Honda Indy 200
Circuit: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (2.25-mile road course) Lexington, OH
2008 Winner: Ryan Briscoe (Team Penske Honda) 94.873 mph average
Weather: Sunny, warm, 91 degrees F
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A textbook performance by Scott Dixon Sunday at the Honda Indy 200 led to the fourth IndyCar Series victory of the season for the Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver and a return to the top of the championship points table, with just four races remaining.
Starting third, Dixon saved fuel during the first third of today’s 85-lap run over the 2.25-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, enabling him to pit two laps later than his rivals. Emerging from the first round of pit stops in second place, behind early leader Justin Wilson, Dixon moved into the lead on Lap 34 with a decisive pass as he and Wilson approaced lapped traffic. Dixon went on to command the rest of the race, setting fastest race lap just prior to his second and final pit stop; and surrendering the lead only briefly to an out-of-sequence Marco Andretti.
During a hot and humid race day, 21 drivers ran a total of 7,546 miles this weekend at Mid-Ohio -- the 44th consecutive IndyCar Series without a single engine-related failure for the Honda HI9R Indy V-8.
Dixon’s strongest rival, Dale Coyne Racing’s Wilson, led for 28 laps after an exciting pass of pole qualifier Ryan Briscoe when the latter briefly slid off-line over the crest of the Turn 8 hill. Wilson went on to build up a six-second lead over Briscoe until the first round of pit stops, and remained in contention until waiting one lap too long before making his second and final stop. Wilson ran out of fuel entering Pit Lane, and the resultant stall before rejoining the race dropped him to an unrepresentative 13th-place finish.
Race Results:
Fn. St. Driver / Team / Chassis / Laps Average / Speed/Notes
1. 3. Scott Dixon /Target Chip Ganassi / Honda Dallara / 85 / 108.541 mph average, led 51 laps
2. 1. Ryan Briscoe / Team Penske / Honda Dallara / 85 / -29.7803 seconds
3. 6. Dario Franchitti / Target Chip Ganassi / Honda Dallara / 85 / -30.0551 seconds
4. 7. Ryan Hunter-Reay / A.J. Foyt Racing / Honda Dallara / 85 / -33.7307 seconds
5. 11. Hideki Mutoh / Andretti Green Racing / Honda Dallara / 85 / -34.1839 seconds
6. 13. Marco Andretti / Andretti Green Racing / Honda Dallara / 85 / -46.7669 seconds, led 6 laps
7. 10. Paul Tracy / KV Racing Technology / Honda Dallara / 85 / -49.7020 seconds
8. 4. Graham Rahal / Newman Haas Lanigan / Honda Dallara / 85 / -50.5417 seconds
9. 15. Raphael Matos-R / Luczo Dragon Racing / Honda Dallara / 85 / -51.2296 seconds
10. 8. Tony Kanaan /Andretti Green Racing / Honda Dallara / 85 / -52.0810 seconds
11. 14. Oriol Servia / Newman Haas Lanigan / Honda Dallara / 85 / -52.6215 seconds
12. 5. Helio Castroneves / Team Penske / Honda Dallara / 85 / -53.2382 seconds
13. 2. Justin Wilson / Dale Coyne Racing / Honda Dallara / 85 / -53.5768 seconds, led 28 laps
14. 18. Robert Doornbos-R / HVM Racing / Honda Dallara / 85 / -60.0812 seconds
15. 9. E.J. Viso / HVM Racing / Honda Dallara / 84 / Running
16. 17. Dan Wheldon / Panther Racing / Honda Dallara / 84 / Running
17. 21. Ed Carpenter / Vision Racing / Honda Dallara / 84 / Running
18. 19. Richard Antinucci-R / Team 3G / Honda Dallara / 83 / Running
19. 12. Danica Patrick / Andretti Green Racing / Honda Dallara / 83 / Running
20. 16. Mike Conway-R / Dreyer & Reinbold / Honda Dallara / 69 / Did not finish - contact
21. 20. Milka Duno / Dreyer & Reinbold / Honda Dallara / 56 / Did not finish - handling
R - IndyCar Series Rookie
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