Until today the long-standing lap record at Mid-Ohio was 1:05.347, set identically by Gil de Ferran in 1999 and Dario Franchitti in 2000. That record was broken today by Scott Dixon. Several times, in fact.
A total of 11 (!) of the 24 cars in today’s qualifying shattered the old record today, as de Ferran and Franchitti predicted they would. The fastest record ultimately went to Dixon with a time of 1.04.5814, but only after qualifying sessions that felt every bit as exciting as an actual race.
The first was during practice when Dixon — who’s won five of the last eight IndyCar races here — did it in 1:05.125. But the real action happened during qualifying, with Frenchman Sébastien Bourdais first to break the old record by lapping Mid-Ohio in 1:05.337. After that, Dixon started the flood with a time of 1:05.120, and then 1:04:778. Charlie Kimball managed it in 1:04.763.
But during the Fast Six Shootout, Dixon, aka “Mr. Mid Ohio”, blew away the old record with his time of 1:04.5814. Right behind him was Will Power, who came in at 1:04.6782.
Those are a lot of numbers, but what you need to know is a.) you missed the coolest qualifying session I’ve ever seen if you didn’t tune in, and b.) tomorrow’s race is going to be a blast. My money’s on Dixon, but if he gets upset somehow it’s going to be insane.
Photo credit Damien Harvey for Jalopnik
Contact the author at patrick@jalopnik.com.