So much for qualifying when you want to win!
Starting in last place, Car 9 Scott Dixon, Dallara-Chevy, wins the Verizon IndyCar Series Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio for his 1st win of 2014. This win is the 34th of Dixon’s career and his 5th win at the Mid-Ohio Sport Car Course in his last eight starts on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course.
Scott Dixon tied Al Unser Jr. for 6th on the all-time Indy car win list with a dramatic last-to-first Verizon IndyCar Series win at the Honda Indy 200. Dixon’s win from the 22nd starting position is the second-most positions gained by an Indy car race winner on a road/street course. Max Papis won at Laguna Seca in 2001 from the 25th starting position.
Dixon’s Margin of victory was 5.3864 seconds over 2nd place winner Car 11 Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Chevy, (Verizon P1 Award winner).
3rd Place winner, Car 27 James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, started out in 17th place, followed by 4th place Car 11 Carlos Munoz, Dallara-Honda who started in 4th place.
5th Place went to Car 15 Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, who started in 7th place, followed by 6th place Car 12 Will Power, Dallara-Chevy who started in 6th place.
7th Place Car 83 Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Chevy started in 20th place, followed by 8th place Car 8 Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Chevy who started in 19th place.
9th Place Car 77 Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda started in 9th place. Last in the Top 10 was Car 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda,who started in 5th place and finished up in 10th place.
The race had action right from the start and 2 Cautions for 10 laps.
1st Caution on lap 1 for a crash Car Car 10 Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevy, Car 14 Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, & Car 25 Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda in Turn 4. 2nd Caution on lap 37 for a Spin Car 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda in turn 12.
The race had 7 Lead changes among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders: Bourdais 1 – 25, Hunter-Reay 26 – 27, Bourdais 28 – 39, Dixon 40 – 61,
Newgarden 62 – 64, Bourdais 65, Hinchcliffe 66 – 67, Dixon 68 – 90.
The key to this race for Car 9 Scott Dixon, Dallara-Chevy, was smart strategy by the staying out when needed, good pit stop,s and pushing to the front at the end.
Car 27 James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda also had a great race when the big crash happened he was able to go up the midlle as cars were spinning around him.
Point Standings: Power 548, Castroneves 544, Hunter-Reay 485, Pagenaud 484, Montoya 447, Dixon 440, Munoz 416, Bourdais 400, Kanaan 389, Andretti 383
HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO POST-RACE QUOTES
SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrole) “Truthfully Target I didn’t think it was possible,” “Great pit stops by everybody on Team Target and the strategy was spot on once we got that (Lap 37) yellow. Long, hard-fought day but huge thanks to Chevy and obviously we got fantastic fuel mileage there, too.”
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS (No. 11 Mistic KVSH Racing Chevrolet): “We got a little unlucky on that one obviously. The team wanted to go straight to blacks on the first pit stop, and I thought maybe it was a bit early. A lot of guys did go on reds as well on the first pit stop. It was the right choice until the yellow came out, and then we had to do the restart on a green track with black tires. That was tough. Hats off to Dixie (Scott Dixon) and the (Chip) Ganassi guys. We didn’t have anything for them. They were clearly the class of the field and deserve it. It is a one-two for Chevy so I couldn’t be any happier with the Mistic boys. We will keep rolling!”
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 27 United Fiber & Data Honda): “That start was pretty crazy. Going down into Turn 4 there, it was like the seas parted in front of me. I felt
bad for the guys that got involved in that wreck, but it allowed us to get up there a little bit. The car was really fast, we were running off some really good lap times there. We got caught behind a couple of guys. At some point we might have been able to pick one more spot up. I’m really proud of the United Fiber & Data guys. Great in the pits. Awesome car. Fun driving with Sebastien (Bourdais) there in the end. Obviously, big congrats to (Scott) Dixon. I don’t know why they don’t just give him the trophy when we get here on Thursday. Good job to those guys.”
