produced a 1m05.3511s tour, and behind him, Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward was charging, with the No. 5 Chevy showing as being slightly faster than his rival, but a slight loss of speed in the final corners left the Mexican an impossibly small 0.0024s behind in second.

“We knew we had a really fast car,” said Palou, who added one more point to his championship lead. “It’s gonna look good on the front row, and it was nice two weeks ago so we wanted to repeat.”

O’Ward was understandably disappointed to have missed out on pole by a tiny margin.

“There’s always more, right?” he said. “That was a really clean lap. This is the strongest car that we’ve had all year in a race weekend, so I’m really excited for tomorrow, and we’re obviously the ones chasing. It’s always a good thing to have a carrot in front of you, and we’ll see if we can get it tomorrow.”

The greatest story from qualifying belonged to Meyer Shank Racing and newcomer David Malukas, who fired the No. 66 Honda into third (+0.2998s) ahead of Andretti Global’s Colton Herta in the No. 26 Honda (+0.4142s), Ganassi’s Marcus Armstrong in the No. 11 Honda (0.5891s) who will drop to 11th after serving a grid penalty for an unapproved engine change, and Andretti’s Marcus Ericsson in the No. 28 Honda (+0.6081s) as the sponsor of the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio claimed five of the top six positions.

Behind Ericsson, the first of the Team Penske drivers (Scott McLaughlin) slotted in seventh on a strange afternoon for the perennial contenders.

“The driver sucks,” McLaughlin jokingly said. “Just made a mistake on the first lap. We should have been easily in the Fast Six.”

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Where McLaughlin did well, his teammates were surprising omissions from the Fast 12 as Will Power, who holds second in the championship, qualified 16th and teammate Josef Newgarden earned 18th on the grid, one spot behind Arrow McLaren rookie Nolan Siegel.

Another surprise in qualifying came with 2023 Indy NXT champion Christian Rasmussen, who took the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy to ninth, right behind Arrow McLaren’s Alexander Rossi and in front of Rossi’s impending replacement, Christian Lundgaard.

Dale Coyne Racing’s Toby Sowery, making his IndyCar debut, got a single lap at speed after an energy recovery system issue kept his No. 51 Dale Coyne Racing Honda on pit lane for most of the opening session, but he was able to secure 25th on the grid.

The opening stage of knockout qualifying pitted 13 of the 27 drivers against each other to earn six transfer spots — Palou, Malukas, Rossi, McLaughlin, Rasmussen and Ericsson advanced.

Behind them, the remaining drivers were locked into their starting positions, beginning with Felix Rosenqvist (P13), who will lose six spots on the final grid after an unapproved engine change, Kyle Kirkwood (P15), Siegel (P17), Graham Rahal (P19), Santino Ferrucci (P21), Pietro Fittipaldi (P23, also with a six-spot grid penalty), and Sowery (P25), who lost precious time on pit lane while his team worked through a energy recovery system problem.

The second phase of the knockout process saw its 14 drivers separated into a top six headed by Armstrong (also with an upcoming six-position grid penalty), Herta, Lundgaard, O’Ward, Linus Lundqvist, and Romain Grosjean.

On the outside looking in were Dixon (P14), Power (P16), Newgarden (P18), Rinus VeeKay (P20), Agustin Canapino (P22), Kyffin Simpson (P24), Sting Ray Robb (P26) and Jack Harvey (P27).

RESULTS

Papasavvas takes flag-to-flag home USF2000 win at Mid-Ohio

Local driver Evagoras Papasavvas put a disappointing Friday firmly behind him as he sped to a flag-to-flag victory for Jay Howard Driver Development in Saturday afternoon’s second leg of the Tatuus Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio tripleheader. On pole for …

Local driver Evagoras Papasavvas put a disappointing Friday firmly behind him as he sped to a flag-to-flag victory for Jay Howard Driver Development in Saturday afternoon’s second leg of the Tatuus Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio tripleheader. On pole for the second straight day, Papasavvas, from Loveland, Ohio, repeated his maiden success from one year ago. He also moved up to second place in the USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire point standings with his first win of the season.

Teammate Michael Costello, from Naples, Fla., maintained his recent strong form by claiming a second runner-up finish in his last three races, while Elliot Cox, from Indianapolis, Ind., also snagged his second podium finish of the season with third in his patriotically liveried Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Development Tatuus USF-22.

Papasavvas has been the form man all weekend. He backed up his first Continental Tire Pole Award of the season yesterday by once again starting at the front of the field, courtesy of his second-fastest lap during the solitary qualifying session on Friday being quicker than all of his rivals.

The weather turned a 180-degree change from Friday, with a treacherously wet track replaced by perfect summer conditions. And, having made a mistake on the opening lap on Friday afternoon, there was no such hiccup today as Papasavvas made a clean getaway to maintain the early advantage.

