Favorites and Sleepers: Mid-Ohio
Reigning Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course winner Pato O'Ward snapped the Team Penske/Chip Ganassi Racing domination on the 2.258-mile track last year by giving Arrow McLaren its first victory there.
But Chip Ganassi Racing driver Alex Palou enters this weekend as the driver to beat. The three-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion is undefeated on natural road courses in 2025 with wins at The Thermal Club, Barber Motorsports Park, Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and Road America. He's also on a four-race podium streak at Mid-Ohio, including a 2023 victory and runner-up finish last year.
Can anyone stop the points leader in Sunday's 90-lap race?
If so, it may take a village.
Typically, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course has been a track that has featured organization-wide dominance; if someone tops Palou, look for their teammate to be close by.
Since 1990, a one-two team finish has occurred 138 times in NTT INDYCAR SERIES competition. Mid-Ohio has produced a series-leading 16 of those occurrences, double the next best of eight at the former Belle Isle Park circuit in Detroit.
Here are the favorites and sleepers for The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the All-New 2026 Passport airing at 1 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
Favorites
Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet)
McLaughlin has three straight top-five finishes at Mid-Ohio, including a 2022 win in which he led 45 laps. He finished third last season, the third straight year a Team Penske driver finished in that spot, with Will Power doing so in 2022 and 2023. On natural road course races this season, McLaughlin finished 27th, third, fourth and 12th, respectively, showing he's a serious contender when the car is right.
Pato O'Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet)
Last year's winner led 24 of 80 laps en route to the victory, but history isn't on his side as no driver has gone back-to-back at Mid-Ohio since Scott Dixon in 2011-12. However, O'Ward has flashed natural road course speed this season with podiums at The Thermal Club and the IMS road course. He also earned NTT P1 Award honors and led 51 laps at The Thermal Club and finished sixth at Barber Motorsports Park.
Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)
Dixon has six wins in 19 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course starts. His recent finishes include fourth, fifth, second and 27th, respectively. Chip Ganassi Racing has also produced the second-place finisher each of the last four years via Marcus Ericsson (2021), Palou (2022, 2024) and Dixon (2023).
Alex Palou (No. 10 Open AI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course has been a great track for Palou, who has three straight top-two finishes on the track, including a victory in 2023. There's not much more to say for the three-time series champion, who leads second-place Kyle Kirkwood by 93 in the standings.
Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet)
Power led 206 combined laps with seven top-four finishes in his last 10 Mid-Ohio starts. While he finished 11th last year, he battled a sickness that compromised his ability to push his car beyond its limits. He finished sixth this season at The Thermal Club, fifth at Barber, third on the IMS road course and 14th at Road America.
Sleepers
Christian Lundgaard (No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet)
Lundgaard, in his last two Mid-Ohio starts driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, qualified fifth and ninth and finished fourth and seventh, respectively. This season, his first with Arrow McLaren, he has shown podium speed on natural road courses, with finishes of third and second at Thermal and Barber, before dipping to 16th and 24th at the IMS road course and Road America, respectively. Arrow McLaren proved it can win here, and Lundgaard is more than capable.
Graham Rahal (No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda)
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is Rahal's home track and is a place where he has performed well. Rahal has completed 99.7 percent of his laps (1,521 out of 1,525) and produced 10 top-10 finishes in his last 12 tries. He qualified second in 2023 and finished seventh after a slow final pit stop dropped him in the finishing order. Rahal has finished 11th, 14th, sixth and 20th on natural road courses this season.
Kyle Kirkwood (No. 27 Andretti Global Honda)
The only driver not named Alex Palou to win this season, with three in total, is chasing his first natural road course victory. Kirkwood is 0-for-24 on this type of track but is trending upward and improving nearly every season at like venues. At Mid-Ohio, he has finished 26th, 17th and eighth, respectively. Kirkwood finished fourth two weekends ago at Road America.
Louis Foster (No. 45 Mi-Jack Honda)
He finished first and second, respectively, at Mid-Ohio in USF Pro 2000 competition in 2022. He then earned his first career INDY NXT by Firestone victory on this track in 2023 and repeated last year during his 10-win championship season. Foster earned NTT P1 Award honors in the last race at Road America, and his best finishes during his rookie season are 11th at both the IMS and Road America road courses. He has qualified 10th, 12th, third and first, respectively, on natural road courses, too.
Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 SiriusXM Honda)
Rosenqvist earned his first career podium at Mid-Ohio by finishing runner-up to Dixon in 2019. He placed runner-up in the last race, at Road America. On natural road course tracks this season, Rosenqvist has three top-10 finishes in four tries.
recommended
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
6 hours ago
- New York Post
Cal Raleigh ties Ken Griffey Jr.'s Mariners record for home runs before All-Star break with 35
SEATTLE — On the spot, Cal Raleigh compiled a laundry list of players he would consider for a Mount Rushmore of Seattle Mariners following their 6-0 victory over Pittsburgh on Friday. Ichiro was one of the first names off the board, followed by the likes of stud starting pitchers Felix Hernandez and Randy Johnson. When identifying who is the face of the Mariners, though, Raleigh immediately landed on Ken Griffey Jr., who he tied for the franchise record for home runs before the All-Star break with 35 with a pair of blasts. Advertisement 'To be mentioned with that name, somebody that's just iconic, a legend, first ballot Hall of Famer, I'm just blessed,' Raleigh said. 'Trying to do the right thing and trying to keep it rolling. If I can try to be like that guy, it's a good guy to look up to.' From Raleigh's perspective, Griffey would have 'smashed' the major league home run record rather than come up 132 short of Barry Bonds if not for injuries. Thankfully for Raleigh's sake, that admiration hasn't been reserved for the public eye. Whenever Griffey finds himself back in Seattle, which was the case when FIFA Club World Cup games were taking place at Lumen Field, Raleigh has enjoyed his chats with 'The Kid.' Advertisement 'It's always fun to have him around the clubhouse to just talk to him a little bit and figure out how he went about his business,' Raleigh said. 'So, I've talked to him on the phone once or twice as well. So, he's a good one. He's one of the best of all-time. It's hard to beat talking to somebody like that.' It's also hard to find many comparable runs to what Raleigh — who will participate in the Home Run Derby — is in the midst of, and what Griffey accomplished ahead of the 1998 All-Star break. Manager Dan Wilson, who was a teammate of Griffey's in 1998, is among the few folks who can truly put Raleigh's fast start to 2025 in perspective. 'It's remarkable. It feels like he hits a home run every game, that's what it feels like,' Wilson said. 'And I can remember feeling it as a player, that (Griffey) just felt like he hit a home run every day. Again, that's the consistency that (Raleigh) has shown. It hasn't been a streak where he has hit a bunch of home runs in a short amount of time. It's been kind of 10 per month.' Advertisement 3 Cal Raleigh, belting a two-run homer in the first inning, hit his 34th and 35th homers in the Mariners' 6-0 win over the Pirates on July 4, 2025. Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images To Wilson's point, Raleigh has been remarkably consistent. He walloped nine home runs in April, 12 in May and 11 more in June. Griffey's figures were a tad more mercurial, but just barely (10 in April, eight in May, 14 in June). Advertisement All told, the 28-year-old Raleigh has more than lived up to the early stages of his six-year, $105 million contract extension, which he signed just ahead of the 2025 season. 3 Cal Raleigh celebrates with teammates after belting a solo homer in the sixth inning of the Mariners' victory over the Pirates. Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images Not only has Raleigh set a career high for home runs, but he's on track to post new marks for batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Raleigh chalked those developments up to his maturing a little over halfway into his fourth full major league season. 'I have the ability to drive the ball out of the ballpark,' Raleigh said. 'I mean, it's part of my game and I'm a strong guy. It's learning how to hone it in and take your hits when maybe you're not getting those pitches in the heart of the plate.' 3 Cal Raleigh holds up the trident and celebrates with the fans after the Mariners' win over the Pirates. Getty Images Such an approach is all well and good, but the results have been starkly different. Raleigh has racked up just 36 singles, or one more than his home run total. Advertisement Suffice to say, Raleigh's offensive output has justified every dollar the Mariners have sent his way so far, and then some. 'Want to make sure I'm doing everything I can every single day to earn that paycheck and earn what they gave me,' Raleigh said. 'But it's a lot more than just that. It's being a leader, doing things in the clubhouse and making sure you're ready to go every single day.'