CARLOS HUERTAS (No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda): “My race started out well when I moved up five positions on that first lap incident, but didn’t go as well after that.
I was running fast laps and keeping up with the leaders. I think I was actually running second for a while. When I got that penalty I dropped back and couldn’t recover. At the end, I was fuel saving and ended up needing to make an extra stop to make it to the end. I wish I could have done better today, but sometimes things just don’t go your way.”
MIKHAIL ALESHIN (No. 7 SMP Racing Honda): “When the safety car went out for the caution, unfortunately I was already in the pits. Pit lane technically became closed at that moment by INDYCAR, so I had to drive through and come back in a second time for my pit stop. When I came back in for service, I accidentally went over the pit speed limit on my exit, which resulted in a penalty. It was an unlucky race, but I’m glad I finished and that the car was fast. It didn’t go our way today, but we gained some points today and know that we’ll have a fast car on the next road course.”
SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports Honda): “Unfortunately, we just didn’t have the pace today. Qualifying really hurt us, and we were stuck in the pack for most of the race. We definitely have some work to do to prepare for our next road course race in Sonoma. We need to focus forward and make sure we maximize every opportunity we have in the next few weeks. One positive takeaway from Mid-Ohio is that the other championship contenders also struggled. We’re getting down to the wire now, and this could still be anyone’s championship.”
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 17 Automatic Fire Sprinklers KV AFS Chevrolet): “What an unfortunate situation. The entire No. 17 KV AFS Racing crew has put a huge amount of effort in this weekend and it’s just unbelievable that this situation has happened. Somehow we need to get out of this run of bad luck we have been having. We have the car. We have the mentality. And we just need to find a way to show it. We will move on and look forward to a good weekend in Milwaukee in a couple of weeks.”
WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): “Proud of the Verizon Chevy boys today. We didn’t quite have the pace on the red tires that we wanted, but it was as
good as we could do. As far as the standings go, we have a small lead but the key from here on out is to finish ahead of the other guys week in and week out. If we can do that, we will be in good shape to challenge for the Verizon IndyCar Series Championship.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 67 Hartman Oil/Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda): “We didn’t get it right. It’s a shame. We had such a strong car and, man, we had a great strategy. What a killer idea going with blacks there. All we had to do was hang onto (Sebastien) Bourdais there – we knew he was going to be stronger on reds. We just hung with him and it fell right into our seat. It was just a perfect strategy call, which was so much fun for me. I kinda knew what was happening the whole time and we planned that originally. You don’t always stick with your plan but we did that today and it unfolded erfectly for us. It was a shame that it didn’t work out, but I think everyone knew we were strong today and definitely had a shot at winning the thing. And that’s all you can ask for, we’ve had a couple of those this year and we’ll have a couple more before it’s done.”
TAKUMA SATO (No. 14 ABC Supply A.J. Foyt Racing Honda): “It was a disappointing race. We made a good start, picked up a couple positions in Turn 1, but then there was
a multiple car accident in front of me and I couldn’t avoid it. I damaged the front wing so we pitted and changed it. We went back racing again, but unfortunately we ran out of fuel and I couldn’t get back to the pits, so I had to be towed and we lost a lap. We kept going and the boys gave me great pit stops, but our position never changed because we were a lap down. It was a really tough race. We just have to keep our motivation up and go on.”
GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 15 National Guard Honda): “To finish fifth at my home track feels really good. It was a good day for us, but you always want to do better. Certainly
there is nothing to be disappointed about though because we’re getting closer. I’ve said time and time again that this team is creeping up on it. This team can win races and can compete and I can compete as a driver. I just need to keep working hard as a team and push ourselves forward and the wins are going to come. I was really struggling at the start of the race because it was really slippery. I obviously avoided the wreck on the start, which was a good thing and we just worked our way through. We didn’t have the quickest car out there today, but we were close and that’s what we have to keep doing, getting closer and closer. All in all it was a good day and the guys did a great job with the pit stops. I’m proud of this National Guard team and the effort. For me, to have the National Guard here was extra special because it was the Ohio National Guard being that I am from Ohio and a lot of kids that I met are from the area I am from. It was very cool to spend some time with them.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet): “Man I hate it for all the guys on the No. 3 Hitachi Chevy team. At first, I thought the throttle issue was a quick fix because as soon as they started the car for ‘gentlemen, start your engines’ I knew there was something wrong. Then, during the parade laps, I noticed that it was stuck. That could be a big problem and cause a big crash. When we came back down pit road we figured out it was a bigger problem. There was just a bit of a mistake in our fuel mapping. It was a tough race, knowing that I was on a lap by myself the entire time. We will just to rebound from this. We might have been knocked down but we will get back up. On to Milwaukee!”
MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 25 Snapple Honda): “Today’s crash was just a victim of being in the back. Obviously there was a lot of carnage, but as soon as, I think it was Hinchcliffe, in front of me made an evasive move, I was right on top of Tony (Kanaan) and I didn’t know he was backwards. I could have used a spotter there, that would have helped. That’s what happens when you qualify back there. I need to improve on that.”
RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 DHL Honda): “It was one of those days we really needed to capitalize. I don’t know what happened with the pit lane speed situation. I don’t
know if I double clicked the button or what, but I hit it the first time and we ended up violating the pit lane speed. We had to come through for a penalty and that put us back in the field. I had a spin there. We recovered from that to put the DHL car in 10th, narrowed the points margin to the points leader, but not enough. We’ll have to get pretty creative here the rest of the year.”
CARLOS MUNOZ (No. 34 Cinsay AndrettiTV.com HVM Honda): “I think it’s a great finish since that first corner when Tony (Kanaan) spun around. I lost a lot of positions.
We got them back, but we ended up losing the third position in our last pit stop. I’m really happy with the Cinsay car – it was really fast out there, so I’m happy with fourth. Last year I also finished fourth, in Indy Lights, now I’ve finished fourth in IndyCar and it’s great points for the championship and for my rookie championship. Three more races until the season is finished and each time I’m more and more comfortable.”
JUSTIN WILSON (No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda): “We started eighth and shuffled our way back to 15th. In Turn 1 there was a crash and I managed to avoid it all, but the whole field passed me while I was avoiding it. I had to use a little grass. It was just the typical wrong place, wrong time again. Then we tried to get off sequence so we could get some clear track and run fast and a couple of cars jumped out ahead of me. We seemed to really struggle in traffic so after a couple of laps I ran off my tires and lost some pace again. It was just a tough day. We gambled on the last pit stop trying to pit early and pray for a yellow, which never came. It was very tough. We were going so slow trying to save fuel that the brakes were cold. There were a couple of times when I went to use the brakes and nearly crashed it because there was nothing there – the brakes were just stone cold. It’s frustrating. I understand the strategy that we were trying to do, but it’s just a frustrating end to what had been a good weekend.”
MIKE CONWAY (No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka/Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet): “I got a good start, but I was forced to the outside with the crash there. I had to avoid it and went on the grass and when I came back on the track I think I tagged the back of Ryan Briscoe. That bent the front wing. So we struggled with that most of the race. We kept adding front wing to see if it would help. It was hard to tell how the strategies were playing out and I was just pushing hard to the end. It was a tough day as it can be at Mid-Ohio. It was hard to move forward throughout the day. The first stint the track just didn’t have much grip at all and that made it hard. We tried the black Firestone tires to see if things would improve. But it was much better. Now we just have to gear up for the Sonoma track later this month. It’s a track I really like.”
