Dixon the top dog at Mid-Ohio (LAT photo)
It was another tough day for Dario Franchitti, who despite another front row starting position, wound up just 17th – his day included a passing attempt on Hinchcliffe that went awry where he damaged his front wing on Hinchcliffe's rear wheel guards, with that precipitating a wing change.
A thought should also be spared for Justin Wilson, who was nudged into a spin on lap one by Rubens Barrichello to drop him to last. Wilson climbed 11 spots to 14th in his first stint before an issue at the first pit stop sent him back to a place he couldn't recover. He ended 18th.
With Hunter-Reay and Castroneves each having issues, Power regains the points lead as IndyCar heads to its longest stretch in-between races this season, three weeks until Sonoma. Power leads Hunter-Reay by five, Castroneves by 26 and the suddenly alive again Dixon by 28. At 63 and 68 points back, Hinchcliffe and Pagenaud in fifth and sixth are fringe title contenders but are at least set for a scrap for the final top-five points position.
Results - 85 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Scott Dixon Ganassi Dallara-Honda 1h39m48.5083s
2. Will Power Penske Dallara-Chevy + 3.4619s
3. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt Dallara-Honda + 4.5402s
4. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon Dallara-Chevy + 5.5822s
5. James Hinchcliffe Andretti Dallara-Chevy + 7.5663s
6. Tony Kanaan KV Dallara-Chevy + 12.328s
7. Ryan Briscoe Penske Dallara-Chevy + 27.9601s
8. Marco Andretti Andretti Dallara-Chevy + 28.1691s
9. JR Hildebrand Panther Dallara-Chevy + 29.2325s
10. Alex Tagliani Herta Dallara-Honda + 31.1722s
11. Graham Rahal Ganassi Dallara-Honda + 31.4387s
12. Josef Newgarden Fisher Dallara-Honda + 32.0754s
13. Takuma Sato Rahal Dallara-Honda + 32.4073s
14. Giorgio Pantano Ganassi Dallara-Honda + 33.9166s
15. Rubens Barrichello KV Dallara-Chevy + 35.2863s
16. Helio Castroneves Penske Dallara-Chevy + 35.9205s
17. Dario Franchitti Ganassi Dallara-Honda + 36.9834s
18. Justin Wilson Coyne Dallara-Honda + 42.0974s
19. James Jakes Coyne Dallara-Honda + 46.4304s
20. EJ Viso KV Dallara-Chevy + 46.8068s
21. Mike Conway Foyt Dallara-Honda + 46.9535s
22. Ed Carpenter Carpenter Dallara-Chevy + 1 lap
23. Simona de Silvestro HVM Dallara-Lotus + 2 laps
24. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Dallara-Chevy + 6 laps
25. Oriol Servia Panther/DRR Dallara-Chevy + 7 laps