IndyCar at Mid-Ohio: How to watch, start times, TV info and live streaming, schedule

By Jul 3, 2022, 8:00 AM EDT
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IndyCar Mid-Ohio start times: Starting first has meant finishing first lately in the NTT IndyCar Series at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Last year, Josef Newgarden qualified first and led 73 of 80 laps in becoming the third consecutive Mid-Ohio pole-sitter to win the race. Colton Herta and Will Power both won from the pole at Mid-Ohio in the 2020 race weekend doubleheader, and Alexander Rossi also won after starting first in 2018 on the road course in Lexington, Ohio.

Simon Pagenaud (2016) and Scott Dixon (’11) also have won from the pole at Mid-Ohio, where qualifying traditionally has been important.

But an unpredictable 2022 has underscored the flip side.

With Pato O’Ward qualifying first Saturday at Mid-Ohio, there have been nine pole winners to start the season, which ties a record set in 1961.

Only Scott McLaughlin has won after starting first (in the season opener at St. Petersburg, Florida). The average finish for 2022 pole-sitters is 9.88 through the first eight races.

Ohio native Graham Rahal, who grew up in the Columbus area, will celebrate a milestone Sunday at his home track by making his 250 career start in IndyCar.

Here are the details and IndyCar start times for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio (all times are ET):

HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO INDYCAR START TIMES

TV: Sunday, 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC and streaming on Peacock, the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com. Leigh Diffey is the announcer with analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Kevin Lee and Dillon Welch are the pit reporters. Click here for the full NBC Sports schedule for IndyCar in 2022.

Peacock Premium also will be the streaming broadcast for both practices and qualifying.

COMMAND TO START ENGINES: 12:46 p.m. ET

GREEN FLAG: 12:53 p.m. ET

POSTRACE SHOW ON PEACOCK: After the race’s conclusion, an exclusive postrace show will air on Peacock with driver interviews, postrace analysis and the podium presentation. To watch the extended postrace show, click over to the special stream on Peacock after Sunday’s race ends.

Peacock also will be the streaming broadcast for practices and qualifying. The race also will be streamed on Peacock (in addition to the NBC Sports App/NBCSports.com streams and the NBC broadcast).

PRACTICE: Friday, 3:30 p.m. (Peacock Premium); Saturday, 9:30 a.m. (Peacock Premium); 5:20 p.m. (Peacock Premium); Sunday, 9:45 a.m. (Peacock Premium)

PRACTICE RESULTS: Session I l Session II l Warmup l Combined

QUALIFYING: Saturday, 2:45 p.m. (Peacock Premium)

STARTING LINEUP: Here’s how the field will line up Sunday with Pato O’Ward on pole

RACE DISTANCE: The race is 80 laps (180.64 miles) on a 13-turn, 2.258-mile road course in Lexington, Ohio.

TIRE ALLOTMENT: Six sets primary, four sets alternate for use during the race weekend. One additional set of primary tires may be used by teams fielding a rookie driver. Teams must use one set of primary and one set of new (sticker) alternate tires for at least two laps in the race.

PUSH TO PASS: Two hundred seconds of total time with a maximum time of 20 seconds per activation. The push-to-pass is not available on the initial start or any restart unless it occurs in the final two laps or three minutes of a timed race. The feature increases the power of the engine by approximately 60 horsepower. Indy Lights: 150 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 15 seconds per activation.

FORECAST: According to Wunderground.com, it’s expected to be 81 degrees with a 13% chance of rain at the green flag.

ENTRY LIST: Click here to view the 27 drivers racing Sunday at Mid-Ohio.

INDY LIGHTS RACE: Sunday, 9:40 a.m., 35 laps/79.03 miles or 55 minutes (Peacock Premium)

INDY LIGHTS ENTRY LIST: Click here for the 13 drivers entered.

HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO WEEKEND SCHEDULE

(All times are Eastern)

Friday, July 1

8 a.m.: Indy Pro 2000 practice

8:45 a.m.: USF2000 practice

9:30 a.m.: Porsche Sprint Challenge practice

10:25 a.m.: Indy Pro 2000 qualifying

11:10 a.m.: USF2000 qualifying

11:55 a.m.: Stadium Super Trucks practice

12:40 p.m.: Porsche Sprint Challenge practice

1:35 p.m.: Indy Pro 2000 qualifying

2:20 p.m.: Indy Lights practice

3:30 p.m.: NTT IndyCar Series practice (Peacock Premium)

5:15 p.m.: USF2000, Race 1

Saturday, July 2

8 a.m.: Porsche Sprint Challenge qualifying

8:35 a.m.: Indy Lights practice

9:30 a.m.: NTT IndyCar Series practice (Peacock Premium)

