JULY 5 - 7
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GREEN SAVOREE RACING PROMOTIONS EXECUTIVES
Kim Green Chairman & CEO
Kevin Savoree President & COO
Michael Morrisey Executive Vice President & CFO
Jeff Atkinson Vice President, Sales & Marketing
Craig Kersey Vice President, Operations
EVENT STAFF
Craig Rust President, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Weston Bell, Kris Boatwright, Deven Keady, Christopher Kersey, Nathan Long, Spencer Prill, Dave Schwall, Jordan Sipes, Chad Seufert, Ben Valentine, Nathan Young Track & Event Operations
Matthew Borkan, Ryan Cash, Giles Dowden, Kathy Nolan Sales & Client Services
Steve Bidlack, Jack Carney, Jenna Hood, Christian Ryan, Alexis Boyer Marketing & Communications
Gwen Duffy, Anita Karklins, Mike Raven, Tammi Sipes Customer Service & Ticketing
Paul Alterio, Brian Sipes Safety & Security
Dr. Alice Frazier, M.D. Medical
Nathan Savoree, Jacob Morrisey Accounting
Scott Ellsworth Race Control
Cindy Loomis Catering Services
Sonny Gee, Scott McKinley, Max Gee The Mid-Ohio School
John Fippin, Rusty Bell, Tom Michaels, Steve Conley PA Announcers
EXECUTIVE
Tim Rutledge Group Publisher & CEO
EDITORIAL
Anna Rutledge Special Projects Editor
Adam Gordon Associate Editor
George Webster Motorsport Editor
DESIGN + PRODUCTION Queue Gonzalez Creative Director
Patrick Dinglasan Production / Senior Art Director
Edward Shintani Senior Art Director
Patrick Beltijar Senior Art Director
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EVENT PARTNERS
WELCOME
Dear INDYCAR fans:
Welcome to the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by the 2025 Civic Hybrid, a fan-favorite NTT INDYCAR SERIES event. INDYCAR is committed to delivering a comprehensive fan experience through outstanding entertainment and thrilling competition as our drivers take on the challenges presented by the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course’s 2.258-mile layout.
Whether this is your first time at an INDYCAR race weekend or you have been attending this race for years, we are excited for you to witness the spectacle of the sport. This weekend is one of our most family-friendly, so we urge you to take in as much as possible and enjoy it all.
The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by the 2025 Civic Hybrid is part of the 17-race NTT INDYCAR SERIES season for the 17th straight season. This weekend also serves as a stop for our official development series – INDY NXT by Firestone.
All weekend, you’ll see close and unpredictable competition on the track that makes for a true proving ground for our elite drivers as they compete for the most challenging championship in motorsports. But you’ll also see that the NTT INDYCAR SERIES is well on the way to being one of the most sustainable racing series in the world.
Our partners at Shell have created a 100% Renewable Race Fuel and starting this weekend, we’ve added hybrid technology to all the INDYCAR SERIES cars. Firestone again will use a tire made from rubber produced by the sustainable desert shrub guayule as the alternate tire on street circuits.
You should find that the NTT INDYCAR SERIES offers some of the most daring athletes in sports, including reigning NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Alex Palou, backto-back Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden, young stars like Pato O’Ward, Kyle Kirkwood, Christian Lundgaard and Scott McLaughlin and record-chasing legends in the making such as Scott Dixon and Will Power. The rising talents of the sport, such as Louis Foster, Jacob Abel, Jamie Chadwick and Myles Rowe will be showcased in thrilling, competitive INDY NXT by Firestone action.
“All weekend, you’ll see close and unpredictable competition on the track that makes for a true proving ground for our elite drivers as they compete for the most challenging championship in motorsports.”
While at this historic facility, we invite you to download the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA on your smartphone to get behind-the-scenes driver features, live timing and scoring, in-car cameras and more information to help you follow the action. Also, follow the NTT INDYCAR SERIES online at INDYCAR.com, on Instagram, X, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok (@INDYCAR), and keep track of INDY NXT by Firestone at indynxt.com or on Instagram, X, Facebook and TikTok (@indynxt)
Thank you for your continued support. INDYCAR appreciates your attendance this weekend. We are glad you can experience the speed, action and excitement that defines the series.
Enjoy the weekend!
Mark Miles President and CEO, Penske Entertainment Parent company of INDYCAR and Indianapolis Motor Speedway
WELCOME
On behalf of our entire team at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, it is my pleasure to welcome you to The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2025 Civic Hybrid this Fourth of July weekend!
