Scott McLaughlin wins an eventful Honda Indy 200

On Sunday afternoon, the NTT IndyCar Series closed out the fourth of July weekend with an eventful race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Graham Rahal made his 250^th career IndyCar start.

Arrow McLaren SP driver Pato O’Ward started the race on the pole, with Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin starting second.

The drivers could not get lined up by the time the pace car led them around a lap, and officials quickly threw out a caution and waved off the start. The race officially got underway on the second lap. Pato O’Ward was leading the race when his teammate, Felix Rosenqvist, blew an engine at turn four that brought out the second caution. Arrow McLaren was keeping an eye on O’Ward’s car as it could meet the same fate.

Will Power and Graham Rahal went to pit road during the caution. Pato O’Ward continued to lead, heading into the restart on lap 13. In the back, Colton Herta and Simon Pagenaud were fighting for fourth place. They were side-by-side, with Herta winning the battle.

On lap 29, Pato O’Ward told his crew he was losing power and went to pit road. Scott McLaughlin was the new leader. Three laps later, Kyle Kirkwood got loose at turn four and hit the tire wall. Before the third caution came out, Scott McLaughlin went to pit road. Kirkwood was having a solid day, running in the top ten before the crash took him out, and he finished in 26^th place.

Not long after the restart, Jack Harvey hit Dalton Kellett at turn four on lap 36, leading to the fourth caution of the day. Harvey served a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact.

One driver who was making his way up TO the front was Will Power. He moved into the tenth position after starting 21^st. On lap 54, Tatiana Calderon’s car lost power at turn five, bringing out the fifth caution. During pit stops, Pato O’Ward’s car shut down at the exit of pit road. O’Ward was done with a mechanical issue and finished in 24^th place.

Colton Herta was NOW the new leader on the restart at lap 59. On the same lap, Alexander Rossi and Romain Grosjean said hi to each other when they made contact at turn two for the sixth caution of the afternoon. Both drivers were able to continue the race.

Colton Herta went to pit road during the caution, and Scott McLaughlin was the new leader. McLaughlin led the rest of the way and won his second race of the season by .5512-seconds over Alex Palou.

The rest of the top ten finishers were Will Power third, Rinus VeeKay fourth, Scott Dixon fifth, Marcus Ericsson sixth, Josef Newgarden seventh, Helio Castroneves eighth, David Malukas ninth, and Simon Pagenaud tenth. There were three lead changes and six cautions for 17 laps.

“This is amazing. I really wanted to get a win here with mom and dad,” said Scott McLaughlin. “It was tough, you’re thinking about fuel, but thankfully Chevy gave us the great fuel mileage and driving ability off the restarts, allowing me to get a little bit of gap from Palou and Honda there. I’m really proud of the guys (Team Penske crew). The car they gave me was a little hard to drive toward the end. I would love to make it a little bit easier for myself, but I’m super proud of them.”

“Almost, man, it was so close,” said Alex Palou. “It was amazing to see all the fans, and the atmosphere was amazing. Our No. 10 NTT DATA car was fast. We just missed it by ‘this much’ again today, but I’m super proud. I don’t think I was good enough to pass (McLaughlin). I wish I would have gone for it, but I did not see that it was clear to do it.”

The NTT IndyCar Series heads to Toronto in a couple of weeks for the Honda Indy Toronto on Sunday, July 17^th, at 3 pm on Peacock. Tickets for the race can be purchased at StubHub.

Finishing Order: