IndyCar Series: Home win for Graham Rahal at Mid-Ohio

Graham Rahal (RLL Racing) wins the IndyCar race on home turf at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. It was his career’s third IndyCar victory and his second win this season. Rahal is now just 9 points behind the championship leader Juan Pablo Montoya (Team Penske), who finished 11th in the 90-lap race at the 2.258-mile track in Lexington.

“This is special for the Rahal familygoing back to the days of Jim Trueman. I grew up in this place, running around when my dad was racing. This is a great win for the team and that too at a special place,” said Graham Rahal. His father Bob, a co-owner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, won at Mid-Ohio in 1985 and 1986.

Rahal, who started 13th, picked up the lead lap 67 when the lead pack pitted under caution for their final fuel/tyre service. Behind him there were Justin Wilson (Andretti Autosport), Simon Pagenaud (Team Penske) and Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing). After one more caution period and restart on a lap 84, Wilson tried to attack, but Rahal defended his lead and went on to win with a 3.4 seconds advantage.

MidOhio-Sato

Takuma Sato with his commemorative helmet because of 100th IndyCar start

The two racers who bagged podium finishes were Wilson and Pagenaud who made great progress through the race. Wilson started 14th and Pagenaud started 15th. Both of them finished on a season high – Wilson second and Pagenaud third. Scott Dixon, a five-time winner at Mid-Ohio, started from the pole and finished fourth. He is now 26 points behind Rahal in the title chase.

Other drivers in top 10 are Tony Kanaan (Chip Ganassi Racing), Tristan Vautier (Dale Coyne Racing), Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport), Jack Hawksworth (AJ Foyt Enterprises), Carlos Munoz (Andretti Autosport) and Marco Andretti (Andretti Autosport). Montoya, who started 10th, led 21 laps in the middle of the race, but after the final stop dropped to 13th and finished 11th.

Two more races are scheduled for the 2015 season. The first will be the ABC Supply 500 on August 23 at Pocono Raceway and second will be GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma on August 30.

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Photos: indycar.com

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