Scott Dixon, seen here from earlier action, scored the win Sunday in the Izod IndyCar event at Mid-Ohio. Photo courtesy Indycar/LAT USA
Scott Dixon saved fuel when he needed, kept the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car out of harm’s way and took advantage of every opportunity. And his pit crew performed admirably, too.
All told, it led to Dixon winning the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio for the fourth time in the past six years. His 29th victory tied Rick Mears for 10th all time.
Dixon, starting fourth, beat race leader and pole sitter Will Power off pit lane on lap 57 (their second and final service stop) and went on to lead the driver of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car across the start-finish line by 3.4619 seconds.
In the second consecutive caution-free Indy car road racing since 1987 (Laguna Seca, won by Bobby Rahal; Miami-Tamiami Park, won by Michael Andretti), pit stops were key.
“Well you know I think it definitely helped we had an open pit and Will had to come around us and which I think if you look at the replay I hit the marks before he even did, that’s just how it goes now and then,” said Dixon. “Everyone thought we would be pitting at the exact same time and same place on the track so I got a good in. The guys in the crew did a fantastic time plugging in the fuel and getting the tires changed, big credit to them. It’s just one of those perfect moments. Got the jump on him out of the pits and the rest was certain.”
Power, who picked up three bonus points for winning the pole and leading the most laps, regained the points lead heading into the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma on Aug. 26 as front-runner Ryan Hunter-Reay was running sixth but started to fall through the field midway through the quick race with an engine issue and finished 24th.
Hunter-Reay, driving the No. 28 Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda car, has 374 points. Helio Castroneves, who served a 10-grid spot penalty for an unapproved engine change, finished 16th and is third in the standings with 353 points. Dixon remained fourth in the standings but closed from 35 to two points of third place and is 28 points out of the lead.
Simon Pagenaud, driving the No. 77 Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports car, posted his fifth top-five finish in his rookie IZOD IndyCar Series season. Sebastien Bourdais was a season-high fourth in the No. 7 TrueCar Dragon Racing car and James Hinchcliffe, who started 15th, came in fifth.
Izod IndyCar Series
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – Lexington, OH
Honda Indy 200 – Aug. 5, 2012
1. Scott Dixon
2. Will Power
3. Simon Pagenaud
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5. James Hinchcliffe
6. Tony Kanaan
7. Ryan Briscoe
8. Marco Andretti
9. J.R. Hildebrand
10. Alex Tagliani
11. Graham Rahal
12. Josef Newgarden
13. Takuma Sato
14. Giorgio Pantano
15. Rubens Barrichello
16. Helio Castroneves
17. Dario Franchitti
18. Justin Wilson
19. James Jakes
20. E.J. Viso
21. Mike Conway
22. Ed Carpenter
23. Simona de Silvestro
24. Ryan Hunter-Reay
25. Oriol Servia
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