Mid-Ohio

August 4, 2015

Scott Dixon

Mid-Ohio

Nestled just outside the village of Lexington, Ohio about halfway between the cities of Columbus and Cleveland is the beautiful natural road course, the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course which is home to the fourteenth stop of the 2015 Indy Car series. I had wanted to utilize my Indy Car hard card one more time before the season completed and this venue offered the best chance with my schedule.

 

I headed out of Chicago late Friday night after the conclusion of Paul McCartney’s set at Lollapalooza determined to drive as far as possible before stopping and continuing on to Mid-Ohio on Saturday morning. I made it to mid-northern Indiana and drove the rest of the way in the morning, arriving at the track in time for the first Indy Car practice.

 

I love Mid-Ohio, it is the first track outside of Indianapolis where I ever attended an Indy Car race, back in the early 80s and my first experience watching the cars run on a road course. I have been a fan ever since though I have only been back infrequently since that first visit. 

 

The track itself is beautiful, sitting in the Ohio countryside the thirteen turn, 2.4 mile winding road course features elevation changes and historic turns such as the keyhole and thunder valley. There are permanent grandstands as well as elevated mounds throughout the facility allowing fans to wander about to see the action from a variety of viewpoints. 

 

Another cool feature is the open-air garages that have elevated walkways where fans can look directly down into the garages as the cars are being worked on. It offers a really cool perspective that is not found elsewhere on the circuit. I just love the place and the festive atmosphere that goes along with it. Many of the fans camp on site as do some of the teams themselves which is also an interesting feature of the track which adds to the close comradery that is felt between the fans, drivers, and teams.

Sage Karam 

I arrived in time to see the final practice, the sports car race, the first of two Indy Lights races and the Indy Car qualifying. The crowd was great, it had to be in the top 3 or 4 crowds for any Indy Car race of the season after Indy, Long Beach, and possibly St. Pete. It was cool to once again have the ultimate access during all of the action, whether it be being on the grid pre-race, in victory lane or just hanging in the pits during the races.

 

Juan Montoya

Scott Dixon was fairly dominant during the practice sessions and during the Indy Car qualifying, easily snaring the pole position and smashing the track record in the process. Will Power grabbed position two followed by Sebastian Bourdais and Helio Castroneves.

 

Jason

After qualifying, I headed north to downtown Cleveland where I had booked a hotel so that I would have access to the excitement of Cleveland nightlife rather than staying closer to the track where there is not so much to do. Cleveland is a happening place with a number of excellent breweries and brewpubs to experience- which is exactly what I spent my evening doing.