Dixon Rules Mid-Ohio

Scott Dixon used a quick final pit stop to win on Sunday. (INDYCAR/LAT USA)
RacinToday.com
Scott Dixon won the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sunday afternoon.
It was the Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver’s fourth win in the past six years at the road course and was his 29th victory in the series – it tied Rick Mears for 10th all time.
Dixon, starting fourth, beat race leader and pole sitter Will Power off pit lane on Lap 57 (their second and final service stop) and went on to lead the driver of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car across the start-finish line by 3.4619 seconds.
In the second consecutive caution-free Indy car road racing since 1987 (Laguna Seca, won by Bobby Rahal; Miami-Tamiami Park, won by Michael Andretti), pit stops were key.
Power, who picked up three bonus points for winning the pole and leading the most laps, regained the points lead heading into the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma on Aug. 26 as front-runner Ryan Hunter-Reay was running sixth but started to fall through the field midway through the quick race with an engine issue and finished 24th.
Hunter-Reay, driving the No. 28 Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda car, has 374 points. Helio Castroneves, who served a 10-grid spot penalty for an unapproved engine change, finished 16th and is third in the standings with 353 points. Dixon remained fourth in the standings but closed from 35 to two points of third place and is 28 points out of the lead.
Simon Pagenaud, driving the No. 77 Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports car, posted his fifth top-five finish in his rookie IZOD IndyCar Series season. Sebastien Bourdais was a season-high fourth in the No. 7 TrueCar Dragon Racing car and James Hinchcliffe, who started 15th, came in fifth.
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Results Sunday of the Honda Indy 200 IZOD IndyCar Series event on the 2.258 mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (4) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
2. (1) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running
3. (3) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
4. (6) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running
5. (15) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running
6. (18) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running
7. (5) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running
8. (8) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running
9. (12) JR Hildebrand, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running
10. (14) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
11. (21) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
12. (9) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
13. (17) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
14. (24) Giorgio Pantano, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
15. (13) Rubens Barrichello, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running
16. (23) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running
17. (2) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
18. (11) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
19. (20) James Jakes, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
20. (19) EJ Viso, Dallara-Chevy, 85, Running
21. (16) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
22. (25) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Chevy, 84, Running
23. (22) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Lotus, 83, Running
24. (7) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Chevy, 79, Mechanical
25. (10) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Chevy, 78, Running
Race Statistics
Winners average speed: 115.379
Time of Race: 01:39:48.5083
Margin of victory: 3.4619
Cautions: 0
Lead changes: 2
Lap Leaders:
Power 1 – 57
Hinchcliffe 58 – 59
Dixon 60 – 85
Point Standings: Power 379, Hunter-Reay 374, Castroneves 353, Dixon 351, Hinchcliffe 316, Pagenaud 311, Kanaan 307, Franchitti 271, Briscoe 267, Rahal 256.
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