We are proud to again host Ohio’s largest motorsports event and have put together another great weekend of racing for everyone. All of this will be headlined by the 41st edition of The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2025 Civic Hybrid, the 80-lap NTT INDYCAR SERIES race on Sunday afternoon! We hope you enjoy all the support series as well, including INDY NXT by Firestone, USF Pro 2000 Championships Presented by Cooper Tires, USF2000 Presented by Cooper Tires and USF Juniors Presented by Continental Tires.
We’d like to extend a special thank you to American Honda Motor Co., Inc. and its Honda brand for its long-standing support of this event as title sponsor and partner of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Without them, this weekend would not be the success that it is. Our association with Honda now spanning 31 seasons is unprecedented, and we truly appreciate the partnership.
“All of this will be headlined by the 41st edition of The Honda Indy 200 at MidOhio Presented by the 2025 Civic Hybrid, the 80-lap NTT INDYCAR SERIES race on Sunday afternoon!”
We’d also like to welcome the thousands of associates from Honda’s Ohio manufacturing, supplier and R&D facilities to celebrate Fourth of July weekend, and of course, cheer on the Honda-powered teams and drivers. We’re glad you’re here with us!
Next up at Mid-Ohio in two weeks is the Permco AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days to celebrate AMA 100th anniversary. Then, the season wraps up in August with the much-anticipated return of Superbike racing to this legendary road course for the MotoAmerica Superbikes at Mid-Ohio event.
Thank you for joining us and we hope that you have a memorable weekend!
Craig E. Rust President Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
PALOU LOOKING TO REPEAT
A IN HONDA INDY 200
Story by Bruce Martin // Photography by NBCSports.com
lex Palou’s greatness was on full display at last year’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, when the Chip Ganassi Racing driver scored his third-straight IndyCar victory in 2023 and his fourth IndyCar win in a five-race period.
The win at the 2.258mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course gave the Honda driver from Spain a firm grip on the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series Championship, and he never looked back, becoming the first driver since Sebastien Bourdais in 2007 to clinch the title before the final race of the season.
The road to the championship didn’t
begin at Mid-Ohio, but the decisiveness of Palou’s victory gave him complete control of title race. He led 48 of the 80 laps and defeated teammate Scott Dixon by 5.024-seconds. He left the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with a 110-point lead in the standings.
But it’s the accomplishment of winning threestraight races and four wins in a five-race period that makes Palou most proud.
It started with a win at the GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on May 13 when he led 54 of 85 laps. He won the pole for the 107th Indianapolis 500 and looked like a leading
contender for victory before he was involved in a collision with Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay leaving pit lane on Lap 94. Palou went from the front of the field, all the way to the back, but was able to race his way from 28th place to finish fourth in the Indy 500.
The following race, Palou challenged the streets of downtown Detroit to win from the pole, leading 74 of 100 laps. He made it two-in-a-row with a win in the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America, leading the final 10 laps for the checkered flag.
When he drove to victory at Mid-Ohio on July 2, 2023, he served notice that the NTT IndyCar Series Championship was his for the taking, and he was going to take it.
“Oh yeah, it was huge, and we had an amazing car,” Palou reflected on last year’s Mid-Ohio victory. “To win one race is good, but to win two in a row was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s happening.’ It was an amazing time. I remember the confidence we got from that race and how special it felt to do it a Honda event was pretty awesome.”
Palou is one of the many drivers that love the challenge of racing on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car course because of its high-speed nature, it’s flowing turns and unique areas of the track such as the “Keyhole” and the “Carousel.”
“It’s super challenging,” Palou said. “It’s really fast. It’s really busy. You cannot really rest much, and I heard that it’s going to be even one step busier this year with the repave, that will make it a lot faster.
“We’re going to have the Hybrid power unit for the first time in a race at MidOhio, so there’s going to be a lot of unknowns, which I’m looking forward to, but it’s one of the best tracks that we have for sure.”
After much development, Honda and Chevrolet - in conjunction with IndyCarwill utilize a Hybrid system on the engines beginning with the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. The Hybrid will store up energy from braking until it is deployed on the track by the driver. Drivers can use the Hybrid Assist and Push to Pass at the same time for
a combined 100+ additional horsepower.
“It will be a huge change at Mid-Ohio,” Palou said. “I expect to see a really busy practice with everybody running as quick as we can just to
“To win one race is good, but to win two in a row was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s happening.’ It was an amazing time.”
get information and data. Everybody will have a little bit of experience with the hybrid at that point, but nobody knows how the car is going to handle going as fast as possible and trying to get the fastest lap time, so, it will be interesting and I’m sure that the fans will enjoy it.
