Race Notes:
• The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio will be the 29th Indy car race at Mid-hio Sports Car Course and the sixth IZOD IndyCar Series event. Scott Dixon is the defending race winner. Will Power won the pole in 2012.
• CART and Champ Car held 22 Indy car races at Mid-Ohio from 1980-2003. Al Unser won the pole for the first Indy car race at Mid-Ohio in 1980. Johnny Rutherford won the race.
• Scott Dixon is the only driver to win at Mid-Ohio four times, winning the races in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012. Emerson Fittipaldi won at Mid-Ohio three times, while Michael Andretti, Helio Castroneves, Teo Fabi, Bobby Rahal and Al Unser Jr., have all won at Mid-Ohio twice. Past winners Dixon, Castroneves and Dario Franchitti (2010) are expected to compete in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio.
• There have been four different pole winners in the previous five races. Helio Castroneves won the pole in 2007 and 2008. Other pole winners entered in this year’s race are: Dario Franchitti (1998, 1999), Will Power (2010-12) and Scott Dixon (2011).
• Ten (10) drivers have won the race from the pole – Mario Andretti (1984), Bobby Rahal (1985), Roberto Guerrero (1987), Teo Fabi (1989), Michael Andretti (1990 and 1991), Al Unser Jr. (1994), Alex Zanardi (1996), Patrick Carpentier (2002), Paul Tracy (2003) and Scott Dixon (2011).
• Twenty-three (23) drivers entered in the event have competed in Indy car races at Mid-Ohio. Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan (11) have the most starts at Mid-Ohio among the entered drivers. Tristan Vautier (0) has the fewest.
• Tristan Vautier will make their first attempt to start an IZOD IndyCar Series race at Mid-Ohio. Vautier had never competed in any race at Mid-Ohio until he drove in a Formula F race last weekend.
• Chip Ganassi Racing has won eight times at Mid-Ohio, including the last four races at the track. Ganassi’s winning drivers are: Alex Zanardi (1996-97), Juan Pablo Montoya (1999), Scott Dixon (2007, 2009, 2011-12) and Dario Franchitti (2010).
• Team Penske has seven wins at the track: Emerson Fittipaldi (1992-93), Al Unser Jr. (1994-95), Helio Castroneves (2000-01), Ryan Briscoe (2008).
Season to Date:
• Scott Dixon swept the Honda Indy Toronto doubleheader to become the active leader in wins. The wins were his 31st and 32nd of his Indy car career.
• Scott Dixon led the first podium sweep for Chip Ganassi Racing when he won the Pocono INDYCAR 400 Fueled by Sunoco. It was his first win of 2013 and the 30th of his Indy car career.
• Marco Andretti won his second pole position of 2013 at Pocono. It was his fourth career pole position.
• James Hinchcliffe won the Iowa Corn Indy 250. It was his third win of 2013 and the fourth straight win at Iowa for Andretti Autosport. Helio Castroneves won qualifying heat No. 3 to secure his first pole of the season.
• Ryan Hunter-Reay won Milwaukee IndyFest for the second consecutive year. It was Hunter-Reay’s second win of 2013 and the fourth for Andretti Autosport in 2013.
• Helio Castroneves won his 28th Indy car race in the Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway.
• Will Power won his 31st career Indy car pole at Texas.
• Mike Conway and Simon Pagenaud split the wins in the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit. It was Conway’s second Indy car win and Pagenaud’s first Indy car victory.
• Tony Kanaan won the 97th Indianapolis 500 to record his 16th Indy car victory.
• Ed Carpenter won his first pole position since 2010 at Kentucky when he won the pole for the 97th Indianapolis 500.
• There were a race-record 14 leaders and race-record 68 lead changes at Indianapolis.
• James Hinchcliffe won the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 with a last-lap, last-turn pass of Takuma Sato. It was his second win of 2013 and the third win in four races for Andretti Autosport.
• Takuma Sato won his first Indy car race in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. He was the 208th driver to win an Indy car race and first Japanese driver to win. It was A.J. Foyt’s first win as a car owner since 2002.
• Dario Franchitti won his 30th career Indy car pole at Long Beach.
• Ryan Hunter-Reay won his 10th Indy car race in the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park from the pole position. It was the second time he had won a race from pole.
• James Hinchcliffe won the season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. It was the first win of his Indy car career. He was the 207th driver to win an Indy car race.
• Will Power won his 30th career Indy car pole at St. Petersburg.
• Tristan Vautier started his first career IZOD IndyCar Series race at St. Petersburg.
Milestones & Records:
• Should Dario Franchitti win the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series championship, he will join A.J. Foyt as the only drivers to win at least five Indy car titles in their career. Franchitti won the title in 2007 and again from 2009-2011. Foyt won seven championships in his career.
• Scott Dixon moved into sole possession of seventh place on the all-time wins list with his wins at Toronto’s Exhibition Place. Dixon won his 31st and 32nd race to pass Sebastien Bourdais, Dario Franchitti and Paul Tracy.
• With their next victory, either Dario Franchitti or Sebastien Bourdais will move into a tie for seventh place with Scott Dixon on the all-time wins list if Dixon does not win before they do. Franchitti and Bourdais are tied with Paul Tracy with 31 wins for eighth.
• Scott Dixon extended his streak of consecutive seasons with a win to nine with his win at Pocono Raceway.
• Helio Castroneves moved into sole possession of 11th place on the all-time victory list with his win at Texas Motor Speedway on June 8. Castroneves won his 29th race to break a tie with Johnny Rutherford.
• Helio Castroneves needs two earned poles to reach 40 career poles in his Indy car career after he won the Verizon P1 Award at Iowa Speedway.
• Will Power recorded the 30th pole of his Indy car career at St. Petersburg and his 31st pole position at Texas.
• Dario Franchitti recorded the 32nd pole of his Indy car career at Toronto 1.
• Scott Dixon needs one earned pole to reach 20 in his Indy car career.
• With his pole at Toronto 2, Scott Dixon extended his IZOD IndyCar Series streak to eight consecutive seasons.
• Scott Dixon’s second-place finish at Barber was the 30th of his Indy car career. It tied Helio Castroneves, A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Jr., and Bobby Unser for fifth on the all-time list.
• Dario Franchitti is the active leader in top-five finishes with 117, which is seventh on the all-time list. Franchitti recorded a pair of top-five finishes at Toronto.
• Helio Castroneves tied Rick Mears for ninth on the all-time list by recording the 111th top-five finish of his Indy car career at Toronto 2.
• Tony Kanaan will attempt to make his 210th consecutive start. Jimmy Vasser holds the all-time record of 211. Scott Dixon with 151 straight starts, Marco Andretti with 127 straight starts and Ryan Hunter-Reay with 102 straight starts are the only other active driver with a streak of 100 consecutive starts or more.
At-Track Schedule (all times local):
Friday, Aug. 2
11 – 11:45 a.m. – IZOD IndyCar Series practice (all cars)
3:30 -4:15 p.m. – IZOD IndyCar Series practice (all cars)
Saturday, Aug. 3
10:30-11:15 a.m. – IZOD IndyCar Series practice (all cars)
2 – 3:10 p.m. – Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio qualifying for Verizon P1 Award. (Knockout qualifying/Firestone Fast Six)
Sunday, Aug. 4
11- 11:30 a.m. – IZOD IndyCar Series warmup
3:33 p.m. – Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio (90 laps/203.22 miles), NBC Sports Network (Live)
