It says Race, but it is the Race 2 lineup.
Author: thepitwindow
I'm a retired educator and lifelong racing fan. I hope to return to fostering greyhounds in the near future. Living mainly in Indy and wintering in Florida. I attend about 10 Indycar races a year as well as some sports car events
Herta Wins Pole, Ferrucci on Front Row
Colton Herta survived a wet and wild qualifying session to take the pole for Race 2 at Mid Ohio. Yesterday’s pole winner Will Power spun on his out lap, causing a red flag . He will start at the rear of the field.
Jack Harvey spun and crashed into the there’s causing some damage to the rear of the car. Pato O’Ward also spun but his car was not damaged.
Both group sessions were disjointed with red flag interruptions.
Points leader Scott Dixon will start 3rd. Josef Newgarden, who trails Dixon by 76 points, starts 9th.
Starting Lineup coming in a bit.
Qualifying Groups
Power Looks for Mid Ohio Sweep; Dixon Hopes to Extend Lead
Today’s schedule
Today’s race is on NBC. Make sure to set your recording on the proper channel.
Can Will Power sweep the weekend? I think he has the best chance to win both poles and both races anyone has had his year. Scott Dixon needs to finish ahead if Josef Newgarden today to regain momentum.
Pato O’Ward had a disappointing day yesterday. I hope he can salvage part of the weekend.
Can Andretti Autosport find that little extra today?
I’ll have a brief report post qualifying. My Quick Thoughts will be up tomorrow morning.
Quick Thoughts- Mid Ohio Race 1
Photo: Matt Fraver, Indycar
It was obvious after qualifying that Will Power was going to have a monster race. Any driver who can win the pole from Group 1 in this qualifying format has a really good car. The bad news for the rest of the field is that Power is in Group 2 tomorrow. The expected rain means Group 1 will got out on a green And possibly slightly wet track.
Although Power had the race well in hand, there were some good battles behind him. Alexander Rossi and teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay fought early. Rossi and Graham Rahal had a late battle for third. The Rahal home crowd perked up when Rahal nearly got by. Scott Dixon and Colton Herta also had a good fight for tenth.
If Conor Daly hadn’t run out of fuel, Rd Carpenter Racing would have had two cars in the top ten. Daly qualified fourth. Perhaps ECR might be getting more competitive on the road courses. Rinus VeeKay had another top ten. He also made another great pass in turn 4 on Herta.
It was one of Andretti Autosport’s best days of the season, with three cars in the top ten plus the Meyer Shank team getting another top ten with Jack Harvey. Hunter-Reay also started on the front row.
Speaking of Harvey, he just quietly goes about his business and keeps getting good results.
Power’s 60th pole and 38th career win move him closer to joining two legends. He is just seven poles behind Mario Andretti and one win behind Al Unser, Sr. for fifth place. He passed Sebastien Bourdain’s today on the victory list.
Josefs Newgarden made up 20 points on Scott Dixon today. How many can Dixon get back tomorrow? Dixon’s biggest ally is time.
COVID Protocols
Mid Ohio did a great job keeping fans safe. Masks were worn more today than at any other track with fans I’ve been to. Staff reminded people who had masks off to wear them and fans complied. The squares painted in orange for people to sit in were hard to see. White paint or chalk might have been better. I appreciate the concept and people respected the boundaries.
The track is hoping the success of their protocols this weekend will allow them to host more fans for the IMSA race on two weeks. All 6,000 tickets for today we’re sold.
I’ll be back with a Day 2 preview in the morning. Quick Thoughts for tomorrow’s race will be up Monday morning. Thanks for following this weekend.
Results
Power on Pole for Race 1
Will Power won another pole, his third of the year, for this afternoon’s race at Mid Ohio. It was an unusual pole in that Power was in the normally slower Group 1. Ryan Hunter-Reay led group 2 and will start second. Power’s time of 1:06.33 was 0.4 seconds better than Hunter-Reay”s time.
Josef Newgarden and Conor Daly make up row 2. Points leader Scott Dixon starts 17th.
The starting line up:
Hunter-Reay Leads Practice
Ryan Hunter-Reay led the only practice session for the Honda Indy 200 with a time of 1:06.3034. The practice period was the strongest for Andretti Autosport fr vers since the Indianapolis 500. Will Power was second and Alexander Rossi finished third. Points leader Scott Dixon was fourth.
The top seven
Mid Ohio- Busy Day for Indycar
Good morning from the Mount Vernon media center annex. Six races are on tap today, four for the Road to Indy, one for Mazda MX5 Cup, and the first practice for Indycar, followed by qualifying for the first Indycar raceof the weekend. The 75 lap event is on NBCSN at 5 pm Eastern
Today’s schedule (All Times Eastern)
Road to Indy, MX-5 Kick Off Mid Ohio Weekend
The Road to Indy and MX-5 series have the Mid Ohio track to themselves today before the NTT Indycar Series gets on track tomorrow morning.
Im traveling today and will be on-site for Indycar’s first practice Saturday.
Todays schedule