10:45 a.m.: USF2000, Race 2

11:40 a.m.: Indy Pro 2000, Race 1

12:45 p.m.: Porsche Sprint Challenge, Race 1

1:45 p.m.: Indy Lights qualifying

2:45 p.m.: NTT IndyCar Series qualifying (Peacock Premium)

4:15 p.m.: Stadium Super Trucks, Race 1

5 p.m.: USF2000, Race 3

5:55 p.m.: Indy Pro 2000, Race 2

Sunday, July 3

8:30 a.m.: Porsche Sprint Challenge, Race 2

9:45 a.m.: NTT IndyCar Series warmup (Peacock Premium)

10:35 a.m.: Indy Lights race (Peacock Premium)

Noon: NTT IndyCar Series driver introductions

12:53 p.m.: NTT IndyCar Series race, 80 laps/180.64 miles (NBC, Peacock)

3 p.m.: Stadium Super Trucks, Race 2

Ford Mustang GT3 test has Austin Cindric dreaming of Daytona: ‘I want to drive that car’

By Mar 22, 2023, 2:30 PM EDT
Cindric Ford GT3 test
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Austin Cindric wasn’t the “mystery” test driver behind the wheel of the new Ford Mustang GT3 at Sebring International Raceway, but the Team Penske driver desperately wanted to be.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, an amateur sports car driver himself, made the big reveal via a Tuesday tweet that provided the first video evidence of the GT3 Mustang on track.

“I’ve watched the video in question about a million times,” Cindric said Wednesday during a Ford Performance Zoom news conference to promote NASCAR’s first road course weekend of the season at Circuit of the Americas. “Definitely exciting times for sure. I want to drive that car. It suits my experience level and also the relationships that I have.”

Ford will enter the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next season with its GT3 Mustang, entering a two-car factory effort (that will be managed by Multimatic) in GTD Pro and making customer cars available in the GT Daytona category.

That increases the likelihood of seeing more NASCAR drivers crossing over to IMSA. Cindric has been the only full-time Cup driver in the Rolex 24 at Daytona the past two years, but Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook has said the GT3 Mustang will provide more opportunities.

Ford has used its GT4 Mustang as a NASCAR driver development tool in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with Harrison Burton and Zane Smith combining to win the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in January.

“We’re excited about the Next Gen car and the new architecture there and the similarities between that car and GT3 and even GT4 cars,” Rushbrook said at the announcement of the Ford GT3 program in January 2022 at Daytona. “We think it’s a great opportunity and to do be able to do that in a 24-hour race and get NASCAR drivers even more time is something we need to consider taking advantage of that opportunity.”

Given his sports car background, Cindric probably still would be in the Rolex 24 regardless. He has eight IMSA starts since the 2017 season opener at Daytona, racing a Lexus RCF GT3 and Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GT category. The 2022 Daytona 500 winner made his second LMP2 start this year with Rick Ware Racing.

But Cindric’s preference naturally would be in a Ford, particularly with sports car racing enjoying convergence and crossovers in both GT and prototype racing.

“It’s an exciting time in GT racing, just as it is now for prototype racing with a lot of new regulations and manufacturers building new GT3 cars,” he said. “And also the opportunity with WEC (the World Endurance Championship) and Le Mans and how that all lines up for that category of car. It’s definitely an exciting time. I want to be as much of a part of that as possible.”

Though those odds seemingly will increase with multiple Ford entries in the Rolex 24 field next year, Cindric said NASCAR drivers still have to put in the networking to land rides as he has in recent years.

“Now how (the GT3 Mustang) relates to specifically NASCAR drivers and how often they want to be in the Rolex, could it be an influence? Absolutely, as far as the tie-in with the manufacturer,” Cindric said. “But the challenge and the drive and the logistics of getting an opportunity for a race like the Rolex 24 will be just as challenging as it always is to find your one-off ride for the race. At least from my experience, that’s what I still anticipate.”

It turned out the “mystery” test driver wasn’t from NASCAR (Farley revealed the driver to be 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Joey Hand after a fan asked whether it was Joey Logano).

But Cindric believes there could be more Cup drivers — and perhaps himself — behind the wheel of Mustang GT3s in the future.

“There’s definitely more of a pathway than I think there would be before as far as Ford drivers are concerned,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll get the opportunity to drive that thing. It’s obviously a great looking car. That’s the first box you’ve got to check. And it’s cool (to have) a guy like Jim Farley, no doubt he’s a racer just as much as he is steering the ship for Ford. It’s cool to see he’s just as excited as the rest of us about it.”