Chevrolet IndyCar Drivers in Tight Championship Race
· Chevrolet drivers occupy the top six in standings
ᴏ Only 46 points separate second through sixth place
· Simon Pagenaud continues to hold the top spot
ᴏ Team Penske teammate Will Power closes to 47 points
· Chevrolet drivers prepare for ninth road/street course race
ᴏ 2.258-mile, 13-turn road Mid-Ohio road course is challenge
· Scott Dixon is active leader with five victories at Mid-Ohio
DETROIT (July 27, 2016) – Experience has taught Will Power to remain pragmatic with five races remaining in the Verizon IndyCar Series (VICS) championship hunt.
Still, the summer charge to second place in the standings has further energized Power entering the 90-lap Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio this weekend on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course.
Power has won three of the past four races in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet to significantly close the points gap on front-running Team Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud, who has recorded three early-season victories, in his bid for a second title.
Chevrolet drivers, who have won 10 of the 11 races, hold the top six spots in the standings and seven of the top 10. Power is 47 points out of first place despite missing the season-opening race because of illness, and 46 points separate sixth-place Tony Kanaan, driver of the No. 10 NTT Data Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing, from Power.
Three road course (Mid-Ohio, Watkins Glen and Sonoma) and two oval (Texas, Pocono) events remain. Drivers of the Chevrolet IndyCar Aero Kit with integrated 2.2-liter, V6 engine have led 588 of the 637 laps in the eight road and street course races, led by Pagenaud with 247.
“After a bit of a slow start this season, the No. 12 Verizon Chevy team has built a lot of momentum in the middle part of the season and we’ll look to keep it going at Mid-Ohio,” said Power, the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series champion. “It’s not a track that I’ve won at before, so this would be a great time to do that, and we’ll need to work hard to accomplish that.
“We’ve gotten ourselves into the championship fight, but it’s still a little early to be counting points. We just need to keep doing what we have been and let the points manage themselves.”
Reigning series champion Scott Dixon is the active leader with five victories at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The driver of the No. 9 Target Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing reset the track record in qualifications last year with a lap of 1 minute, 04.5814 seconds (125.869 mph) on the way to earning the pole. A Chip Ganassi Racing car has won six of the past seven races at Mid-Ohio.
Dixon trails third-place Helio Castroneves, who drives the No. 3 Hitachi Chevrolet for Team Penske, by nine points. Josef Newgarden, No. 21 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing, is five points behind Dixon, while Kanaan is five points out of fifth place.
“We’re in the fight for the championship and now it’s time to step it up and put some pressure on those guys in front of us,” said Castroneves, who has two pole starts and six top-five finishes in the 11 races, including second place to Power in Toronto two weeks ago. “I like the challenge of a course like Mid-Ohio. I’m confident in our ability to be in the fight this weekend.”