Scott Dixon maintained his nickname of “Mr. Mid-Ohio” on Sunday when he claimed his six win at the Morrow County race track since the IndyCar series started running there in 2007.
In taking his first Mid-Ohio win since 2014 Sunday, Dixon, who is currently fourth in the IndyCar season standings, had to hold off teammate Felix Rosenqvist, who made a late charge, but finished just under one-tenth of a second off Dixon’s pace.
The race was mostly clean, as there were no cautions over its 90 laps. The one incident; however, did benefit Dixon and two other drivers in contention for the season title. Series leader Josef Newgarden went off the track on the final lap and wound up placing 14th out of the 23 competing drivers.
While Newgarden still leads the series with 504 points, second-place Alexander Rossi, who finished fifth, closed within 16 points at 488. Simon Pagenaud finished sixth overall and is third overall with 457 points, while Dixon has 442.
After Dixon and Rosenqvist, Ryan Hunter-Reay took third place, pole-sitter Will Power finished fourth and Rossi rounded out the top five. There are four races left in the IndyCar season.
It was a very busy weekend of racing at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, as six different support series each raced twice — once Saturday and once Sunday.
In Saturday’s Indy Lights race, Oliver Askew held first place after 30 laps to claim the checkered flag. He was followed by Ryan Norman, while Rinus VeeKay claimed third. Askew also won on Sunday. Toby Sowery picked up second place and VeeKay repeated in third. Askew currently holds a 45-point lead over VeeKay in the championship race.
Kyle Kirkwood was the winner in Saturday’s 25-lap Indy Pro 2000 race, while Rasmus Lindh ran second and Ian Rodriguez claimed third. Kirkwood also won on Sunday, with Sting Ray Robb finishing in second. Lindh claimed third place in the race. After the weekend, Lindh still held a lead in the series with 284 points, but Kirkwood had closed within 13 of that total.
The first race in the USF2000 series, lasting 20 laps, was won by Christian Rasmussen. Hunter McElrea ran second and Colin Kaminsky took third. McElrea moved up to first place on Sunday, though, with Rasmussen moving down to second. Kaminsky remained in third place.
Of those three, only McElrea, who currently is in second place with 251, are in the top three drivers in the season standings. Braden Eves leads by nine over McElrea despite finishing eighth on Saturday and seventh Sunday.
In the MX-5 Cup, Robert Noaker claimed the win after 28 laps on Saturday. He was followed by Robert Stout in second place and Gresham Wagner in third. Stout and Noaker changed places on Sunday, with Stout moving up to the top spot on the podium. Wagner finished third for the second straight day.
In a close battle for the season title, Stout moved up to third place behind Bryan Ortiz and Selin Rollin on the strength of his performances. Ortiz was fifth Saturday and sixth Sunday, while Rollin placed eighth and 14th.
New to Mid-Ohio this year was the Stadium Super Truck series, which quickly proved to be a crowd-pleaser, with there being temporary ramps placed at certain locations on the track for the trucks to jump during a practice/qualification session and two 30-minute races.
Cole Potts finished in first place on Saturday, while Greg Biffle took second and Matt Brabham claimed third place. First place on Sunday went to Gavin Harlien, while Brabham placed second and was followed by Jeff Hoffman in third.
