Alex Palou claimed his third straight victory in IndyCar Sunday afternoon at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, leading 48 of the Honda Indy 200’s 80 laps in the process. It was his first career win at Mid-Ohio after finishing second last year, third in 2021 and 12th and 23rd in a pair of 2020 races.

After qualifying, Palou was in fourth place behind pole-sitter Colton Herta, as well as Graham Rahal and Kyle Kirkwood, but was able to move into the lead during the race’s first set of pit stops and held it from the 31st lap until the end.

By virtue of winning the race and claiming his fourth win in his last five attempts — with only the Indianapolis 500 checkered flag eluding him during that stretch — Palou now holds a huge lead in the series points standings. After picking up 53 more points on Sunday, he now has 377, giving him a 110-point lead over his nearest competitor, Scott Dixon.

Dixon, who has earned six wins at Mid-Ohio since the Honda Indy 200 came to the Morrow County racetrack in 2007, finished second on the day. He was followed by Will Power, Christian Lundgaard and last year’s winner, Scott McLaughlin.

Behind Palou and Dixon in the season standings is Josef Newgarden, who is third with 261 points. Marcus Ericsson fell to fourth with 255 after suffering an early-race wreck and finishing last.

There were a number of support races taking place over the weekend at Mid-Ohio. Also on Sunday was the Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix event.

Louis Foster won the 35-lap race, leading the final nine laps in doing so. Pole-sitter Christian Rasmussen led most of the race before Foster got in front on the 27th lap and held the advantage the rest of the way. Kyffin Simpson took second place, while Rasmussen was third on the day.

Two races were held in the Porsche Sprint Challenge, one on Saturday and one Sunday morning to open that day’s festivities. On Saturday, Jared Thomas claimed the checkered flag, while Zachary Vanier placed second and Madeline Stewart ran third in the 21-lap race.

On Sunday, the top two spots on the podium were identical, with Thomas winning a 16-lap race and Vanier claimed second again. Charlie Peter was the third-place driver.

There also were two Saturday races in the USF Pro 2000 series, while the USF 2000 series raced once on Friday and twice on Saturday.

The first USF Pro 2000 race, which lasted 21 laps, was won by Michael d’Orlando. Jace Denmark finished second and Jack William Miller rounded out the podium. Later in the day, Myles Rowe won a 30-lap race. Kiko Porto picked up second place and d’Orlando was the third-place finisher.

The USF 2000 series had three 20-lap races. In Friday’s event, Evagoras Papasavvas was the top finisher. Simon Sikes took second place and Mac Clark placed third. Clark moved up to first place in Saturday’s first race, with Papasavvas running second and Sam Corry coming in third. Sikes then claimed the checkered flag in the series’ final race of the weekend, with Nikita Johnson running second and Clark rounding out the podium finishers.

Rob Hamilton can be reached at 419-946-3010, ext. 1807. Connect with him on Twitter at @SportsMCS