Scott Dixon led the final warmup for tomorrow’s Music City Grand Prix. Practice ended about three minutes early when Will Power wiggled and slightly brushed the wall. power was able to bring the car back to pit road.
Callum Ilott had wall contact and a spin, and Nolan Siegel also made wall contact.
Pole sitter Pato O’Ward was 10th and David Malukas finished the session in fourth.
The top five:
Dixon
Newgarden
Armstrong
Malukas
Kirkwood
Sundays schedule:Times are Central
Indy NXT:
10:16 a.m. Grid Cars 10:21 a.m. Drivers to Cars 10:30 a.m. FS1 on air 10:31 a.m. Command 10:35 a.m. Green Flag
IndyCar:
1 p.m. FOX on air and Driver Intros 1:27 p.m. Invocation 1:28 p.m. Anthem 1:29 p.m. Flyover 1:33 p.m. Drivers to Cars 1:40 p.m. Command 1:45 p.m. Green Flag
INDIANAPOLIS (Friday, July 18, 2025) – INDYCAR has announced a six-position starting grid penalty for the entry of No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing for an unapproved engine change following the Sunday, July 13 race at Iowa Speedway. The entry was in violation of:Rule 16.1.2.3.2. A fifth (5th) Engine is eligible to earn Engine Manufacturer points if a Full Season Entrant has completed the Full Season Entrant Engine Mileage with its first four (4) Engines. Otherwise, a fifth (5th) or more Engine does not earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Unapproved Engine change-out. According to Rule 16.1.6.1.2., the penalty is a six-position starting grid penalty on road and street course events and nine positions at oval events and will be served at the series’ next event, which is the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto Sunday, July 20 on the Streets of Toronto.
One seventh win prevented another. Scott Dixon won his seventh race at Mid Ohio, keeping Alex Palou from winning his seventh race of the season.
The predictable turned unpredictable in the closing laps at Mid Ohio as Dixon took advantage of a rare mistake by Palou to take the lead with five laps to go and turn what had been an unremarkable race into a thrilling finish, winning the Honda Indy 200 for the seventh time. Palou appeared to have another win tucked away before going off track in turn nine and watching his teammate zip by.
“Just a mistake,” Palou said.
It’s nice to know he is human after all.
Dixon is the third different winner of the 2025 season. He keeps a streak intact of winning at least one ace for 21 consecutive seasons. Dixon now has 59 victories in his IndyCar career.
The Penske Spiral
The lost season continues for Josef Newgarden. Newgarden spun just after the start of the race when his rear brakes locked. Graham Rahal made contact but was able to continue. Today marked the fifth finish in the 20s for Newgarden.
Will Power came into the pits after one lap with a fire at the rear of the car. Scott McLaughlin finished 23rd, one lap down.
Great Drives
Pato O’Ward started 14th and finished fifth.
Felix Rosenqvist started 15th and finished sixth.
Rinus VeeKay started 26th and came home ninth.
Kyffin Simpson’s hiccup on his last stop may have cost him a podium, which would have made for a Ganassi 1-2-3 finish. Four of the top 11 finishers today have five or fewer years in IndyCar.
Colton Herta may have lost a podium with a slow last pit stop.
Mid Ohio announced a record crowd today. I can believe it from the traffic entering the track this morning.
Results
That will do it for me today. Thanks for following along this weekend.
Scott Dixon had the fastest lap in the final tune up for this afternoon’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid Ohio. Dixon starts 17th this afternoon, but he has won here from last place. It will still be a difficult climb through the field.
Pole sitter and defending race winner Alex Palou was second fastest The session stayed green, but Agustin Canapino went of track, spun, and returned to the track.
Colton Herta, Scott Mc Laughlin, and Marcus Armstrong were the rest of the top five. Armstrong will serve a six place grid penalty at the start of the race.
Scott McLaughlin remains the fastest of the Team Penske cars this weekend. He was fourth in the warmup. Josef Newgarden finished 10th, his best session so far. He has complained of understeer all weekend. Newgarden starts18th. Will Power was 26th this morning. He starts 16th today.
Tire selections should be out after the Indy NXT race which is going on now.
When the dust settles in a chaotic Indycar race, fans can rest assured that either Scott Dixon or Marcus Ericsson will be out front. Both drivers thrive on chaos, whether of their own doing or the rest of the field’s.
Dixon drove another masterful fuel saving race, squeezing 44 laps out of his last fill up. He has two wins and a third place in 2024, and now leads the championship by 18 points over Alex Palou.
