This is Cathy Shumaker saying goodbye from Mid-Ohio after a thrilling race. Follow @VAVELIndyCar on Twitter for coverage leading up to and during the upcoming ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway! Thanks for following.
This is Rahal's second victory of 2015. The race had seven different leaders, tying the record set in 2008. The points after this race stand as follows: Montoya 465, Rahal 456, Dixon 430.
Graham Rahal wins at his home track in the No. 15 Steak N' Shake Honda.
Lap 90: CHECKERED FLAG - GRAHAM RAHAL WINS Mid-Ohio!
Lap 89: Rahal has more than a three second lead over Justin Wilson.
Lap 89: WHITE FLAG for Graham Rahal.
Lap 88: Rahal leads, Montoya is back in 12th place. This will help Rahal in the championship points if the race ends like this.
Lap 87: Three laps to go, Rahal is pulling away from Wilson.
Lap 86: Four laps remain, Graham Rahal has more than a two second lead over second place Justin Wilson.
Lap 85: Rahal still leads Wilson. The No. 25 used push to pass but was unable to get around the No. 15 Honda.
Lap 84: GREEN GREEN GREEN Justin Wilson gets around Rahal briefly by Graham retains the lead.
Lap 84: The crowd rises in anticipation of the restart.
Lap 83: The field will get the green on Lap 84, with six laps remaining in the race. This will be a sprint to the finish.
Lap 80: Justin Wilson reportedly has two push to pass left, while Graham Rahal has used all of his allotment.
Lap 80: FULL COURSE YELLOW Charlie Kimball spins again. Ten laps remain.
Lap 79: With 11 laps remaining, Graham Rahal leads Wilson, Pagenaud, Dixon and Kanaan.
Lap 78: Rahal is more than three seconds ahead of second place Wilson.
Lap 76: Rahal continues to lead Wilson as the laps wind down.
Lap 75: The incident with No. 8 on track spin will be under a post race review.
Lap 74: Rahal has nearly a two second lead over second place Justin Wilson.
Lap 73: With 17 laps remaining, Graham Rahal leads Wilson, Pagenaud, Dixon and Kanaan.
Lap 72: Points leader Montoya is in 12th place, with Graham Rahal continuing to lead. Rahal has no more push to pass remaining.
Lap 71: Coletti takes evasive action through the grass to avoid the spinning Kimball.
Lap 71: Charlie Kimball goes into the grass but continues.
Lap 70: GREEN GREEN GREEN Rahal leads Wilson, Pagenaud, Dixon, Kanaan.
Lap 70: Graham Rahal is the new leader of the race, followed by Wilson, Pagenaud, Dixon and Vautier.
Lap 68: Car No. 8 is being sent to the end of the line for entering a closed pit.
Lap 67: The pits are now open. Most of the field is in for tires and fuel.
Lap 67: Under yellow the order is Montoya, Newgarden, Power, Castroneves, Andretti.
Lap 66: Car No. 15 was in the pits when the yellow flag was shown, he was able to complete his stop.
Lap 66: FULL COURSE YELLOW, the pits are closed. Car No. 8 has spun and it stopped on the track.
Lap 65: Tony Kanaan pits for the final time.
Lap 65: Pit stops continue with drivers making their final stops for fuel and tires.
Lap 64: Scott Dixon pits from 8th place, this should be his final stop of the race.
Lap 63: Sato pits with left rear damage.
Lap 62: Montoya has nearly a one second lead over second place Newgarden.
Lap 61: Car No. 19 pits, also No. 20 of Filippi.
Lap 59: Montoya still leads, followed by Newgarden, Rahal, Wilson, Power.
Lap 55: Team Penske is holding down the lead (Montoya) with Power in 5th, Pagenaud in 6th and Castroneves in 8th.
Lap 54: Graham Rahal is running in 3rd place, points leader Montoya still leads the race.
Lap 52: Chip Ganassi racing is trying to score their 100th win as a team, they are currently running with Dixon in 7th, Kanaan in 13th, Karam in 15th and Charlie Kimball in 23rd, 2 laps behind the leader.
Lap 50: Scott Dixon is now in seventh place, directly behind Simon Pagenaud.
Lap 49: Running order Montoya, Newgarden, Rahal, Wilson, Power.
Lap 48: Castroneves pits from the lead along with second place Tony Kanaan. Montoya takes over the lead of the race.
Lap 46: There have already been six different leaders in the race, the most since 2008 when there were seven leaders in the entire race.
