Boasting five Mid-Ohio Sports Car wins in the last six tries, Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing drivers are the ones to beat for Sunday’s The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2025 Civic Hybrid. Each has won the annual NTT INDYCAR SERIES pilgrimage to the rural Ohio road course a track-best 12 times.
The main questions are can anyone halt this dominant patch and does the repave of the 2.258-mile racing surface, in addition to the debut of the hybrid power unit this weekend, close the gap to the competition?
Typically, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course has been a track that has featured organization-wide dominance. Since 1990, a one-two team finish has occurred 135 times in NTT INDYCAR SERIES competition. Mid-Ohio has produced a series-leading 16 of those occurrences, double the next best of eight at the former Belle Isle Park circuit in Detroit.
Favorites
Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 Sonsio Team Penske Chevrolet)
McLaughlin has two podium finishes, first at Barber Motorsports Park and third at Road America, in four natural road course starts this season. He also led 45 laps in his 2022 Mid-Ohio victory and finished fifth last season.
Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)
Dixon has six wins in 18 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course starts. Dixon has finished fourth, fifth and second, respectively, in his last three starts at the track.
Alex Palou (No. 10 Ridgeline Lubricants Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course has been a great track for Palou. The defending race winner has three consecutive podium finishes: third, second and first. On natural road courses this season, Palou has finished fifth, first, fourth and first, respectively. A great trend for Palou, he has won the ninth race of the season twice in the last three years. Can he make it 3-for-4 in the ninth race of the 2024 season Sunday?
Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet)
Power ranks as the second-best driver on natural road course starts this season behind a third-place average finish. The strong results include a win at Road America, seventh at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and pair of runner-up finishes at Barber Motorsports Park and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. With track position meaning so much at natural road course venues, Power has qualified in the top five in three of his four natural road course starts this season. Power also has an average finish of sixth in 16 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course starts. He led 206 combined laps to go along with seven top-four finishes in his last nine starts.
Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda)
Herta finished 13th, 15th and 11th, respectively, in his last three Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course starts. So why is he a favorite? He is the only driver outside of the Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing camp to win here since 2019. Also, Herta qualifies well on this track with starting spots of first, second, third and first, respectively. Bad luck struck the last three years, which is why with strong speed on natural road course tracks this season with finishes of eighth, seventh, sixth and second, respectively, Herta can take a win Sunday.
Sleepers
Alexander Rossi (No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet)
Auditioning for a new ride for the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season following Tuesday’s announcement that Christian Lundgaard will replace him in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet next year, Rossi finished 19th and 10th in his last two Mid-Ohio starts but had six consecutive top-six finishes prior, including a 2018 victory. He enters this weekend after a third-place finish at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, his third top-five finish in his last four starts this season.
Santino Ferrucci (No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing/Sexton Properties Chevrolet)
AJ Foyt Racing had six top-10 finishes in its last 51 races entering the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season. Ferrucci has accumulated five top-10 finishes in eight starts this season for the team. Two of the five are in the four natural road course races. Ferrucci finished seventh at Barber Motorsports Park and ninth at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Graham Rahal (No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda)
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is Rahal’s home track and is a place where he has performed well. Rahal has completed 99.7 percent of his laps (1,441 out of 1,445) and produced 10 top-10 finishes in his last 11 tries. He qualified second last year and finished seventh after a slow final pit stop dropped him in the finishing order.
Marcus Ericsson (No. 28 Delaware Life Honda)
The Swede finished fifth in Race 2 of the 2020 season, runner-up in 2021 and sixth in 2022. Last year, he was collected in a first-lap crash. Can he bounce back Sunday? Ericsson finished ninth at Road America and gained six positions in the points standings over his three-race top-10 finish streak.
Christian Lundgaard (No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda)
Lundgaard qualified fifth and finished fourth last July. The Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver finished sixth at Barber Motorsports Park and third on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.