IndyCar: Sunday morning update from Mid-Ohio (Update)

UPDATE Adding morning warm-up results below.

Can Rahal win again at his home track?

07/31/16

Good morning from the rolling hills of Ohio. The sun is shining and it looks like it will stay that way today. There is scattered storms forecast for 4 pm, but we might get lucky like yesterday and not get wet. The temperatures have been only in the low 80s the last two days and should stay that way today.

Coming into the track, the chairs and canopies are lined up in the keyhole. The weather should convince people to come out today and watch a couple of the four races scheduled for today.

The Honda Indy 200 will be the 32nd Indy Car race at this track. Helio Castroneves will be making his 323rd start today and starting in row 4. Tony Kanaan, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, will be having his 261st consecutive race start. Scott Dixon, his teammate, will be making his 202nd consecutive start today.

The 90 lap race on this 2.258 mile, 13 turn road course will start at 2:38 pm. This race the drivers will have 10 push to passes for 20 seconds each. We expect all the teams to have three pit stops this race. Will Power was asked about the chance of only doing two stops and he answered, "Before you could almost do it with two stops, but now you can't. Everyone is on the strategy that Charlie went with (when he won the race in 2013). I think everyone will be on the same strategy, just a matter of when you call it."

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is located in the town of Lexington in Richland County. Tourism is important here and they have an abundance of advertising of their attractions and things to do in this county. I get weekly emails from Mansfield/Richland County Convention and Visitors Bureau describing the weekly fests and other activities happening in this area. They even promote the race events at Mid-Ohio.

Tonight after the race, a team of IndyCar drivers will be challenging a team of Sports Illustrated swim suit models on the Family Feud TV series. Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, James Hinchcliffe, Will Power and Conor Daly will represent the series. Castroneves shared how the taping of the show went. "We had a very good strategy between all 5 guys. I feel, that if there is a championship of Family Feud, this team should be back. We worked together as a team. We were really focused. The only thing that was missing for us is that we did not have our helmets on."

Watch the drivers tonight at 8 pm Eastern time. It sounds like they had fun with the show! Lucille Dust reporting from Mid-Ohio for AutoRacing1.com

Morning Warnup Results