Dixon Continues Mid-Ohio Mastery
Scott Dixon capped a great weekend of racing for Honda at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, scoring his
second IZOD IndyCar Series win of the season in Sunday’s Honda Indy 200. Dixon’s win completed a
near-perfect weekend for the manufacturer with race victories in all five categories featuring Honda
entries.
In addition to Dixon’s victory on Sunday, Muscle Milk Pickett Racing and drivers Lucas Luhr and Klaus
Graf won Saturday’s American Le Mans Series race at Mid-Ohio, with Scott Tucker and Christophe
Bouchut from Level 5 Motorsports winning the LMP2 class in the same race. Both teams use the Honda
Performance Development ARX-03 chassis. In Saturday’s SCCA Pirelli World Challenge race, RealTime
Racing’s Peter Cunningham won the GTS class in an Acura TSX, with Todd Lamb and Compass360
winning Sunday’s Touring Class category in a Honda Civic Si.
Starting fourth, Dixon moved to second behind early leader Will Power after the first round of pit stops.
Dixon then took command of the race after his second and final stop of the day, when his Target Chip
Ganassi Racing team beat Power’s Team Penske out of the pits. Once in front, Dixon was able to build a
comfortable three-second lead over Power to score his fourth Mid-Ohio race win in the last four years.
This weekend’s Honda Indy 200 featured several trackside programs, rewarding fan loyalty and
enthusiasm for the brand. The Honda Fan Section created a trackside community of fans wearing red
and cheering on Honda-powered teams and drivers. The winners of the Honda Backstage Pass were
treated to an exclusive “behind-the-scenes” tour of the IndyCar paddock and garage areas; and winners
of the Honda On-Track Ticket received a VIP opportunity to experience the hills and turns of the
challenging Mid-Ohio circuit as passengers in a hot lap aboard a Honda Pace Car piloted by a
professional racing driver.
Honda’s popular Fastest Seat in Sports sweepstakes returned at Mid-Ohio, with racing legend Mario
Andretti at the wheel of the two-seat IndyCar. He gave Michael Girard of Campo, California the ride of a
lifetime around Mid-Ohio at the head of the 25-car starting field just prior to the start of today’s race.
Behind Dixon and Power, Schmidt Hamilton Racing’s Simon Pagenaud produced another strong run at
Mid-Ohio, finishing third after a long battle with Sebastien Bourdais, Dario Franchitti and James
Hinchcliffe. Pagenauds’ third-place finish is his third podium result of 2012 and gives him a nearly
insurmountable lead in the chase for series Rookie of the Year honors.