Honda Indy 200


The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio is an IndyCar Series race held at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. Professional open wheel races at the facility date back to 1970. The U.S. Formula 5000 series ran from 1970 to 1976, and the revived Can-Am series ran from 1977 to 1980.
The CART series debuted at the track in 1980, and continued to race there from 1983–2003. In 2007, American open wheel racing returned to the venue, when the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series held an event. The race used to be part of a doubleheader with the American Le Mans Series, however in ALMS chose not to return to the track during its final year, 2013.
The history of open-wheel races has a unique footnote. The race has been won consecutively on seven occasions, including four times in a row from 1991–1997. It is also one of only a few Indy car races to be won by two sets of fathers & sons..
Since 2007, the race has been sponsored by Honda. The sponsorship arrangement complements the track's proximity to the manufacturer's assembly plants in Marysville, East Liberty, and Anna.

Race history

Indy car racing first visited Mid-Ohio in 1980. In late 1981, Truesports owner Jim Trueman purchased the Mid-Ohio facility, and early rumors had the track returning for the 1982 CART season. However, it was put on hiatus for one additional year, and returned for 1983 instead. CART appeared annually through 2003. The race was well-attended, drawing fans from two major markets nearby, Columbus and Cleveland. Crowds topped 75,000-80,000 at the peak of its popularity. The race schedule usually included a large slate of support races including Indy Lights, Atlantics, and SCCA.
In mid-2003, CART president Chris Pook hinted at dropping Mid-Ohio from the CART schedule going forward, citing various issues. For many years, Mid-Ohio was on the schedule alongside the Grand Prix of Cleveland, and Pook stated it was not viable to have two races in such close proximity, and favored keeping the race at Cleveland instead. In addition, some observers felt that the powerful CART/Champ Cars had "outgrown" the narrow, winding course, citing a lack of passing and competition over the previous several years. Though the decision was generally unpopular with fans, Mid-Ohio was dropped from the Champ Car schedule for 2004.
In late 2006, it was announced that the race would be revived as part of the Indy Racing League. Restarting in 2007, the race would be sponsored by IRL engine supplier Honda, which has a prominent manufacturing presence in the central Ohio area.
Through much of its history, the track has been considered the hometown venue for first Truesports and later Rahal Letterman Racing. Jim Trueman and the Trueman family owned the track from 1981 to 2007. Truesports scored two poles and two wins, while Rahal Letterman Racing has scored one pole and one win.
Chip Ganassi Racing leads with eleven total victories, with driver Scott Dixon scoring six of those wins. Penske has the most poles. Mario and Michael Andretti have combined for three wins and five poles, and Bobby and Graham Rahal have a combined three wins and two poles.

Race scheduling

In early years of the event under CART, the race was scheduled for Labor Day weekend. In 1990, it was pushed back two weeks into mid-September. Rain and cooler temperatures, however, prompted officials to move the race to the summer. For 1994, it was situated in early to mid-August, the weekend after the Brickyard 400.
When the race was revived by the Indy Racing League in 2007, it was placed in July. Carried by ABC, it immediately followed final round coverage of the British Open. Such a lead-in usually created a strong television audience, but it was at the risk of the golf tournament running long due to a playoff, as it did in 2007. Starting in 2009, the race was moved back to its early August slot.
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the race originally scheduled for August 16 was moved up to the weekend of August 8–9 and became a doubleheader.

Course layout

Through 1989, the race utilized the original full 2.4-mile track layout, which included the chicane just before the keyhole. During a track repaving project in early 1990, a straightaway segment was paved to create an alternate layout which bypasses the chicane. The alternate layout measured 2.25 miles. Since the 1990 race, the Indy cars have utilized the alternate course, bypassing the chicane and creating a passing zone going into the keyhole.
In all years, the Indy cars have utilized the auxiliary starting line located at the midpoint of the backstretch. This allows the entire field to properly assemble into the grid formation, and start the race heading towards the best passing zone on the circuit. The pace car will pull off into the pits as normal, and allow the pole position car to pace the field all the way to the backstretch. Since the start/finish line at the pit straight is immediately proceeded by the tight and slow carousel, it does not allow for optimum racing into the first turn. The finish line and all other scoring is done at the line on the pit straight. Over the years, restarts after caution periods were previously done at the pit straight, but as of 2017, they too were moved to the auxiliary starting line.
The first lap of the race is not officially scored until the cars cross the auxiliary start line on the backstretch. This removes approximately one mile from the first lap's distance, although teams still must factor in the distance in fuel calculations. From 1983-1989, the 84-lap race on the 2.4-mile circuit had an official distance of 200.25 miles. Likewise in 1990, the race distance for the 89-lap race on the 2.25 mile circuit was 199.3 miles. Though the race distance in laps has changed over the years, a similar deduction is still made in official race distance with respect to the race mileage.

Past winners

Race summaries

Formula 5000

celebrates victory in the 1985 race.
navigates the Keyhole section of the course in a Penske Racing IndyCar in 1992