San Francisco Chronicle
6 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Cronenworth's walk-off single in the 10th lifts the Padres to a 3-2 win over the Rangers
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Jake Cronenworth singled to right field with the bases loaded and two outs in the 10th inning to give the San Diego Padres a 3-2 win over the Texas Rangers on Friday. Cronenworth's single off Robert Garcia (1-4) brought in automatic runner Jackson Merrill. Cronenworth raised his right index finger as he rounded first base and was mobbed by teammates near second after his fifth career walk-off hit. Manny Machado was intentionally walked to open the inning and Luis Arraez struck out. Gavin Sheets singled to center to load the bases. Xander Bogaerts injured himself swinging at the first pitch of his at-bat, was checked by an athletic trainer and left the game. Bryce Johnson replaced him and struck out. The Rangers went to extra innings for the sixth time in nine games, losing four of them. Machado had two hits to reach 1,997 in his career, including a 440-foot solo home run to straightaway center field in the fourth to pull the Padres to 2-1. Machado, elected the National League's starting third baseman for the All-Star Game, has 356 career homers. The Rangers jumped on Randy Vásquez with two outs in the third. Josh Smith walked and Corey Seager singled, with both scoring when Marcus Semien doubled to right-center over Fernando Tatis Jr.'s outstretched glove. After Machado's homer pulled the Padres within one, they tied it in the sixth, getting just one run despite loading the bases with one out. Tatis opened with a triple that ticked off the glove of right fielder Adolis García. Machado's one-out walk chased starter Kumar Rocker, and Arraez greeted Hoby Milner with an RBI single. Sheets singled to load the bases before Milner struck out Bogaerts and Cronenworth. Adrian Morejon (5-3) got the win. Key moment Cronenworth's single ended it after 3 hours, 8 minutes. Key stat Machado can become the 12th player to reach 350 homers and 2,000 hits at age 32 or younger. Up next Rangers RHP Jack Leiter (4-5, 4.29 ERA) is scheduled to start Saturday night against Padres RHP Stephen Kolek (3—3, 3.73). ___
Fox Sports
7 hours ago
- Fox Sports
Cronenworth's walk-off single in the 10th lifts the Padres to a 3-2 win over the Rangers
Associated Press SAN DIEGO (AP) — Jake Cronenworth singled to right field with the bases loaded and two outs in the 10th inning to give the San Diego Padres a 3-2 win over the Texas Rangers on Friday. Cronenworth's single off Robert Garcia (1-4) brought in automatic runner Jackson Merrill. Cronenworth raised his right index finger as he rounded first base and was mobbed by teammates near second after his fifth career walk-off hit. Manny Machado was intentionally walked to open the inning and Luis Arraez struck out. Gavin Sheets singled to center to load the bases. Xander Bogaerts injured himself swinging at the first pitch of his at-bat, was checked by an athletic trainer and left the game. Bryce Johnson replaced him and struck out. The Rangers went to extra innings for the sixth time in nine games, losing four of them. Machado had two hits to reach 1,997 in his career, including a 440-foot solo home run to straightaway center field in the fourth to pull the Padres to 2-1. Machado, elected the National League's starting third baseman for the All-Star Game, has 356 career homers. The Rangers jumped on Randy Vasquez with two outs in the third. Josh Smith walked and Corey Seager singled, with both scoring when Marcus Semien doubled to right-center over Fernando Tatis Jr.'s outstretched glove. After Machado's homer pulled the Padres within one, they tied it in the sixth, getting just one run despite loading the bases with one out. Tatis opened with a triple that ticked off the glove of right fielder Adolis Garcia. Machado's one-out walk chased starter Kumar Rocker, and Arraez greeted Hoby Milner with an RBI single. Sheets singled to load the bases before Milner struck out Bogaerts and Cronenworth. Adrian Morejon (5-3) got the win. Key moment Cronenworth's single ended it after 3 hours, 8 minutes. Key stat Machado can become the 12th player to reach 350 homers and 2,000 hits at age 32 or younger. Up next Rangers RHP Jack Leiter (4-5, 4.29 ERA) is scheduled to start Saturday night against Padres RHP Stephen Kolek (3—3, 3.73). ___ AP MLB: recommended