Front row starter Quinn Armstrong (DEForce Racing), from Newcastle, Australia, was unfortunately shuffled down the order on the opening lap as Costello took up position behind Papasavvas and another home-state driver, Thomas Schrage, from Bethel, Ohio, slipped into third for VRD Racing.

Schrage, a former FRP F1600 champion and Team USA Scholarship winner, has seemingly endured more than his fair share of misfortune since making his USF2000 debut at Mid-Ohio last year. Sadly, his luck was no better Saturday afternoon as his car’s shock-absorber cover flew off on the third lap… and, incredibly, lodged itself firmly against the rear wing, stripping his car of downforce.

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Schrage battled on gamely for a few laps before giving up the unequal struggle and heading for pit lane. Once the offending piece of bodywork had been replaced, Schrage rejoined at the back of the field and promptly turned a series of fastest laps of the race which, with the improved weather conditions Saturday, were enough to ensure that he will start Sunday’s third race of the weekend from pole position. Lady Luck still wasn’t done, however, as Schrage headed to the pits once again with just a couple of laps remaining after the car’s fire extinguisher mysteriously discharged.

Following a brief full-course caution which concluded with four laps remaining, Papasavvas edged clear of Costello to cement a well-deserved victory, while Costello just held off a strong attack from Cox to maintain second.

Behind, Friday’s winner, Max Taylor (VRD Racing), from Hoboken, N.J., mounted an impressive late charge by making three passes in the final few laps to annex fourth position ahead of championship leader Max Garcia (Pabst Racing), from Coconut Grove, Fla., Joey Brienza (Exclusive Autosport), from Golden, Colo., and Brazilian Nicolas Giaffone (DEForce Racing).

“The race was unbelievable,” Papasavvas said. “Just from the start, I had my teammate behind me and we had a plan before the start of the race to stay in front the entire race and just focus on ourselves. We executed and that’s what we did. I stayed in front the entire race and just hit my marks. The car was really fast and felt great and I have to thank the team for that. It’s unbelievable what we did and we won in great fashion for the team with a one-two. We had a yellow that came and that bunched up back together but I just stuck to my line. It was great.”

Taylor’s effort from ninth on the grid secured his first Tilton Hard Charger Award of the season.

The PFC Award went the way of Jay Howard as the winning team owner.

The weekend will conclude with a third race tomorrow at 9:15 a.m. EDT, immediately before the NTT INDYCAR SERIES warmup.

RESULTS

Johnson doubles up in USF Pro 2000 at Mid-Ohio

Nikita Johnson thrust himself back into the USF Pro 2000 Presented by Continental Tire championship chase by scoring an emphatic double victory in Saturday’s Tatuus Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio. The 16-year-old from Gulfport, Fla., led throughout the …

Nikita Johnson thrust himself back into the USF Pro 2000 Presented by Continental Tire championship chase by scoring an emphatic double victory in Saturday’s Tatuus Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio. The 16-year-old from Gulfport, Fla., led throughout the morning’s 30-lap race but had to come from behind to complete the clean sweep later this afternoon for VRD Racing.

Jace Denmark, from Brownsburg, Ind., also enjoyed a strong day for Pabst Racing with a pair of runner-up finishes as teammate Christian Brooks, from Santa Clarita, Calif., and Turn 3 Motorsport’s Danny Dyszelski, from Belmont, N.C., shared the third-place honors.

After a challenging weekend last time out at Road America, early season points leader Johnson laid down a marker by breaking his tie with points leader Lochie Hughes (Turn 3 Motorsport), from Gold Coast, Australia, and snagging his fourth Continental Tire Pole Award of the season during the lone qualifying session on Friday.

Johnson continued his bounce back to prominence by leading throughout the morning’s 30-lap race. Denmark remained hot on his heels in the early stages, with teammate Brooks also in close contention.

After starting sixth, Hughes gained a position at the start on Exclusive Autosport’s Braden Eves, from Gahanna, Ohio, but also lost one to fast-starting Canadian Mac Clark (DEForce Racing), who muscled his way through in a bold three-wide maneuver at Turn 4. Hughes, though, was quickly into his stride, overtaking both Clark and Pabst Racing’s Simon Sikes, from Augusta, Ga., on lap four to move into fourth position.

The five leaders – Johnson, Denmark, Brooks, Hughes and Sikes – remained in the same positions throughout the 30-lap race, but there was plenty of intrigue as the perfect racing conditions, with a clear blue sky and reduced humidity, allowed them to circulate faster than in qualifying and effectively set the starting grid for race two later in the day, which would be determined according to either each driver’s second-fastest lap in qualifying or their fastest lap in race one.

Ultimately, it was Sikes who claimed that honor, narrowly ahead of Denmark, Hughes, Brooks and race winner Johnson. All five were bracketed by a little more than a tenth of a second, setting the stage for another intriguing contest later in the day.