Meanwhile, Marcus Ericsson charged hard but fell eight tenths of a second short. Ericsson needed a good result coming off a nightmarish Indianapolis 500 and battling electrical gremlins Friday.
Not a Race for the Weak of Heart
It seems as if every car had contact at some point. If you drove your car into turn three, you expected to get hit. half of the eight cautions were for issues in turn 3. Several incidents did not bring out the yellow flag there as well.
17 of the first 40 laps had Oriol Servia in the pace car at the head of the field.
Penalties were assessed early and often. Of the 12 handed down, Will Power received four of them. Still, because of the numerous cautions, he ended up sixth. His last penalty came on lap 60. Power had another penalty rescinded, or he would have fouled out.
When the green flew on lap 73 for the final time, fans saw the best racing of the day as a three-way battle for the lead between Dixon, Marcus Armstrong, and Ericsson developed. Armstrong, like Dixon, was saving fuel and to yield second place. he ran out of fuel just as he took the checkered flag.
Was it pretty? No. Was it sloppy? Yes. There will be a race or two like this during a season. I’m glad we got one out of the way so early. I think the twelve days at IMS were exhausting for everyone, and the four hour rain delay didn’t help matters much.
Today we saw the aftereffects of the 500 fortnight. Road America will be a welcome sight next weekend.
The Correct Follow Up to Indy?
Should Detroit be the next race after the 500? With the mazing viewership numbers last Sunday, which may have brought in some new fans, Indycar chooses to go to a tight street track which invites crashes and televises it on an obscure cable channel. I don’t see how this keeps the momentum going after Indianapolis.
I am not against racing in Detroit. The city’s automotive history alone makes it worthy of having a race. There are parts of detroit I really like.But a better track where actual racing can take place would be great. perhaps this race could be at the end of June.
Indycar also needs to look into taking a week off after the 500. it would give the winner more time for appearance at more leisurely pace.
Notes
The 500 winner’s next race curse continues. Josef Newgarden had a fueling issue on his first stop, ran over an air gun on his next visit, nearly injuring a crewman in another pit, served a penalty for it, then hit the wall and broke a toe link, ending his day in 26th place.
This date in Alex Palou history: Palou finished 18th, his first finish outside the top 10 in 637 days.
I’m not sure what it will take for Colton Herta to win a race. He has to be the most frustrated driver in the paddock.
Felix Rosenqvist improved 16 positions to finish sixth. Saturday was the first time this year he had not qualified in the top 10.
Thanks for following along this weekend. I will be posting just basic information about Road America the next couple of days, and I’m not sure how much coverage I will be able to do. I leave for France and LeMans Wednesday afternoon.
Scott Dixon led a Honda dominated Carb Day practice as the 33 drivers in Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 completed their final two-hour tuneups. The session ran clean until Kyle Larson ran out of fuel on track with about 15 minutes to go. A debris caution with less than a minute left ended the session.
Several cars had issues. Santino Ferrucci complained about the balance in his car early. After two trips to the garage, the car seems to be good to go. Ed Carpenter spent a lot of the first hour back in the garage. Josef Newgarden had issues with an inconsistent pedal and never found any speed. He ranked 32nd.
Alexander Rossi looked good early, but the car was not fast. He finished the day 26th on the chart.
Notes
Alex Palou looked very quick and was able to pass cars at will anywhere.
Pole sitter Scot McLaughlin seemed to ave difficulty in traffic. It appeared took a long time to get past the car in front of him.
Christian Rasmussen made several questionable moves. he could be the first caution on Sunday.
There were several close calls in the pits and some unsafe releases. Takuma Sato came into the pits locking up the brakes. I would not be surprised if there is a yellow or two for pit incidents.
Another massive attendance day caused IMS to open more sections to accommodate the fans. The upper deck in turn 1 was quite full.
After a three minute delay cars rolled out on the track to begin practice for the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500. Thirty-one cars got some laps in before moisture halted the action after 24 minutes.
Scott Dixon turned a lap at 229.107 miles an hour to lead the field, followed by Marco Andretti at 228.399 and Takuma Sato at 225.551.
Scott McLaughlin had the best no tow lap at 219.656.
The track is currently onnhold as a light rain is falling. Radar shows some rain and possibly thunderstorms approaching from the south and west. Once the storms arrive, it looks like we will try again tomorrow.
Results of the first 24 minutes
I’ll be back later when we receive official word on today’s status. I’m alsomworking on a couple of other stories I hope to post later today.
