By: Spencer Neff
July 2,2023

Warmup Results Combined Practice Results Starting Grid

Following his second-place qualifying effort on Saturday, Graham Rahal led the final morning warmup for this afternoon’s Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The 2015 race winner and native of New Albany, Ohio turned a best lap of 1m08.4255 seconds (118.798 mph) on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn permanent road course in Lexington, Ohio.

This is Rahal’s first start on the front row since the race at Barber Motorsports Park in 2019. Six-time Mid-Ohio winner Scott Dixon was second, .1661 of a second back of Rahal’s best lap. He starts fifth. Five different teams were represented in the Top Six. After earning his second consecutive pole, Colton Herta was sixth in this morning’s warmup as he will look to duplicate his 2020 (Race 2) win at Mid-Ohio.

After sweeping the Top Six in qualifying, Honda drivers occupied the first six positions in this morning’s session. 2018 pole and race winner Alexander Rossi was best among the Chevrolets in the field. He starts 13th.

Sting Ray Robb of Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing was ninth, best among the four rookies in the field. He will start 22nd in his first attempt on this venue. Points leader Alex Palou was 16th this morning and rolls off sixth.

Daly fills in for Pagenaud

Following a frightening crash in Saturday’s practice, Simon Pagenaud’s status for this afternoon’s race was in doubt. Upon a re-evaluation this morning, he was not cleared to drive. Meyer Shank Racing will have Conor Daly run the No. 60 car in this afternoon’s race.

“Obviously I have to think about Simon, you hate to see someone wreck like that,” said Daly in this morning’s release confirming the news.

“The most important thing is to get him as healthy as possible, as soon as possible. This is his car and his group of folks and I am here to do the best job that I can for this team. I’ve known Mike (Shank) for a long time and I’ve tested for his sports car team many years ago. I’ve always had a lot of respect for this organization. It’s an honor to be a part of this group and fill in – we will just do the best job that we can.”

Daly previously drove the first seven races of 2023 with Ed Carpenter Racing, For the MSR team of Daly and two-time Mid-Ohio winner Helio Castroneves (2000-2001), it is a home race. The two-car outfit is based in Pataskala, Ohio, 54 miles south of the venue.

“First and foremost, I have to speak to the safety of these cars,” said MSR Team Owner, Mike Shank. “To walk away from an accident like that is incredible and we cannot thank everyone at INDYCAR, the AMR INDYCAR safety team and the INDYCAR medical team for everything they did to get Simon out and evaluated as quickly as possible. 

“This is obviously not a scenario that we had planned for, but everyone at MSR has pitched in to get our backup car ready for Sunday,” continued Shank.

“It’s actually Helio’s Indy 500 car and the one he won the 500 with in 2021. We have to thank Conor for being here and stepping into this, he’s been super great through all of the chaos. Now we will get back on our feet and see what we can do in the race.”

Daly concluded the 30-minute warmup

Up Next

Here is the race schedule for this weekend at Mid-Ohio. Stay with IndyCar1909 for all the latest on the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. 

At-track schedule (all times local): 

Sunday, July 2 

11:35 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio command to start engines 

11:40 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio (35 laps/55 minutes), Peacock 

1:05 p.m. – Driver introductions 

1:46 p.m. – The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2023 Accord Hybrid command to start engines 

1:53 p.m. – The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2023 Accord Hybrid (80 laps/180.64 miles), USA Network (live) 

Header Image By Chris Owens/INDYCAR