“Honestly, to be able to be really, really aggressive - especially on the really high speed and tight turns that we have - is the most important thing if you are going to win at Mid-Ohio,” Palou explained. “Turn One is going to be probably super quick this year with the [off-season] repave.
LOOKING TO REPEAT
IN HONDA INDY 200 PALOU
But I would say the real key to victory is executing and being able to be on the limit but without making mistakes.”
The driver from Spain loves spending the holiday weekend in rural Ohio. There are many Amish settlements on the way to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car course
as the flashy IndyCar team transporters encounter horse and buggies on the way to the race course.
“I remember I tried an amazing honey from an Amish farm last year and hopefully I can get some more this here,” Palou said. “It reminds me of the part of Spain where my parents live. It’s all green with vegetation and you don’t really have many, many people. There are very big spaces between houses, a lot of farms, so it’s actually pretty close [to rural Spain].
For the IndyCar Series, the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-
“It’s also a time to celebrate Honda’s commitment to motorsports, the NTTSeriesIndyCar in particular.”
Ohio is like spending a weekend at a camp. It’s a great way to sit around the campfire with old friends and make new friends in the process.
“It feels like everybody there is happy to be there,” Palou said. “I think the feeling and the atmosphere that everybody with the campers or just with the tents that they have there. I always take time in the afternoon or at night once we’re done from work to just do a lap around the tents and all that stuff. You just see that everybody’s enjoying their time there.”
It’s also a time to celebrate Honda’s commitment to motorsports, the NTT IndyCar Series in particular. With its Marysville, Ohio production facility 60 miles away, it’s a chance for the many employees of the American Honda Motor Company to see some high-speed racing action in person and get a chance to meet their favorite Honda drivers.
“Oh yeah, we actually interact quite a lot,” Palou said. “In the last couple of years, we have meet and greets during the weekend on both Saturday and Sunday and obviously we get an amazing support from everyone at Honda so it’s great to have them there.”
WHELDON BY ONE
USF Juniors Presented by Continental Tire is the first rung on the USF Pro Championships driver development ladder. Now in its third season, USF Juniors already has provided some spectacular action this year as a recordsized field chases a scholarship valued at $263,700 to ensure graduation to the next step, USF2000, in 2025. This weekend’s Tatuus Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio represents the second opportunity to compete on the same bill as the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.
With half of the season’s 16 races now in the books, the championship could hardly be more finely poised as second-generation racer Sebastian Wheldon holds a mere one-point advantage over VRD Racing teammate Max Taylor. In addition, Israeli Ariel Elkin (InterMS), England’s Liam McNeilly (Jay Howard Driver Development) and Elkin’s Floridian teammate Augusto Soto-Schirripa are within 28 points of the top spot. Former standout karter Wheldon, 15, emerged triumphant in last year’s Skip Barber Formula Race Series, securing a $100,000
scholarship to make the step up to USF Juniors. He proved to be a quick study, romping to victory in two of the opening three races at NOLA Motorsports Park before adding a third win last time out at VIRginia International Raceway.
Taylor has continued to build upon the platform he established in 2023, which netted one race win at Road America. The 16-year-old has also benefited from additional track time in USF2000, and scoring race wins in both disciplines has certainly provided a welcome boost in confidence.
InterMS pair Elkin and Soto-Schirripa are both new to USF Juniors, although prior experience in a variety of F4 series has enabled them to take the fight to the VRD and Jay Howard Driver Development juggernauts, which field entries on all three steps of the ladder. Indeed, if not for a couple of unfortunate incidents at VIR, InterMS would be significantly closer to VRD in the Team Championship than their current 34-point deficit.
Elkin was the class of the field at Barber Motorsports Park in April, sweeping both race victories, while at VIR he qualified on pole for all three races and deserved much better than a solitary top-10 finish. He will be anxious to rebuild his title challenge this week.
“Former standout karter Wheldon, 15, emerged triumphant in last year’s Skip Barber Formula Race Series, securing a $100,000 scholarship to make the step up to USF Juniors.”
Soto-Schirripa, too, has endured his share of misfortune. He failed even to start the opening race of the year due to a mechanical problem, but since then has been on a tear with a race win at VIR and three additional podium appearances.
