We’ve hit the midpoint of the IndyCar Series season, and the first race of the second half is the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio in Lexington. Here’s a quick preview of this Sunday’s race.
Alex Palou is the guy to chase
Last year going into Mid-Ohio, Alex Palou was the defending champion and first in the IndyCar Series standings with a 23-point lead. He narrowly finished second in the race, and by season’s end, he won his third career IndyCar Series title. Fast forward to this year and Palou is riding high again as he enters Sunday’s race with a 93-point lead at the top of the standings with 386 points.
Palou had three wins last year, and he’s in even better form this year. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver started the season winning five of the first six races, making him the third IndyCar driver in history, along with A.J. Foyt in 1964 and 1979 and AI Unser in 1971, to do so. Palou was so hot early on that there was serious talk of him reaching the most wins in an IndyCar Series single season. The record is 10, set by Unser in 1970 and Foyt in 1964.
And, hey, Palou still might reach that as he sits with a season-high six wins, coming off a victory at Road America two weeks ago. Mid-Ohio being a road course should improve the Spaniard’s chances. He’s already won four times on road courses this season. Still, no win was a bigger triumph for Palou then winning the famous Indianapolis 500 in May.
Let’s see if Palou can add to his lead this weekend and create even more distance from the field.
Other contenders
Through the first nine races this season, only two drivers have won titles. One is obviously Palou, the other is Andretti Global driver Kyle Kirkwood, who has three wins to his name and is second in the championship standings. Kirkwood finished eighth in last year’s race.
Another fact that might interest fans: There hasn’t been a repeat winner at Mid-Ohio since Scott Dixon from 2011-2012. Pato O’Ward will look to change that at the 90-lap road course. It was O’Ward who held off Palou in the late stages at Mid-Ohio last season for the win. The Arrow McLaren driver will enter this weekend third in the championships standings, and he knows how critical it is to do well at Mid-Ohio to stay in the title race.
“Super important,” he said. “There’s plenty of racing to go and it’s been a different season than what people have expected it to be. It’s been a very different start to the season. We’re inching away at the championship and getting closer and closer.”
O’Ward has finished runner-up in three races so far and is seeking that first win of the campaign. He hopes to get it at Mid-Ohio.
“Yeah, it definitely feels like this isn’t the first time this has happened, but we’ve been close a few times and we’re gonna be close again,” O’Ward said. “I’m not really focused on if it’s going to arrive or when it’s going to arrive. Sometimes years play out a certain way and we might be super consistent, but maybe you don’t actually get a win here and there. I’d love to go back-to-back like we did last year. We had a phenomenal week last year. We have some tracks coming up that we’re looking forward to be a part of.”
jamessimpson@gannett.com
Twitter/X: @JamesSimpsonII
This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Honda Indy 200 Preview: Who are the top contenders heading into Mid-Ohio?
Reporting by James Simpson II, Ashland Times-Gazette / Ashland Times Gazette
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