Lap 45: HALF WAY. Castroneves leads, Kanaan, Montoya, Newgarden, Rahal.
Lap 44: Fourth place Newgarden is battling with the lapped car of Carlos Munoz.
Lap 43: Leaders are Castronevers, Kanaan, Montoya, Newgarden, Rahal.
Lap 42: Newgarden pits, new leader is Castroneves.
Lap 41: Montoya pits, new leader is Josef Newgarden.
Lap 41: Graham Rahal pits from second place.
Lap 40: Sage Karam pits.
Lap 39: Leader Wilson pits, new leader is Juan Pablo Montoya, the eighth race he has led in 2015.
Lap 39: Ryan Hunter-Reay pits under the green flag.
Lap 38: Dixon pits fom 12th place. He rejoins the field in 18th position.
Lap 37: The Penske teammates of Montoya are deeper in the field: Pagenuad is fifth, Power is sixth, and Castroneves is 11th.
Lap 36: Hondas run first and third, Wilson and Rahal with Montoya's Chevrolet in second.
Lap 35: This is the second time Wilson has led a lap in 2015, he led one lap at Milwaukee.
Lap 34: Graham Rahal is now up to third place behind Wilson and Montoya.
Lap 33: The race as settled into a rhythm after the early incidents. Vautier pits, Justin Wilson is the new leader of the race.
Lap 32: All cars are on the lead lap except for Kimball and Sato.
Lap 31: Charlie Kimball is directly behind leader Vautier but he is 2 laps down.
Lap 30: No change at the front of the field, Vautier, Wilson, Montoya, Rahal, Newgarden.
Lap 29: Pole sitter Scott Dixon is back in 12th place after leading the early laps.
Lap 28: Pagenaud makes a move to get around Gonzalez but does not get it done.
Lap 27: The leader Vautier has been given an official warning for blocking.
Lap 26: Vautier still leads, Wilson, Montoya, Rahal, Newgarden.
Lap 26: The lights are off on the pace car and the crowd rises in anticipation. GREEN GREEN GREEN
Lap 25: Running order Vautier, Montoya, Rahal, Gonzalez, Wilson.
Lap 24: Graham Rahal is up to fourth place after yellow flag pit stops.
Lap 24: Takuma Sato has been given a warning for avoidable contact.
Lap 23: Tristan Vautier now leads the race, the first time in 2015 and the third time in his career.
Lap 23: Sato's crew is replacing the rear wing of the No. 14 car. They are trying to get him back on track before the pace car comes around to the front stretch.
Lap 22: Car No. 4 gets into the rear of car No. 14 and turns Takuma Sato around, leaving debris on the track.
Lap 21: The incident between cars No. 4 and No. 14 is under review. There is debris in Turn 4.
Lap 21: Full Course Yellow for debris on the track.
Lap 20: Running order Dixon, Bourdais, Castroneves, Filippi, Hunter-Reay.
Lap 19: Graham Rahal uses the Push to Pass to move up into 12th place.
Lap 18: Dixon's lead is now more than five seconds over Bourdais.
Lap 17: Josef Newgarden is into the pits. The crew has some trouble with the left front wheel and the pit stop takes 10 seconds.
Lap 16: Dixon has a 3+ second lead over second place Bourdais.
Lap 15: Simon Pagenaud pits and is back on track after a 6.7 second stop.
Lap 14: Scott Dixon pits from the lead and rejoins the race. The No. 7 has been warned about contact with the No. 18.
Lap 14: Green flag pit stops have begun, Charlie Kimball has rejoined the race and it two laps behind.
Lap 13: Montoya is up into 8th place ahead of Tony Kanaan.
Lap 12: Contact between the No. 7 of James Jakes and No. 18 of Rodolfo Gonzalez is under review.
Lap 11: Justin Wilson is challenging Rahal for 11th place.
Lap 10: Scott Dixon is out to a sizeable lead over Bourdais.
Lap 9: Juan Pablo Montoya, the points leader, is in ninth place, with Graham Rahal currently in 11th place.
Lap 9: There is no change at the front of the order. Dixon, Bourdais, Castroneves, Filippi, Hunter-Reay.
Lap 8: Graham Rahal has picked up two spots and is up to 11th place.
Lap 7: GREEN GREEN GREEN
Lap 7: Lights are out on the Pace Car. The No. 1 car has received a warning for avoidable contact.
Lap 6: Luca Filippi is up to fifth place. Dixon leads, followed by Bourdais, Castroneves and Newgarden.
