Wednesday, August 22, 2012

My Take On Mid-Ohio


Mid Ohio. It will likely be the place where Scott Dixon put himself back in the championship (though problems for Ryan Hunter-Reay and Helio Castroneves helped as well). Still, going into the final three races, we have an exciting championship battle.

Also, before I start, one comment that I wasn’t sure where it fit: I love that I actually am able to watch a race and have to beg that they go to a commercial so I could make a personal “pit stop” so I won’t miss much. You don’t get that when watching a NASCAR race. There are plenty of opportunities. Believe me.

Pre-Race: Like a majority of the pre-races have been on my local ABC affiliate this year… pre-empted for local programming again! So my review of the pre-race is nonexistent. Personally, I’m not a big fan of tuning in and them going to Mid-Ohio just in time to see the start.

The Race Broadcast: While this race was broadcast on ABC due to coverage of the Olympics, the on-air talent was similar to what fans see when they tune into a broadcast on NBC Sports Network. Actually, it was who they see on NBC Sports Network (except for Robin Miller). Due to NASCAR’s top two national series (both the Cup and Nationwide series are being shown on ESPN/ESPN2/ABC now) along with the NHRA running in three different states, the on-air motorsports talent (or “talent” according to some people) was committed so the NBC Sports crew was brought in.

I really have no major complaints about the quality of race coverage at Mid-Ohio. Yes. The camera angles could’ve shown more action in the back of the pack (because that’s where it was). But I have seen worse race coverage on ABC this season and this was not one of those races.

The Race: While Mid-Ohio wasn’t as exciting as it could’ve been (I think part of it had to do with the delayed “push-to-pass”), but all of the drivers did race clean for the most part and the championship battle got even more exciting with one contender winning, one finishing second, one running in the back most of the day, and one losing an engine. Other than that, I nearly fell asleep until there was a mention of Ryan Hunter-Reay having troubles (more about that in a bit) leading me to tweet, and I quote, “I’ve sort of woken up now.”

In conclusion, not the best race but the points standings afterwards have me extremely exciting for Sonoma.

French Connection: While the top two were familiar, usual frontrunners and they didn’t really fight for the lead on the track (just on pit road), the battle for 3rd at times was a heated one between INDYCAR’s pair of Frenchman – Sebastien Bourdais and Simon Pagenaud.

Bourdais, who was almost Jimmie Johnson-like in Champ Car, has had a very up and down season with Dragon Racing. He started off the year in a Lotus (but the team switched to Chevy just before Indy) and was then bumped from a full-time to part-time schedule after one of the two full-time cars was dropped in favor of one full-time car split between him and teammate, Katherine Legge (he would run on road and street courses while she ran the ovals). He also has had several potentially good races go sour due to mechanical issues or crashes that have usually not been his fault. But Mid-Ohio was a different story. Bourdais ran up towards the front of the pack most of the race and finished a solid 4th, the team’s best result since 2010 when Gil de Ferran was involved with the team.

Pagenaud’s run at Mid-Ohio showed again why many have been so high on the rookie most of the season. It also just about cemented “rookie of the year” honors for him (he has to finish 8th or better at Sonoma to clinch). But going back to Mid-Ohio, it was Pagenaud’s third podium finish of his career (all at tracks where he has American Lemans Series experience). He has still completed the most laps out of any driver this season (but does share that stat with Helio Castroneves). But really. What else is there to say about Pagenaud that hasn’t already been said this year? He ran well again at Mid-Ohio after a bit of a slump.

Pantano Fills In and Has a Decent Day: For those who didn’t know the story going into Mid-Ohio – during the test the week before at the track, Charlie Kimball was involved in a crash and suffered an injured hand that required surgery. That left the 83 Ganassi team in need of a substitute driver.

Enter, Giorgio Pantano, who was one of the drivers who filled in for Justin Wilson after his back injury last year. Pantano proved at Mid Ohio that he deserves some consideration for a full-time ride next season. He hasn’t been an INDYCAR-style car since Motegi last fall and hadn’t driven the DW-12 until the race weekend. While he only qualified 24th, he ran a fairly decent race and ended up 14th. He could very well be a part of the silly season talk for 2013.

Hunter-Reay, Castroneves Struggle: While Will Power pretty much led the entire race until the final pit stop, his closest championship rivals – Ryan Hunter-Reay and Helio Castroneves – had multiple issues that gave Power the points lead and have given Scott Dixon a chance to win his third INDYCAR championship.

While Hunter-Reay started 7th and was running in the top 10 most of the race, his engine began to go south. He did try to complete all 85 laps but eventually parked the car on lap 79, a nice strategy if you think about it because he will not have to suffer a 10-grid spot penalty at Sonoma (unless, of course, he ahs to change to another engine race weekend). He left Mid-Ohio with his third DNF of the year (all due to mechanical issues) and 5 points out of the championship lead.

But Castroneves arguably had the worst weekend out of the championship contenders. After winning at Edmonton and moving to 2nd in the points standings, he was never a factor for Mid-Ohio. It all started with a test the week before when he was caught up in an accident with Ed Carpenter and had little track time. Then during Saturday morning practice, Castroneves made contact with Mike Conway and suffered an injured hand/wrist. The injury, though, was not severe enough for him not to race and he was quickly cleared. Then he qualified 13th and took a 10 grid-spot penalty for an engine change. On top of all of that, he was also fighting a summer cold. Despite the setbacks, the Brazilian still managed to bring home the car in one piece with a 16th place finish but went from 2nd, 23 points out of the championship lead, to 3rd, 26 points out.

I do have to give credit to both drivers despite their rough races – Hunter-Reay and his team for smart thinking when it came to their mechanical issues and Castroneves for simply finishing the race.

Other Notables: For the second race in a row, there were no cautions… Will Power led the most laps of the race with 57 and finished 2nd, reclaiming the points lead from Hunter-Reay… Tony Kanaan overcame illness and made up 12 spots to finish 6th… Marco Andretti finished 8th, his best finish of the year on a road or street course… Hunter-Reay was the only DNF of the 25-car field… Dragon Racing’s second car will return at Sonoma with Katherine Legge behind the wheel.

After the Checkers – Dixon Wins Another and Puts Himself Back in the Title Hunt: While Power dominated the race, the final round of pit stops ultimately gave the victory to Scott Dixon. It was his second win of the year and put him within 28 points of the championship lead. Seeing Dixon win at Mid-Ohio has become a common thing in the last several years and the win helped in his bid for a third INDYCAR championship. He’s 4th in points and is, along with Castroneves, the title contender with the most experience when it comes to fighting for championships.

There is one lurking issue when it comes to his title hopes, though – mechanical reliability. Dixon (and the entire Ganassi team) has had some issues when it comes to engines, mechanical gremlins, etc. Not to mention he is on his sixth engine (one more than the allowed five-engine rule). Should he have to change engines at any point between now and Fontana, he will suffer a 10-grid spot penalty regardless of situation. Thankfully, though, his championship rivals are all on their fifth engines now and will suffer the same penalty.


Next Race: August 26
GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma
Sonoma
Sonoma, CA
4:30 PM ET (3:30 PM CT) – NBC Sports Network
Defending Winner: Will Power

INDYCAR 36 – August 25
Featuring Simon Pagenaud
7 PM ET (6 PM CT) following Sonoma Qualifying - NBC Sports Network
Replays at Various Times Throughout the week

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