HPD Trackside -- Mid-Ohio IndyCar Race Report

Taking advantage of strong car and a well-timed caution flag, Carlos Munoz vaulted from 15th on the starting grid to finish third in Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.

Munoz was one of several Honda drivers to feature in the “home” race for Honda, which has more than 15,000 associates in facilities throughout central Ohio, with many in attendance throughout the Verizon IndyCar Series weekend.

Mikhail Aleshin led a race-high 33 laps for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, at one point holding more than a 10-second advantage over the field. But a collision with Josef Newgarden while exiting pit lane on Lap 61 led to a drive-through penalty, ending the Honda driver’s chance of victory and resulting in an unrepresentative 17th-place finish.



Following the Aleshin-Newgarden incident, Conor Daly took advantage of an “off-sequence” pit strategy to lead the next 22 laps. But the handful of caution laps Daly needed to make it to the finish never came, and he finished sixth after a quick pit stop for a splash of fuel with just six laps remaining. He finished sixth.

Graham Rahal and James Hinchcliffe fought back after early issues to finish fourth and fifth, respectively. IndyCar debutant RC Enerson produced impressive lap times throughout practice and qualifying – and turned the third-fastest race lap – before running out of fuel on his way to pit lane mid-race and losing a lap as a result.