IndyCar: Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Preview

The ninth round of the 2023 NTT INDYCAR Series season sees the teams shift to the 13-turn natural terrain Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course near Lexington, Ohio for Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio.

With 80 laps on the 2.258-mile track determining the victor, the Bowtie brand aims for a repeat win after Scott McLaughlin, driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet for Team Penske, led 45 of 80 laps last year, and captured the win last season. Additionally, Chevy power commanded all but seven laps in the 2022 event.

The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio kicks off with Practice 1 Friday, June 30 at 3:05 p.m. ET, with Practice 2 starting Saturday at 9:45 a.m. ET. Qualifications and the Firestone Fast Six also take place Saturday, starting at 2:45 p.m. ET. A final warm-up will start race day Sunday at 10:30 a.m. ET. All practice and qualifying will be live on Peacock, INDYCAR Radio, and SiriusXM Channel 160. The 80-lap, 180.64-mile race Sunday, July 2 will take the green flag at 1:30 p.m. ET live on USA Network.

Race weekend: Friday, June 30-Sunday, July 2

Track: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, a 13-turn, a 2.258-mile permanent road course in Lexington, Ohio

Race distance: NTT INDYCAR SERIES: 80 laps / 180.64 miles | INDY NXT by Firestone: 35 laps / 79.03 miles or 55 minutes

Push-to-pass parameters: NTT INDYCAR SERIES: 200 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 20 seconds per activation. | INDY NXT by Firestone: 150 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 15 seconds per activation

Firestone tire allotment: Six sets primary, four sets alternate to be used during the event weekend. One additional set of primary tires may be used by teams fielding a rookie driver. Teams must use one set of primary and one set of new (sticker) alternate tires for at least two laps in the race.

2022 race winners:

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet)

INDY NXT by Firestone

Hunter McElrea (No. 27 Andretti Autosport)

2022 NTT P1 Award winner: Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet) 1:06.6739, 121.919 mph

Qualifying lap record:

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

Simon Pagenaud, 1:03.8700, 127.271 mph, July 30, 2016

INDY NXT by Firestone

Oliver Askew, 1:10.8079, 114.801 mph, July 27, 2019

Entry List

	CAR	DRIVER	HOMETOWN	CAR NAME	TEAM	ENGINE
1	2	Josef Newgarden	Nashville, Tennessee	PPG Team Penske	Team Penske	Chevrolet
2	3	Scott McLaughlin	Christchurch, New Zealand	Good Ranchers Team Penske	Team Penske	Chevrolet
3	5	Pato O’Ward	Monterrey, Mexico	Arrow McLaren	Arrow McLaren	Chevrolet
4	06	Helio Castroneves	Sao Paulo, Brazil	AutoNation/SiriusXM	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda
5	6	Felix Rosenqvist	Värnamo, Sweden	Arrow McLaren	Arrow McLaren	Chevrolet
6	7	Alexander Rossi	Nevada City, California	Arrow McLaren	Arrow McLaren	Chevrolet
7	8	Marcus Ericsson	Kumla, Sweden	Huski Ice Spritz	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
8	9	Scott Dixon	Auckland, New Zealand	PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
9	10	Alex Palou	Barcelona, Spain	The American Legion	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
10	11	Marcus Armstrong (R)	Christchurch, New Zealand	Ridgeline Lubricants	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
11	12	Will Power	Toowoomba, Australia	Verizon Team Penske	Team Penske	Chevrolet
12	14	Santino Ferrucci	Woodbury, Connecticut	AJ FOYT RACING / SEXTON PROPERTIES	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet
13	15	Graham Rahal	New Albany, Ohio	Fifth Third Bank	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda
14	18	David Malukas	Chicago, Illinois	HMD Trucking	Dale Coyne Racing with HMD	Honda
15	20	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	Bitnile.com	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet
16	21	Rinus VeeKay	Hoofddorp, Netherlands	Bitnile.com	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet
17	26	Colton Herta	Valencia, California	Gainbridge	Andretti Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian	Honda
18	27	Kyle Kirkwood	Jupiter, Florida	AutoNation	Andretti Autosport	Honda
19	28	Romain Grosjean	Geneva, Switzerland	DHL	Andretti Autosport	Honda
20	29	Devlin DeFrancesco	Toronto, Canada	EVTEC	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	Honda
21	30	Jack Harvey	Bassingham, England	Permco	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda
22	45	Christian Lundgaard	Hedensted, Denmark	Vivid Clear Rx	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda
23	51	Sting Ray Robb (R)	Payette, Idaho	biohaven	Dale Coyne Racing with RWR	Honda
24	55	Benjamin Pedersen (R)	Copenhagen, Denmark	AJ FOYT RACING / SEXTON PROPERTIES	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet
25	60	Simon Pagenaud	Montmorillon, France	AutoNation/SiriusXM	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda
26	77	Callum Ilott	Cambridge, England	Juncos Hollinger Racing	Juncos Hollinger Racing	Chevrolet
27	78	Agustín Canapino (R)	Arrecifes, Argentina	Juncos Hollinger Racing	Juncos Hollinger Racing	Chevrolet

 

Tires

Firestone is supplying more than 1,400 race tires to teams and drivers as they take to the 2.258-mile, 13-turn natural terrain permanent road course for practice, qualifying (including the Firestone Fast Six), and Sunday’s 80-lap (180.64 miles) race.

The primary and alternate tires for the 2023 Mid-Ohio event will be the same tires and compounds as supplied for the 2022 Mid-Ohio event. This weekend’s rain tires are the same constructions and compounds as those released in 2018.

Each NTT INDYCAR SERIES entry will receive the following allocation:

• Primary (black): 6 sets per entry*
• Alternate (red): 4 sets per entry
• Rain (gray): 5 sets per entry
  *Rookies will receive one extra set 

Each entry must use one set of primary and one new set of alternate tires for at least two laps during the race. One additional set of primary tires is available to teams fielding a rookie driver.

Notes from Cory Williams, Firestone Racing Principal Program Engineer, on INDYCAR tires:
This will be the second time we have brought these track proven compounds to this event. In last year’s race the drivers preferred the alternate tires over the primaries. The alternate tires provide an increase in grip which is beneficial for this track with its lower grip weathered asphalt.

Select Quotes

Alex Palou No. 10 American Legion Honda
“This has always been a really good race for us and the team in general. I remember a crazy race in 2020 and seeing Scott and Felix battle on different strategies with CGR. The atmosphere is great and it’s a Honda race, so we want to go get good results for them. It’s a road course that I love because it’s really tricky and it’s not easy to get a good lap around there with things being so crazy in sectors two and three. But after a good few races that we’ve had, we want to continue on the roll that we’re having and score more wins.”

Palou has been racing at an astonishing level of late, earning race wins in three of the past four contests. In that outlier, the Indianapolis 500, Palou started the race from pole position, was later hit by a competitor in pit lane and nonetheless battled his way back impressively to a P4 finish.

He leads the series in both average finishing result (3.5) and average starting position (3.5) this year. In fact, Palou has posted the third-best average finishing result by any driver through the first eight races of a season since reunification in 2008 (Dixon: 3.125 in 2020; Castroneves: 3.286 in 2008).

Palou has led more laps (196) than anyone this season and has assumed front-runner position in six of the eight races thus far.

Marcus Ericsson No. 8 Huski Ice Spritz Honda
“This will be another natural road course, which reminds me a lot of the tracks I drove in Europe racing over there. It’s a track that I enjoy driving because it’s quite fun, especially the section between turns four and nine. It’s very technical and a key part of the track. The race weekend atmosphere is something I always look forward to with people out there camping. For us, we’ve had some good memories at the track finishing second two years ago quite close to winning. I think we should be strong there and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Consistency has been the key for Marcus Ericsson and the No. 8 team. They sit second in the points standings thanks to a top-10 finish in all eight races this season, something only three other drivers have done to kick off a season since series reunification in 2008 (Palou – 2023; Castroneves – 2017; Power – 2014).

With another top-10 finish, they would be the first to do so in nine consecutive races in that span.

Ericsson came close to a Mid-Ohio win with CGR in 2021, securing a P2 finish less than a second away from the race winner.

Scott Dixon No. 9 PNC Bank Women in Motorsports Honda

“We all had really good cars at the last few road courses. Obviously, Alex has been on a very good run so we need to have a great weekend to work on the championship positions. We should be confident with what we’ve done previously this year, but as always it will be interesting to see how the weekend goes with the tough competition. We need to make sure we roll off good, but it’s been a great track for us in the past and hopefully we continue that success.”

In what will be the 40th INDYCAR race at Mid-Ohio this year, Scott Dixon is set to become the first to ever reach the 20-start mark at the track. He’s been exceptional at the Lexington, Ohio, road course, having won more races (6) and led more laps (261) than anyone else.

Dixon also led one of the most impressive drives in recent INDYCAR history, taking the Mid-Ohio victory in 2014 from P22 position. That remains the second-furthest starting position by a race winner on a road or street course in series history (Papis: P25 at Laguna Seca in 2001).

He has showcased his exceptional improvement in qualifying this season with an average starting position of 7.875, the fourth-best mark among the full-time field.

Marcus Armstrong No. 11 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda
“This will be a new track for me. It looks very technical and quite similar to a circuit that I grew up driving in New Zealand with a lot of elevation changes and difficult to maximize. I think it will take a few laps to get used to during practice, but after that, I’m confident that we will make the best of it.”

Armstrong will look for redemption at Mid-Ohio after a dazzling start to his race at Road America ended in a P24 result. He led the race from laps 26 to 30 before battling through adversity for the remainder of the day.

He has been quite the strong qualifier to kick off the year, advancing to the round of 12 in four of his six races.

Colton Herta

“After some strong results at Road America, I’m looking forward to getting back to Mid-Ohio in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda. The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is beautiful. You never have enough time to rest there. It’s a track that always takes the wind out of you when you’re done, but it’s a great one.”

Kyle Kirkwood

“Mid-Ohio is my favorite track of the season. I have spent the most time at Mid-Ohio over the years. So, it’s always great to return to a place that holds a lot of special memories for me. I can’t wait to see what we can do this weekend with the No. 27 AutoNation Honda!”

Romain Grosjean

“Mid-Ohio is a roller coaster, but it’s a very iconic track. The track is very tough to get right, and it has a very slippery surface. However, it’s a lot of fun when you have the right set-up. I am looking forward to seeing what the No. 28 DHL Honda will be able to do at Mid-Ohio this week.”

Devlin De Francesco

“Mid-Ohio is quite a rhythm track with the way each lap flows. It also gets very tricky and slippery with the concrete patch in Turn 2. I’m very excited to get going this weekend in the No. 29 EVTEC Honda.”

Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:

“Mid-Ohio is the exact halfway point of the season. As a team, I feel like we have some unfinished business there because of what happened last year with our cars. I can’t wait to get back and keeping building our momentum.”

Felix Rosenqvist, No. 6 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:

“I think we’re all looking forward to getting back to Mid-Ohio to take care of some unfinished business from last year. It was arguably our best weekend of the season leading up to the race; then both cars were struck by unfortunate events. We’re ready to get back and I’m looking forward to enjoying one of the most exciting race tracks in the U.S.”

Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:

“First and foremost, I’m incredibly excited about the upcoming Mid-Ohio race. It has always been a unique challenge with its elevation and high-speed corners. The speed of the team here last year was phenomenal, and we are in the part of the season where we have to capitalize on our opportunities. We have a strong sense of confidence but remain fully aware of the challenges that lie ahead. As always, our goal is to deliver the best possible performance, and we’ll fight for every possible point.”

Gavin Ward, Race Director at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:

“Back-to-back races at such classic American road courses is pretty cool. Last year, Mid-Ohio brought heartbreaks with our two cars suffering reliability issues after qualifying on pole and running up front. You could say that this year we’re looking for redemption. We’ve had the pace to fight at the front everywhere this year, so we’re quietly confident coming back here with a focus on continual improvement and enjoying the process of building a better race team week-in, week-out.”

Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 20 Chevrolet at Ed Carpenter Racing:

“We certainly have plenty of positives to build on following the Road America race weekend and the Iowa test. Road America was essentially a multi-day test session for us and the team did a great job considering the circumstances. Mid-Ohio is one of my favorite tracks on the calendar. I’m looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of the No. 20 BITNILE.COM Chevy on a track I know well and have plenty of experience on.”

Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Chevrolet at Ed Carpenter Racing:

“I am very excited for Mid-Ohio! I was P4 there last year which gives me a lot of confidence, we need a result like that again. Since I am coming back with even more experience, hopefully we can do even better. I can’t wait to drive there. I think we can do well. Being fast is always fun so I am looking forward to having a lot of fun this weekend!”

Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Chevrolet at AJ Foyt Racing:

“I have raced at Mid-Ohio a lot growing up in FF2000 and have done well here in the past–even in IndyCar with my best start being P2. It’s a really well-flowing track and even more fun in the rain. Mid-Ohio is just hard because there isn’t any room for error. There is no runoff similar to Road America and it’s still a fast track. I think if we have a good car, we should be competitive.”