McNeilly also has proved to be a doughty campaigner who deserves a little more good fortune than he has experienced during his rookie season in North America. A hat-trick of podium finishes at NOLA set him off on the right
foot, although since then he has been involved in several scrapes – mostly not of his making. Despite that he remains firmly in the title mix.
Watch out, too, for Jack Jeffers. Now in his second season of USF Juniors with Exclusive Autosport, the San Antonio, Texas, native has finished three times on the podium in the last five races and is primed and ready for his first trip onto the top step this year to add to his trio of wins in 2023.
We build the foundation that powers performance.
PABST ON TOP AGAIN
Story by Jeremy Shaw // Photography by Gavin Baker Photography
The last four seasons of USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire have ended with a different team at the top of the pecking order. Jay Howard Driver Development was top dog in 2020 with Christian Rasmussen, who subsequently went on to claim championships in both USF Pro 2000 and, last year, INDY NXT before securing a ride in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES for 2024 with Ed Carpenter Racing. The following year it was DEForce Racing to the fore with Brazilian Kiko Porto. Then in 2022 Cape Motorsports capped its remarkable run of 10 championships in 12 years
through the efforts of Michael d’Orlando before calling time and heading off to fresh pastures in INDY NXT.
Last year, finally, after falling agonizingly short on a regular basis over the course of the past decade, Pabst Racing broke through in style for its first driver’s championship as Simon Sikes scored six race wins, seven poles and nine fastest race laps. Sikes also took home a scholarship valued at $433,200 to make the step up to USF Pro 2000.
Coincidentally, Pabst also secured its first USF Pro 2000 crown last year, providing Myles Rowe with
the springboard to ascend to INDY NXT in 2024.
It is therefore no surprise to see Augie Pabst’s Wisconsin-based team challenging for more honors this season. Max Garcia, from Coconut Grove, Fla., proved to be the class of the field early on, scoring three straight victories – two of them even before his 15th birthday – although he remains under pressure from teammate Sam Corry, from Cornelius, N.C., who has added two race wins to the breakthrough victory he earned last year on the Indianapolis road course.
Just 36 points separates the pair heading into this
weekend’s Tatuus Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio tripleheader.
Several more talented youngsters are still within striking distance of Garcia’s points tally, led by Jay Howard Driver Development’s Evagoras Papasavvas, who began his sophomore campaign with five consecutive podium finishes. From Loveland, Ohio, Papasavvas is still seeking his first win of the season, but there would be no better place to kickstart his title challenge than on the same hallowed grounds which brought his maiden USF2000 victory one year ago.
VRD Racing’s Max Taylor and Exclusive Autosport’s Joey Brienza also are enjoying a strong streak of form. Taylor, from Hobo-
ken, N.J., lies fourth in the points tally on the strength of two race wins and three additional podium finishes from the most recent six races, while Brienza, from Golden, Colo., is surely on the verge of a breakthrough maiden triumph after making four trips to the podium this season. Other likely contenders will include 2023 USF Juniors champion Nicolas Giaffone (DEForce Racing),
from Sao Paulo, Brazil; Jay Howard Driver Development’s Michael Costello, from Naples, Fla., who finished a strong second last time out at Road America; and a pair of Indianapolis natives, Elliot Cox (Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Development) and Ayrton Houk (DC Autosport), who have displayed tremendous promise and are most definitely trending in the right direction.
HUGHES ON A ROLL
These next few weeks will be critical in determining which drivers will earn potentially career-changing scholarships as the USF Pro Championships Presented by Continental Tire season reaches toward its climax. In terms of the top step on the driver development ladder, USF Pro 2000, a recent streak of seven podium finishes has catapulted Lochie Hughes into a commanding position as he seeks to secure a package valued at $681,500 to advance to INDY NXT in 2025.
Story By Jeremy Shaw // Photography by Gavin Baker Photography
Hughes, who finished a close third in the 2023 USF2000 standings, started his rookie USF Pro 2000 campaign with Turn 3 Motorsport in style with a victory and a second-place finish on the streets of St. Petersburg. But a substandard weekend at NOLA Motorsports Park saw him slip all the way to sixth in the standings, a distant 66 points behind runaway leader Nikita Johnson, who had claimed four wins, a second and a fourth from the opening six races.
Johnson, from Gulfport, Fla., continued his run of success with another victory
for VRD Racing to commence the tripleheader event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. The 16-year-old seemed like an irresistible force. But then came a colossal switch in momentum.
