Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon in the No.9 PNC Bank Women in Motorsport Honda says he hopes the team rolls off the truck well this weekend as he attempts to claim his seventh career victory in Mid-Ohio. Dixon will make history by becoming the first driver to make 20 starts at the Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course, celebrating its 40th anniversary on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES calendar.
Dixon has six victories here and has led a total of 261 laps, more than other drivers speaking about the race this weekend, the New Zealander said:
“We all had really good cars at the last few road courses. Obviously, Alex has been on a very good run so we need to have a great weekend to work on the championship positions. We should be confident with what we’ve done previously this year, but as always it will be interesting to see how the weekend goes with the tough competition. We need to make sure we roll off good, but it’s been a great track for us in the past and hopefully we continue that success.”
Alex Palou in the No.10 American Legion Honda heads to Mid-Ohio with an impressive 74-point lead in the championship over his teammate Marcus Ericsson having won three of the last four races of the season and speaking ahead of the race this weekend, the Spaniard said:
“This has always been a really good race for us and the team in general. I remember a crazy race in 2020 and seeing Scott and Felix battle on different strategies with CGR. The atmosphere is great and it’s a Honda race, so we want to go get good results for them. It’s a road course that I love because it’s really tricky and it’s not easy to get a good lap around there with things being so crazy in sectors two and three. But after a good few races that we’ve had, we want to continue on the roll that we’re having and score more wins.”
Consistency has been the key for Marcus Ericsson and the No. 8 team. They sit second in the points standings thanks to a top-10 finish in all eight races this season, something only three other drivers have done to kick off a season since series reunification in 2008 (Palou – 2023; Castroneves – 2017; Power – 2014).
Speaking ahead of the race this weekend, Ericsson said:
“This will be another natural road course, which reminds me a lot of the tracks I drove in Europe racing over there. It’s a track that I enjoy driving because it’s quite fun, especially the section between turns four and nine. It’s very technical and a key part of the track. The race weekend atmosphere is something I always look forward to with people out there camping. For us, we’ve had some good memories at the track finishing second two years ago quite close to winning. I think we should be strong there and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Marcus Armstrong will look for redemption at Mid-Ohio after a dazzling start to his race at Road America ended in a P24 result. He led the race from laps 26 to 30 before battling through adversity for the remainder of the day.
Looking ahead to the race this weekend, the New Zealander said:
“This will be a new track for me. It looks very technical and quite similar to a circuit that I grew up driving in New Zealand with a lot of elevation changes and difficult to maximize. I think it will take a few laps to get used to during practice, but after that, I’m confident that we will make the best of it.”