Benjamin Pedersen, No. 55 Chevrolet at AJ Foyt Racing:

“I love how Mid-Ohio is such a technical track and how much the track changes throughout the race weekend, even from the morning to the afternoon. Mid-Ohio is overall one of the most enjoyable tracks to drive, and you can make a big difference as a driver through your performance. This track is also very familiar to many of us, as we have been racing here for years through the various ladder systems that compete at Mid-Ohio. So, it’s nice to have had so much experience here throughout my career.”

The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2023 Accord Hybrid will be the ninth race of the 2023 season. There have been five different winners in nine NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this season. Marcus Ericsson (Streets of St. Petersburg), Josef Newgarden (Texas Motor Speedway and Indianapolis 500), Kyle Kirkwood (Streets of Long Beach), Scott McLaughlin (Barber Motorsports Park) and Alex Palou (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course-1, Streets of Detroit and Road America) have all won in 2023. The modern record (1946-present) for most different winners in a season is 11 in 2000, 2001 and 2014.

The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio will be the 40th INDYCAR SERIES race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Scott McLaughlin won the race in 2022. Johnny Rutherford won the first INDYCAR SERIES race at Mid-Ohio, in 1980.

Scott Dixon is the winningest INDYCAR SERIES driver at Mid-Ohio with six victories (2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2019). Emerson Fittipaldi won at Mid-Ohio three times, while Michael Andretti, Helio Castroneves, Teo Fabi, Josef Newgarden, Bobby Rahal, Al Unser Jr. and Alex Zanardi all won at Mid-Ohio twice. Past winners Dixon, Castroneves (2000 and 2001), Newgarden (2017 and 2021), Graham Rahal (2015), Simon Pagenaud (2016), Alexander Rossi (2018), Will Power (2020-Race 1), Colton Herta (2020-Race 2) and Scott McLaughlin (2022) are entered this year.

ACTIVE RACE WINNER	WINS	SEASONS
Scott Dixon	6	2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2019
Helio Castroneves	2	2000, 2001
Josef Newgarden	2	2017, 2021
Graham Rahal	1	2015
Simon Pagenaud	1	2016
Alexander Rossi	1	2018
Will Power	1	2020 Race 1
Colton Herta	1	2020 Race 2
Scott McLaughlin	1	2022

At-track schedule (all times local):

Friday, June 30

1:55-2:40 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Practice 1, INDYCAR LIVE

3:05-4:20 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 1, Peacock

Saturday, July 1

8:35-9:20 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Practice 2, INDYCAR LIVE

9:45-10:45 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 2 (45 minutes of green flag or 60 total minutes), Peacock

2:05-2:25 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Qualifying (Eight minutes of green flag running or 15 minutes), INDYCAR LIVE

2:45-4:15 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (Three rounds of knockout qualifying), Peacock

Sunday, July 2

10:30-11 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Final Practice, Peacock

11:35 a.m. –  INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio command to start engines

11:40 a.m. –  INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio (35 laps/55 minutes), Peacock

1:05 p.m. – Driver introductions

1:46 p.m. – The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2023 Accord Hybrid command to start engines

1:53 p.m. – The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2023 Accord Hybrid (80 laps/180.64 miles), USA Network (live)

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Notes:

• The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2023 Accord Hybrid will be the ninth race of the 2023 season. There have been five different winners in nine NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this season. Marcus Ericsson (Streets of St. Petersburg), Josef Newgarden (Texas Motor Speedway and Indianapolis 500), Kyle Kirkwood (Streets of Long Beach), Scott McLaughlin (Barber Motorsports Park) and Alex Palou (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course-1, Streets of Detroit and Road America) have all won in 2023. The modern record (1946-present) for most different winners in a season is 11 in 2000, 2001 and 2014.
• The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio will be the 40th INDYCAR SERIES race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Scott McLaughlin won the race in 2022. Johnny Rutherford won the first INDYCAR SERIES race at Mid-Ohio, in 1980.
• Scott Dixon is the winningest INDYCAR SERIES driver at Mid-Ohio with six victories (2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2019). Emerson Fittipaldi won at Mid-Ohio three times, while Michael Andretti, Helio Castroneves, Teo Fabi, Josef Newgarden, Bobby Rahal, Al Unser Jr. and Alex Zanardi all won at Mid-Ohio twice. Past winners Dixon, Castroneves (2000 and 2001), Newgarden (2017 and 2021), Graham Rahal (2015), Simon Pagenaud (2016), Alexander Rossi (2018), Will Power (2020-Race 1), Colton Herta (2020-Race 2) and Scott McLaughlin (2022) are entered this year.