What words are left to describe Scott Dixon’s mastery of fuel strategy? I have used alchemist, wizard, miser, and a bunch of other nouns I can’t remember over the last 20 years. Today’s triumph at Long Beach was one of the top five wins of his 57 victories.
Dixon had to hold off a fast closing Josef Newgarden, then a hungry Colton Herta while making sure he had enough fuel to get to the end. he was one of the drivers who pitted on lap 17 during the only caution of the day and cycled to the front when the rest of the field took their stops 14 laps later. Dixon made his last stop on lap 51 and squeezed 34 laps out of the tank.
The Dixon File:
57 wins puts him just 10 behind A. J. Foyt.
Dixon has won at least one race each season for the past 20 years. This is NOT a typo.
Dixon has won 4 of the last 6 Indycar races dating back to the Gallagher Grand Prix at IMS in August 2023.
I said in my review that Indycar needed to have a good show this weekend, and they delivered. I thought this was a fascinating race with the split fuel and tire strategies before the dramatic fight at the end. It’s a while since four cars were in contention for the win with less than 10 laps to go. Today provided great momentum heading to Barber and the seven week stretch after that.
Notes
“I love it. Pure racing.” Theo Pourchaire after the race.
Theo Pourchaire would have been the start of the show today had it not been for the dramatic finish. The F2 champion, who’s first time in an Indycar was Friday afternoon, finished 11th. He drove a steady race. I hope we see him again soon. Maybe next weekend?
Arrow McLaren once again had trouble staying out of their own way. Pato O’Ward ran into teammate Alexander Rossi on lap, forcing Rossi to pit. O’Ward received a drive through penalty and was virtually not heard from the rest of the day. Rossi fought back to earn a 10th place finish.
Don’t count Alex Palou out of the title hunt. In 2023 Palou finished eighth at St. Petet and fifth at barber. In 2024 he was sixth at barber and he finished third today. Palou is fourth in the standings, just 24 points behind Newgarden.
Life got in the way last week as I sent my 19 year old cat Gracie to the Rainbow Bridge. Two days later I left for Sebring and the 72nd running of the12 hour race. I needed this weekend badly.
Sebring was my first sports car endurance race, and it is my favorite. This feeling may be subject to change after Jaune.
I camped again with my friend George Butz and his crew. We had a great time. Thanks again, George.
Some random thoughts on the weekend:
My first impression upon arrival was that the place seemed rather crowded for Thursday. I had the same thought Friday and Saturday. I have never seen Sebring so packed. Theer was not room for another vehicle inside the track.
The track could use a couple of more video boards on the back side of the track.
9:40 am is awfully early to start a race. Not only does it make the morning rushed, it also deprives the fans of an hour of night racing. The early part of the race is fun, but when the sun goes down things get interesting.
It doesn’t seem to matter if someone is running away from the field, Sebring always seems to come through with a dramatic ending.
Derani Crash
The Pipo Derani crash was frightening. I was not in turn 9 at the time, but I went there later and talked to a couple of my friends who witnessed the accident. Tires were bouncing everywhere. Fortunately no spectators were injured. There is a walking path next to the track which fortunately was not busy at the time.
My friends said that track and IMSA officials appeared quickly and interviewed many fans about what they saw.
My friends are concerned that a catch fence may be erected at this spot, which would spoil a great view of one of the highest speed portions of the track.
My friend Shannon Roe took these photos of some the debris field left by the Cadillac. Thanks, Shannon.
The fan walking path is to the left of the fence on the bottom left.
The rest of the field did not seem to have anything for the 31 Cadillac. The Ganassi Cadillac was the only that could keep pace, and they ended up finishing second.
Another Great Day for Indycar Drivers
Colton Herta was a driver on the winning team from Wayne Taylor/Andretti Racing. Herta drove the penultimate shift, and put the car in position to win. Louis Delatraz finished the race with a brilliant drive.
Scott Dixon drove for the second place Cadillac team with teammate Sebastien Bourdais.
Kyle Kirkwood drove for the GTD Pro winning Vasser/Sullivan Lexus entry,
Romain Grosjean’s Lamborghini finished seventh overall in the team;s first IMSA race. Grosjean had a couple of nice stints for the team, who’s goal to just finish the race.
Romain Grosjean in the Lamborghini GTP.
Tomorrow begins coverage of the Thermal Indycar event. I have a lot of mixed feelings about this, which I will talk about as the week goes on,.
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 