“The race went very well,” Johnson said. “We started on pole, managed the lead, kept the gap and extended it. The car was on rails today. I can’t thank the VRD boys enough, all of my sponsors, my dad for taking me here and my mother and brother watching back home – everyone in North Carolina and Florida watching. It means a lot and it is great to be back on the top step of the podium. We haven’t had this since Indy. It is good to get back our points and just win again.”

For the second time in as many races, Canada’s Nico Christodoulou earned the Tilton Hard Charger Award, working his way from 18th on the grid following a major mechanical failure in qualifying to finish in 10th.

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Sikes took advantage of his second Continental Tire Pole Award of the season by leading away from the start in race two, but was unable to shake off Denmark, who remained seemingly glued to his rear wing as the two leaders edged away from Brooks and Johnson in third and fourth.

The latter pair exchanged places on lap four, shortly before the day’s first full-course caution due to a clash between New Zealander Liam Sceats (TJ Speed Motorsports) and Frankie Mossman (Jay Howard Driver Development), from Newport Beach, Calif.

The complexion of the race totally changed soon after the restart when Sikes chose to negotiate the ultra-quick Turn 1 in fifth gear, rather than shifting down to fourth, and was surprised when the car bogged down on the exit. Denmark and Johnson immediately drove around him, but it was Johnson who had the better momentum which carried him from third to the lead by the time the pair braked for Turn 2.

Worse was to come for Sikes at the end of the back straightaway when he tangled with Hughes as they sped toward the apex. The collision sent Sikes spearing onto the grass and left Hughes spinning into the path of Brooks, whose day ended on the spot. The other two continued, with Hughes managing to salvage valuable points in seventh position and Sikes just one place behind after another tangle with Mexico’s Ricardo Escotto (BN Racing).

The various incidents elevated the privately run Comet/NCMP Racing entry of Logan Adams, from Greenfield, Ind., into a third place, which he maintained impressively until being passed by Dyszelski with eight laps remaining.

Adams held on for a fine, career-best fourth, well clear of Escotto, who had started 18th and staunchly resisted myriad attempts from a variety of rivals to find a way past. Fifth position was his reward, along with the Tilton Hard Charger Award.

“We started P5 but the car was amazing. It was on rails,’ Johnson said. “We got past Lochie in the very beginning and Brooks, which took a few laps. I did a crossover in the braking zone and got him. After the caution, I benefitted from Simon and Jace fighting in Turn 1. I backed up at the corner and just got a very good exit and passed them both. We had a few more cautions after that but I just kept it in the lead and made sure to keep Jace in the aerowash. I can’t thank VRD enough.”

Johnson’s banner day bumped him back to second place in the point standings, just 26 markers shy of Hughes. Only four races remain in the chase for a scholarship valued at $681,500 to progress onto the next step of the ladder, Indy NXT, in 2025. Johnson also snagged two more PFC Awards for VRD Racing team principal Dan Mitchell.

Next up for the USF Pro contingent are a pair of races on the streets of Toronto, Ont., Canada in two weeks’ time, followed by the West Coast season finale at Portland International Raceway in Portland, Ore., on August 23-25.

RACE ONE RESULTS
RACE TWO RESULTS

Law, Newgarden reunited for Mid-Ohio

Team Penske’s sheriff is back on pit lane. That’s the nickname Josef Newgarden gave his former crew chief Travis Law – “The Sheriff” – while they were winning races and a championship together through the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season. Their …

Team Penske’s sheriff is back on pit lane. That’s the nickname Josef Newgarden gave his former crew chief Travis Law — “The Sheriff” — while they were winning races and a championship together through the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season.

Their chemistry brought immense personal and professional success to the organization; at the time of Law’s exit from the No. 2 Chevy program, 18 of Newgarden’s 25 IndyCar victories had been produced during their time together.

After a new managerial role opened up for Law (pictured above) in the Porsche Penske Motorsport IMSA GTP program that debuted in 2023, he shifted into his current position as PPM’s competition director, but he’s back for a one-off return as Newgarden’s chief mechanic at Mid-Ohio for the most positive of reasons.

Law’s replacement on the No. 2 Chevy, Chad Gordon, is away from Mid-Ohio this weekend as he and his wife have welcomed a baby into the world, and with the need for an assist during a quiet weekend for IMSA, Law stepped up to temporarily fill Gordon’s shoes.

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“It is great to hear that Chad and his wife have a happy, healthy new addition to their family,” Newgarden told RACER. “It speaks to the depth we have tried to build over the years that Chad can take some time to do his job as a father and the team will not miss a beat.

“Travis is obviously no stranger to IndyCar, and he has been a key member of this No. 2 Chevy team in the past. He has certainly done a tremendous job over the last two years in building up the sports car team. I think he enjoys being back for a weekend, and we certainly like having someone of his caliber that we can bring in.”