Lap 5: The field continues behind the pace car under yellow as the car of Charlie Kimball is pulled out of the grass.
Lap 4: The Homaltro Safety Team is with the Chevrolet of Charlie Kimball. He has a flat tire and will need to be towed back to the pits.
Lap 3: Will Power goes off track and comes back on. Full Course Yellow for Charlie Kimball who spins into the grass and stalls.
Lap 2: Dixon pulls away and leads Bourdais, Castroneves and Newgarden.
Lap 1: Scott Dixon leads the first lap.
The field is lined up for the start on the back stretch. GREEN GREEN GREEN.
2:03 pm ET: The Honda Two-Seater driven by Mario Andretti leads the field past the flag stand on the first parade lap.
2:02 pm ET: The field has pulled out of the pits for the parade and pace laps. The huge crowd is on its feet in anticipation of the start of the race.
2:01 pm ET: All engines have successfully fired. The LED position lights look great on the grid.
2:00 pm ET: The command has been given "DRIVERS START YOUR ENGINES."
1:57 pm ET: The drivers are getting strapped into their cars as we wait for the command to start engines.
1:55 pm ET: The National Anthem has been sung by Wendy Reiser, "Drivers to Your Cars."
1:50 pm ET: The grid is being cleared of non-race team personnel as we get close to the command.
1:40 pm ET: Graham Rahal is showing off his Ohio State University Buckeyes-themed helmet to the partisan crowd. He is the home-town favorite.
1:35 pm ET: Driver introductions are underway on the INDYRIVALS stage, and the drivers are being taken around the track in individual Honda S2000 convertibles to greet the crowd.
1:30 pm ET: The grid is filled with spectactors as the cars and teams are readied for the start. Pre-race ceremonies have begun.
1:10 pm ET: The cars are being pushed to the grid in preparation for the start of the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Driver introductions will be made at 1:25 pm ET.
12:45 pm ET: The teams are making last minute adjustments to their cars in the garages and the drivers are beginning their pre-race rituals. On-track pre-race festivities are set to begin about 1:30 pm ET.
12:10 pm ET: Simon Pagenaud was third fastest in the morning session, perhaps a sign that he has turned his so-far dismal weekend around. He starts 15th in the race.
12:10 pm ET: Jack Hawksworth of A.J. Foyt Enterprises also had an incident in the pre-race warm-up session. He made contact with the tire barriers and damaged the front wing of his No. 41 ABC Supply Honda.
11:55 am ET: There is a large crowd on hand here to watch the cars and stars of the Verizion IndyCar Series. The weather is beautiful, forecasted to be sunny and in the mid-80s with no chance of rain.
11:50 am ET: It is race day at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The morning warm-up session was a mixed bag for Ryan Hunter-Reay. He was the fastest in the 30 minute practice, however on his 11th lap he ran wide in Turn 1, spun and made right-side contact with the tire barriers. His Andretti Autosport No. 28 DHL Honda suffered damage to both the front and rear wings. The Holmatro Safety Team brought the car back to the team's garage where the crew worked to make repairs. Hunter-Reay was checked out in the infield care center and is cleared to race.
Follow @VAVELIndyCar on Twitter for more. I'll be back here with more closer to the race at 1:30 pm ET! Thanks for visiting.
Below are news, notes, and more to get you up to speed ahead of the green flag for today's 90-lap race at Mid-Ohio! Return here at 1:30 pm ET for live updates every 60 seconds during what is certain to be an incredibly exciting race.
Starting beside Dixon on the front row in today's race will be reigning series champion Will Power of Team Penske. Behind these two and starting today's race from Row 2 are Sebastien Bourdais of KVSH Racing and Power's teammate Helio Castroneves. Starting fifth and sixth on Row 3 are Josef Newgarden and Charlie Kimball. That's two each from Ganassi and Penske in a top-six that is completely powered by Chevrolet engines. The top Honda-powered entry on the starting grid will be Ryan Hunter-Reay of Andretti Autosport from P7.
Qualifying on Saturday marked the fourth race this season that has seen the track record fall (new records were also set at St. Petersburg, Long Beach, and the IMS road course). The Indy car track record lap stood for a decade and a half until yesterday when Scott Dixon did a 1:04.5814 in the Fast 6 session of qualifying to set a blistering fast new record entering race day.
Recaps of the sessions thus far this weekend:
Practice 1 - Practice 2 - Practice 3 - Qualifying
Dixon broke the track record this weekend in qualifying, which is the fourth race this season where the fast lap time as been reset. New records were also set at St. Petersburg, Long Beach and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. The track record stood for 15 years before Dixon shattered it in qualifying on Saturday with a time of 1:04.5814.
