With Dario Franchitti controlling the IZOD IndyCar Series championship, his teammate Scott Dixon concedes that catching him is highly unlikely. However, it does not mean that Dixon will back off trying to win races, as he passed his teammate on a Lap 61 restart and coasted to a dominating win at the Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Dixon was clearly the class of the field, as he led both the first and final stints of the race with ease, eventually pacing 50 of 85 laps; having pitted one lap ahead of Franchitti under green flag conditions, Dixon was lined up behind the championship leader for the restart following Graham Rahal's spin on Lap 55. On the backstretch, Dixon darted to Franchitti's right, taking the lead and going on to win by over seven seconds.
Of his pass, Dixon said:
I was furious because we'd been happily leading all day and I wanted to get back, obviously, to the front, and I was lucky enough that Dario did what he has to, and that's go back over to the left and luckily enough, he didn't fight us too hard into the corner.
The only part of the race Dixon failed to lead was the second stint, when pit strategy allowed rookie James Hinchcliffe to vault from 27th to first. Hinchcliffe started the race seventh before veering off course out of necessity, subsequently pitting on Lap 20. When the caution flew on the same lap, Hinchcliffe gained every possible position after a pass of Danica Patrick on the restart.
Hinchliffe would lead 26 laps, eventually ceding the lead to Dixon, where the New Zealander collected another lap led before heading to the pits himself. On his outlap, Danica Patrick and Graham Rahal got together, bringing out a full-course caution and giving Franchitti the lead as he pitted on the same lap.
The Canadian was third behind Franchitti and Dixon on Lap 60, but while trying to stay near the front, spun, continuing his yo-yoing up and down the field.
The losers under caution were the cars of Will Power and Ryan Briscoe, who had to pit under yellow, giving up first and second place, respectively. Finishing 14th, Power lost the ground make up to Franchitti at Edmonton two weeks ago and then some, falling 62 points back of Franchitti with seven races remaining on the year.
Power started the race alongside Franchitti, and their interaction on the opening lap appeared to fuel their burgeoning rivalry, with the two making contact, with Franchitti remarking on TV postrace:
He [Power] hit me twice on the first lap, pretty hard actually, going into Turn 5. He didn't get me all the way around, but he had a good try at it.
For his part, Power brushed off the contact, saying:
I was just trying to get past him at the start; it was simple as that. He went around the outside, and I think I hit his back wheel. Sort of similar to Toronto [where Franchitti spun Power].
When the follow-up question came as to whether contact between the two would be more frequent, Power was blunt:
I'm just racing, that's all.
For Dixon, he cemented his status as INDYCAR's current king of Mid-Ohio, collecting his third win at the circuit in the last five years, having won in 2007 and 2009. The win tied Emerson Fittipaldi for the most all-time wins at Mid-Ohio in INDYCAR's 27 trips to the hills of northern Ohio.
Ryan Hunter-Reay, who was placed on probation by INDYCAR earlier in the week and ran the race without access to his in-car water bottle, took third, while Takuma Sato finished a season-high fourth. Tony Kanaan improved 11 spots to take fifth and solidify his claim to fourth in the points.
Having run on road and street circuits in the last three races, the series will take a short break to return to an oval on Aug. 14, coming back to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which last hosted IndyCar racing in 1998.
IZOD IndyCar Series
Honda Indy 200
LEXINGTON, Ohio - Results Sunday of the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio IZOD IndyCar Series event on the 2.258 mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (1) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
2. (3) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
3. (5) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
4. (9) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
5. (16) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
6. (8) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
7. (19) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
8. (20) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
9. (11) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
10. (21) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
11. (10) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
12. (14) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
13. (18) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
14. (4) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
15. (12) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
16. (2) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
17. (25) Ana Beatriz, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
18. (26) Martin Plowman, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
19. (15) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
20. (7) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
21. (23) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
22. (27) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
23. (24) James Jakes, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
24. (6) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 83, Running
25. (13) JR Hildebrand, Dallara-Honda, 81, Running
26. (17) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 63, Mechanical
27. (22) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Honda, 20, Contact
Race Statistics
Winners average speed: 105.861 mph
Time of Race: 01:48:46.9509
Margin of victory: 7.6508
Cautions: 2 cautions for 8 laps
Lead changes: 7 among 5 drivers
Lap Leaders: Dixon 1 - 23, Patrick 24 - 26, Hinchcliffe 27 - 52, Dixon 53 - 54
Franchitti 55 - 56, Power 57 - 58, Franchitti 59 -60, Dixon 61 - 85
Point Standings: Franchitti 428, Power 366, Dixon 335, Kanaan 283, Servia 268, Andretti 258, Briscoe 253, Rahal 230, Castroneves 224, Hildebrand 222.
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