RYAN BRISCOE (No. 8 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): “It feels good to get back up there with a top 10 result after a few disappointing finishes and I couldn’t be happier for Dixie and the Team Target guys. We had some issues early in the race with the front wing after the incident with Tony and Marco on the first lap and we decided to stay out on the damaged wing for a while longer. We finally came in and changed it and then worked really hard to move through the field from the back. The No. 8 NTT DATA Chevrolet made some awesome passes to get up there and the team did a great job getting me back out there after the wing change. I still think NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing is knocking on the door of a win, so we’ll keep our heads down and get ready for Milwaukee.”
CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet): “Today was a great day for Chip Ganassi Racing and a huge congratulations to Dixon and the No. 9 Team Target crew for getting the first win of the season for the team. The Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing guys fought hard all day and came through to get a solid top-10 finish from starting 20th. So much credit for this seventh place finish has to go to the crew of the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet in pit lane. They got me spot on every stop and I just had to go out and go fast. I’m looking forward to our test in Sonoma next week and then the race in a few weekends in Milwaukee.”
TONY KANAAN (No. 10 Glad Chevrolet): “I went on the inside of Newgarden and it was really tight for both of us and I don’t know if he saw me or not. I was all the way alongside him and then toward the middle of the corner he was actually a little bit ahead, so there was contact there and he touched my front wheel and I spun. I was in a tough position there. Marco didn’t see me unfortunately and I feel bad for Marco, and I feel bad for the Target Chip Ganassi Racing boys. We had such a great streak of podiums and this was going to be a great race but it’s just one of those things.”
Verizon IndyCar Series Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio
Winners average speed: 108.140, Time of Race: 01:52:45.2043
LEXINGTON, Ohio – Results Sunday of the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Verizon IndyCar Series event on the 2.258-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Finish Position, Starting Position in parentheses, Car #, Driver, Chassis-engine, Laps, Status
1. (22) Car 9 Scott Dixon, Dallara-Chevy, 90, Running
2. (1) Car 11 Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Chevy, 90, Running
3. (17) Car 27 James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
4. (4) Car 11 Carlos Munoz, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
5. (7) Car 15 Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
6. (6) Car 12 Will Power, Dallara-Chevy, 90, Running
7. (20) Car 83 Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Chevy, 90, Running
8. (19) Car 8 Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Chevy, 90, Running
9. (9) Car 77 Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
10. (5) Car 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
11. (11) Car 2 Juan Pablo Montoya, Dallara-Chevy, 90, Running
12. (2) Car 67 Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
13. (12) Car 20 Mike Conway, Dallara-Chevy, 90, Running
14. (13) Car 7 Mikhail Aleshin, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
15. (8) Car 19 Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
16. (18) Car 98 Jack Hawksworth, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
17. (10) Car 18 Carlos Huertas, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
18. (21) Car 14 Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 89, Running
19. (15) Car 3 Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevy, 86, Running
20. (14) Car 17 Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Chevy, 24, Mechanical
21. (3) Car 10 Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevy, 0, Contact
22. (16) Car 25 Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 0, Contact
Race Statistics
Verizon P1 Award ($10,000): Sebastien Bourdais (01:24.1610, 96.586 mph)
Bonus Awards: Scott Dixon ($30,000), Sebastien Bourdais ($20,000), James Hinchcliffe ($15,000), Carlos Munoz ($10,000), Graham Rahal ($9,000), Will Power ($8,000), Charlie Kimball ($7,000), Ryan Briscoe ($5,000), Simon Pagenaud ($4,000), Ryan Hunter-Reay ($2,000) Legend: R = Sunoco
Rookie of the Year candidate: All cars use fourth-generation Verizon IndyCar Series chassis (Dallara IR-12) and Firestone tires
Time of Race: 01:52:45.2043 Average’ Speed: 108.140 mph Margin of Victory: 5.3864 seconds Lead Changes: 7 Caution Laps: 10Fastest Lap: 121.616 mph (1:06.8399 sec) on Lap 67 by 3 – Helio Castroneves Fastest Leader Lap: 121.056 mph (1
Next Race: August 17 ABC Supply Wisconsin 250