Scott Dixon Wins Honda 200 at Mid-Ohio

Dixon celebrates birthday at Mid-Ohio with third consecutive victory.

Photo courtesy: indycar.com

LEXINGTON, Ohio - Dario Franchitti pointed to a multi-car incident at the start of the inaugural Honda 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by Westfield Insurance as his turning point.

Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves agreed pit strategy proved decisive.

Indeed, there were as many twists and turns to the race as corners on the winding 2.258-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Every one impacted the results in front of a sun-baked overflow crowd at the venerable facility.

Dixon wound up in Victory Circle for the third consecutive race weekend (tying an IndyCar Series record held by teammate Dan Wheldon and Kenny Brack) by leading Franchitti to the checkers by 2.6917 seconds. Castroneves, the pole sitter, finished third.

Dixon, celebrating his 27th birthday, sliced another 10 points off Franchitti's lead in the title chase (to 24) with five rounds remaining (three ovals and two road/street courses). He credited the crew's work in the pits on a circuit where track position is everything for allowing the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone to prevail.

"We saved fuel," said Dixon, who started sixth. "I could tell Helio was doing the same thing. We just kept saving a bit more. Luckily, we got the extra lap (when Castroneves pitted on Lap 70, handing the lead to Dixon). I think Penske was scouting us. I think they thought we were coming in that lap, but we went that one extra. That enabled us to jump them in the pits, make our day a little easier."

Franchitti picked up the lead when Dixon went in for ethanol and tires, but he also had to stop once more. That came on Lap 76, and he exited behind Dixon.

"All in all, it was a pretty good day," Dixon said. "The Target guys in the pits definitely helped me out, made my day a lot easier. It's always good when you come out with a win, you can't complain too much."

Franchitti could find reason to complain about a Lap 1 incident that involved Andretti Green Racing teammates Danica Patrick, Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti – who occupied the second through fourth starting spots.

Just after Castroneves took the green flag on the backstretch and was entering the Esses (Turn 4), Patrick's No. 7 Team Motorola car ran wide after being bumped by Kanaan's No. 11 Team 7-Eleven car. Kanaan's car then wiggled, making wheel-to-wheel contact with Andretti's No. 26 NYSE car, which landed upside down in the grass. Andretti was uninjured.

Franchitti, starting fifth, and Dixon were able to avoid contact.

"What can you do when you're so close to somebody?" said Kanaan, who picked off cars in the pits and on the track to finish fourth. "To avoid her, I hit the brakes and I spun, and unfortunately I took Marco out. I feel so bad for Marco because he had nothing to do with it."

Patrick, who fell to ninth, rebounded to finish fifth (her best on a road/street course).

"I got into Turn 1 – or 4 as it would be called on the track – and slid just a little at mid-corner and then felt that I had been tapped," she said. "It's always tough coming into the first turn carrying the speed we were. Helio really jumped the start pretty well. He gunned it out of the last corner and never looked back when they threw the green. We approached Turn 1 flat out."

Darren Manning, driving the No. 14 ABC Supply Co. car for A.J. Foyt Racing, finished sixth (his third consecutive top 10 and best on a road course). Ryan Hunter-Reay, making his debut in the No. 17 Team Ethanol car for Rahal Letterman Racing, advanced three positions to finish seventh. Buddy Rice in the No. 15 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing car finished eighth and Tomas Scheckter in the No. 2 Vision Racing car improved three spots to ninth. Wheldon started 11th and finished 10th.

"We still have a lot of potential with this car, and we're close on speed right now," Manning said. "We have a good starting point on the road courses and we can build from here."

Story by: Dave Lewandowski

Courtesy: indycar.com

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