A second apparent win at Indianapolis for Johnson was later overturned by a technical infraction, which also brought a 30-point deduction. That disappointment was followed by a crash in the only oval race of the season at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, and then a dispiriting weekend at Road America where Johnson was perhaps fortunate to secure a pair of top-10 results.
How quickly things can change. Hughes, by contrast, took a second and two thirds at Indianapolis, followed by another runnerup finish on the oval and a magnificent sweep of all three race wins in Wisconsin. The hard-scrabble Australian now leads the points chase by a relatively comfortable 50-point margin heading into the final three doubleheader events of the season.
Pabst Racing’s Jace Denmark also has enjoyed a strong run of form recently which has been enough to move him into second place, six points clear of Johnson. Denmark, who relocated from Arizona to the Indianapolis area for this season and celebrated his 20th birthday earlier this week, is still in search of his
first USF Pro 2000 victory, but after four podium results in 2023 and five more this year, surely it is just around the corner?
Teammate Christian Brooks also is still searching for his first win of the season. The Californian former karting star has displayed enormous potential in recent years, but has always struggled to meet the financial demands. Thankfully, his hard work and perseverance has paid off, such that Brooks has not only finished on the podium in each of the past two races, he has also secured a concurrent ride in INDY NXT for the remainder of the season.
Another man to watch will be Exclusive Autosport’s Braden Eves, who hails originally from the Columbus area and will have plenty of local support as he seeks to back up a dominant performance at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
NTT INDYCAR SERIES HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO
Netherlands
26 Colton Herta Valencia, CA, USA Gainbridge Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda
27 Kyle Kirkwood Jupiter, FL, USA AutoNation Andretti Global Honda
28 Marcus Ericsson Kumla, Sweden Delaware Life Andretti Global Honda
30 Pietro Fittipaldi Miami, FL, USA Oakberry PneuStore Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
41 Sting Ray Robb Payette, ID, USA Goodheart Vet/Pray.com A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet
45 Christian Lundgaard Hedensted, Denmark Hy-Vee Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
51 Toby Sowery (R) Cambridge, England Dale Coyne Racing Dale Coyne Racing Honda
60 Felix Rosenqvist Värnamo, Sweden AutoNation/SiriusXM Meyer Shank Racing Honda
66 David Malukas Chicago, IL, USA
77 Romain Grosjean Geneva, Switzerland
78 Agustin Canapino Arrecifes, Argentina
AutoNation/Arctic Wolf Meyer Shank Racing Honda
Juncos Hollinger Racing Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet
Juncos Hollinger Racing Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet
All cars use fourth-generation NTT INDYCAR SERIES chassis (Dallara IR12) with universal IR-18 aerodynamic bodywork, Chevrolet or Honda engines and Firestone tires. (R) - Denotes Rookie of the Year candidate
TATUUS GRAND PRIX OF MID-OHIO USF PRO 2000
TATUUS GRAND PRIX OF MID-OHIO USF2000
GRAND PRIX OF MID-OHIO
USF JUNIORS
*Limit first 100 customers only Offer valid throuuh 8/16/2024 Exclusions may apply
INDY NXT BY FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX AT MID-OHIO
TRACK MAP
PRESENTED BY THE 2025
FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2024
SCHEDULE
TIME SERIES SESSION
8:00 - 8:30 USF Juniors Practice
8:45 - 9:15 USF2000 Practice
9:30 - 10:00 USF Pro 2000 Practice
10:30 - 11:00 USF Juniors Qualifying
11:20 - 11:50 USF2000 Qualifying
12:10 - 12:40 USF Pro 2000 Qualifying
1:00 - 1:40 USF Juniors Race 1
2:05 - 2:55 INDY NXT Practice 1
3:20 - 4:35 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 1
4:55 - 5:35 USF2000 Race 1
SATURDAY, JULY 6, 2024
TIME SERIES SESSION
8:25 - 9:15 USF Pro 2000 Race 1
9:40 - 10:25 INDY NXT Practice 2
10:50 - 11:50 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 2
12:10 - 12:50 USF Juniors Race 2
1:05 - 1:45 USF2000 Race 2
2:05 - 2:35 INDY NXT Qualifying 3:00 - 4:30 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Qualifying / Firestone Fast 6
4:50 - 5:40 USF Pro 2000 Race 2
SUNDAY, JULY 7, 2024
TIME SERIES SESSION
9:15 - 9:55 USF2000 Race 3
10:25 - 10:55 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Warmup
11:25 - 12:20 INDY NXT Race 1:05 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Driver Introductions 1:53PM
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