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Scott Dixon gained ground on IndyCar Series points leader Dario Franchitti by winning the inaugural Honda 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by Westfield Insurance.
Unfortunately for the Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver, who tied a series record with his third consecutive victory, Franchitti was the runner-up. Dixon, who started sixth in the 85-lap race, inherited the lead when Franchitti had to take on fuel with nine laps remaining. A sprint around the 2.258-mile, 13-turn course ensued, with Dixon prevailing by 2.6917 seconds. Dixon was celebrating his 27th birthday.
Pole sitter Helio Castroneves finished third and Tony Kanaan fourth. Danica Patrick, who started on the front row, rebounded from a Lap 1 incident in which her No. 7 Team Motorola car was sent off-course by Kanaan’s car that had spun to finish fifth. The No. 26 car driven by Marco Andretti also was involved in the incident, winding up on its top. Andretti was not injured.
Darren Manning finished sixth. Ryan Hunter-Reay, making his IndyCar Series debut in the No. 17 Team Ethanol car for Rahal Letterman Racing, advanced three positions to finish seventh.
Also on July 22, rookie Richard Antinucci claimed his first win in the Indy Pro Series, holding off Wade Cunningham to win the Mid-Ohio 100.
Antinucci, the nephew of 1998 Indianapolis 500 winner Eddie Cheever Jr., started fourth and moved behind race leader Alex Lloyd on Lap 6 of 40. On Lap 15, Antinucci was 0.4064 of a second behind Lloyd’s No. 7 Lucas Oil/Isilon Systems/Sam Schmidt Motorsports car. On the next lap, he passed the series points leader in Turn 4 of the 2.558-mile, 13-turn circuit.
On a Lap 23 restart, Lloyd’s car was eliminated when he lost drive to the wheels and guided the car off the course. Cunningham inherited second and a battle ensued between series rookie and the 2005 series champion.
