IndyCar
Mid-Ohio Gearing Up For INDYCAR Doubleheader Weekend
LEXINGTON, OH (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is gearing up for an INDYCAR doubleheader weekend that also features two series from ‘The Road To Indy’ development ladder.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced earlier this week that the picturesque 13-turn, 2.258-mile natural terrain road course can proceed this weekend with a total of up to 6,000-spectators.
“We greatly appreciate Governor Mike DeWine’s leadership and support in granting the variance to the sports order to allow a limited number of spectators to attend The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio this weekend,” said Kevin Savoree, Co-owner, President and COO of Green Savoree Racing Promotions. “Our team would also like to thank Lt. Governor Jon Husted, Interim Health Director Lance Himes and Morrow County Health Commissioner Stephanie Bragg for their guidance and time to review our plans.”
The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio will feature 75-lap NTT INDYCAR SERIES races on Saturday, September 12 and Sunday, September 13. Also on the schedule are the MX-5 Cup Series and two series on ‘The Road To Indy’: The USF2000 Championship and Indy Pro 2000 Championship presented by Cooper Tires.
The event was originally scheduled for early August but was postponed until September in order to accommodate fans.
“We were moving forward in hopes that we were going to get an answer that we could have fans,” Mid-Ohio President Craig Rust explained to The Pittsburgh Racing Now Podcast. “That did not happen, so we made the decision to postpone in the hope that we could share more information with the State and continue to work with them and get them comfortable with the plans that we had in place as well as the plans INDYCAR has in place.”
Fans going to the races can find out about all of the plans and COVID-19 protocols by clicking the link on the tracks website, www.midohio.com.
“It really is the same protocols the everybody I think has gotten very used to following,” said Rust. “We’re asking people to use common sense, wash their hands, socially distance, stay within your group and wear face masks.”
PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing‘s Scott Dixon, who has six wins at the track, heads into the weekend with a 96-point lead over Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden. That is the largest point margin since 2008. The average lead with five races to go since 2008 was 39.6-points.
“He’s always tough to beat at Mid-Ohio,” said Rust about Dixon. “I say this every year ‘Scott kind of owns the place’ but we’ve had, through the years, some unique winners so I think it’s wide open. Mid-Ohio is a great track for the INDYCARs. Scott certainly has to be considered the odds-on favorite but when you’ve got guys like (Josef) Newgarden and (Alexander) Rossi in the field you can’t take anything for granted.”
Rust encourages fans to get their tickets early as soon as possible as they are going quickly. Tickets are only available online and will not be sold at the gate.
“Many of our fans are used to being able to drive up, purchase at ticket at the gate and drive in,” said Rust. “We’re asking fans to order their ticket online. It’s print-at-home tickets and that allows us to monitor the number of tickets that are being sold so when we get to that 6,000 number we can shut down the ticket sales”.
Ticket information, Covid information and the entire weekend schedule can be found at www.midohio.com.
LOS ANGELES, CA (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Fox Sports, the new television partner for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, is aggressively getting the word out that INDYCAR has a new home for 2025.
Sunday Fox Sports debuted the first promotional ad during the network’s NFL coverage, featuring two-time Series Champion and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden.
This is the first of three promotional ads that Fox Sports will be rolling out between now and the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding on March 2, 2025. The remaining two spots will feature three-time and reigning series Champion Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing and the series most-popular driver Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren.
PLAINFIELD, IL (January 13, 2025) – Dale Coyne Racing is adding INDY NXT by Firestone Vice-Champion Jacob Abel to it’s 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES roster.
Abel will drive the No. 51 DCR Honda for the entire 2025 season beginning in March with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding.
“We are excited about running another Indy NXT by Firestone Vice-Champion here at Dale Coyne Racing,” said team owner Dale Coyne.
Abel, a Louisville Kentucky native, won three races in 2024 and finished on the podium in 10-of-14-races, which placed him second in the final standings – a steady progression from his 5th and 8th place Championship finishes the previous two seasons.
“It’s a lifelong dream come true… I can’t thank everyone who’s helped out along the way enough,” said Abel, who impressed in an evaluation day at Sebring last fall.
“We have watched Jacob over the years and did an evaluation test with him at the end of the 2023 season, where he showed great promise in these cars,” said Coyne. “It will be good to run one driver in the #51 car for the whole season, so that we can work on the consistency needed in the highly competitive NTT IndyCar Series.”
“I’ve had a great relationship with Dale for the last couple of years, and I’m very thankful for the confidence he has in me,” said Abel. “The team has some very experienced personnel joining and returning to the program, and I have full confidence they will deliver a great race car and help me learn the ropes of the NTT IndyCar Series. It’s going to be a fun but challenging journey, and I can’t wait to get started.”
Coyne said talks are progressing to fill the other vacant seat in the DCR stable.
“Our plans for our second driver are coming along quite nicely, and we will have more news on that in approximately three weeks.”
The 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season kicks off February 28 – March 2 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding.
LEBANON, TN (September 15, 2024) – Andretti Global’s Colton Herta passed Pato O’Ward with four laps to go in the Sunday’s Big Machine Music City Grand Prix to claim his first oval NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory of his career.
“I’m so happy,” said Herta, whose No. 26 Gainbridge Honda crossed the finish line 1.8206-seconds ahead of O’Ward. “We knew we were going to have a hot rod in the race. It’s been an amazing year.”
The victory also vaulted Herta a couple of spots up in the final standings of the year.
“I just saw I finished second in the championship, which is awesome,” said Herta. “Hoping to do a little bit better next year.”
The second place finish was the sixth of the year for O’Ward and the twenty-sixth of his career and said afterwards he was lucky to finish there.
“Yeah, I wish I could have done it a little bit harder on him,” said O’Ward. “Those reds (Firestone alternate tires) at the end, I couldn’t see straight with so much vibrations. Could barely talk to the team with just how much was going on in the car. I think one more lap, Josef would have gotten me for sure. I was dying.”
Josef Newgarden finished third in the No. 2 Hitachi Chevy. The Tennessee native was not in the Championship hunt after being stripped of a season-opening win at St. Petersburg after he and teammate Scott McLaughlin were found to have illegal software that allowed them to use push-to-pass when others couldn’t.
“Team did a great job today,” said Newgarden. “They put a good car on the track, a great car. We’re going to come back next year and hopefully have a little different cadence would be nice. I’m going to be happy to leave all this in 2024.”
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou finished 11th and claimed his second straight Championship and third overall in four years. Dario Franchitti was the last driver to win three championships in four year, winning three straight for CGR from 2009-2011.
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