This will be the 31st IndyCar race contested at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Johnny Rutherford won the first race in 1980, while Scott Dixon won last year after starting dead last in 22nd.
The on-board LED lights will make their long-awaited competition debut this weekend at Mid-Ohio. It was announced earlier this year that the lights would be in use starting with the Indianapolis 500, however that did not happen and some were left wondering where they were. The lights show race position in red, flash a PP in green when the driver has engaged push to pass, and even becomes a stopwatch when the driver enters their pit box. There has been no issue with visibility in bright sunlight during practice and qualifying so far this weekend and the lights look to become a great addition to the cars which will enhance the fan experience. For more on what to expect from this new technology in today's race, click here.
Firestone Racing unveiled new rain tires it has been developing for the past year, making them available to the teams for this weekend. The tread pattern and depth are the same as the former rain tires that were introduced a year ago, but the new tires feature silver strips on the sides to make them visible to fans along the track - much like the red stripe of the alternate tires used at road/street circuits. The weather has been great thus far this weekend - and race day today looks to be more of the same; therefore the tires will wait to make their competition debut.
While not as dominate as Ganassi has been at the track, Team Penske has also been successful at Mid-Ohio. The team has won seven races at the track, dating back to 1992 when Emerson Fittipaldi won. Ryan Briscoe is the most recent Penske victor, winning the race here in 2008.
There are 20 drivers in the field of 24 who have previously driven in an Indy car race at Mid-Ohio. Tony Kanaan has started 13 races at the track and leads all active drivers. Twelve of these drivers have led laps at the track, with Scott Dixon leading with 201 laps led.
The record for the number of different winners in a season is 11, which was matched last season. With three races remaining this year, it is still possible that the record could be tied again or even broken. Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan and Simon Pagenaud all won races in 2014 but are winless so far this season. Each hopes to score a victory in one of the last three races. It will be interesting to see if the record is tied yet again - or even bested.
There have been nine different winners in the 13 races run so far in 2015. Juan Pablo Montoya (St. Petersburg and Indianapolis 500), Scott Dixon (Long Beach and Texas Motor Speedway), Josef Newgarden (Barber Motorsports Park and Toronto) and Sebastien Bourdais (Detroit 2 and Milwaukee) have all won multiple races. Newgarden and Carlos Munoz (Detroit 1) both won their first career races in 2015.
There are still 13 drivers with a mathmatical chance of winning the championship, although some drivers can be considered long shots at best. Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves and Will Power are 47, 54 and 55 points, respectively, behind Montoya, and locked in a fierce battle for third through fifth place. Another bad race for Montoya would provide these drivers with a big boost as they try to claim the title for themselves; this is why Montoya must conduct himself a bit conservatively in today's race and the two others to close out the season.
Graham Rahal, who considers Mid-Ohio his home track having grown up in suburban Columbus, will start 13th in the race as he continues to hunt down Montoya for the championship. He stands 42 points behind in the Colombian with three races remaining in the 2015 season. Rahal needs a good finish as Mid-Ohio to have any chance of claiming the title. His father Bobby Rahal has two victories at the track: back to back in 1985 and 1986. Graham hopes to continue the family tradition and stand on the top step of the podium on Sunday to put himself in an even better position to come from behind for the first series title of his career.
Points leader Juan Pablo Montoya is hoping to rebound from a disappointing race at Iowa Speedway, where he finished last after hitting the wall due to an apparent broken suspension component. Montoya won at Mid-Ohio in 1999, and seeks to extend his points lead over Graham Rahal who is second in points after finishing fourth at Iowa last time out. However, Montoya did not make it out of the second round of qualifying and will start 10th in the race this afternoon.
Chip Ganassi Racing has been dominate at Mid-Ohio, with 10 total Indy car race wins at the track including the last six in a row. The team is trying to earn their 100th Indy car victory, and looks poised to do that this weekend. Polesitter Scott Dixon set a new track record in qualifying, and has won four of the last six races at the permanent road course.
Get completely in the know ahead of today's race by reading the news and notes above. Follow us on @VAVELIndyCar for even more.
Welcome to live coverage of the Honda Indy 200 from the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course! My name is Cathy Shumaker and I am thrilled to be bringing you minute-to-minute coverage from the track here on VAVEL. From now until closer to when the race begins today, news and notes will be above to bring you up to speed ahead of the green flag.