Sunday’s race at Mid-Ohio had a tenuous beginning and a compelling ending. The main story was not Pato O’Ward’s first on track win in nearly two years, but the performance of the new hybrid power system.

Before we talk about the hybrid, let’s touch on a couple of notable items from Sunday.

Toby Sowery had an excellent first Indycar race. finishing 13th in the 51 car. Sowery was the sixth driver in that seat this season, and he matched the car’s best run of the season. Katherine Legge will give the team some continuity as she will drive the six ovals which make up the bulk of the last half of 2024. Sowery may be back for Toronto or Portland. he has earned another race.

Despite Will Power’s 11th place finish, he is the only driver within one race of Alex Palou.

Meyer Shank Racing has made a great decision to put David Malukas in the 66. In just two races, he has pulled the car into the Leader’s Circle, and I don’t think the team needs to worry about that. I’m excited to see how he does on the ovals, where he has had some good results.

The Hybrid- C+

I went into Mid-Ohio a bit of a skeptic, but overall, I think the hybrid had a decent debut. I expect some teething problems, and there were some. The unit was mostly reliable, except for what happened to Scott Dixon on the warmup lap. I wonder ow much the hybrid had to do with the stalls on pit lane.

Romain Grosjean spun with three laps to go and was able to refire the car and get back on track, saving alate yellow which would probably have ended the race. Drivers refiring the engines on their own is one of the best features of this new technology. Several red flags in practice and qualifications will be avoided in the future.

On the other hand, the hybrid did not change the racing or increase passing. Several drivers said the added 100 pounds the unit has put on the car negates the extra power.

Is the issue that befell Scott Dixon an isolated occurrence, or we will see this continue to happen? Could a malfunctioning hybrid have an effect on the championship? Dixon lost 39 points to Palou on Sunday.

As I said in a post before the season, it might have been better to hold off the debut until next year, rather than add a new wrinkle halfway through the season. That way everyone starts out on an equal footing with the same car for the entire year.

I’m not sure what we will see from the hybrids on the ovals, but I still don’t see much benefit on a non road/street course. With just Toronto and Portland the only remaining road/street circuits, we may have just two more opportunities in 2024 to assess the hybrid’s effectiveness. This year shouild probably just go down as an experiment, and we will be able to fully evaluate the unit next September.