LEXINGTON, Ohio – Three consecutive weekends of racing 22 miles from Mount Vernon began last weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington with the start of the 40th annual Vintage Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio.
There's still two more weeks to follow, beginning this weekend with Ohio’s largest annual motorsports event, the Honda Indy 200, running July 1-3. The stretch concludes July 8-9 with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series making its Mid-Ohio debut in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 150.
Last weekend, the Vintage Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio, the longest continuously running spectator event at the track, featured 24 races taking the green flag at the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course. The Sports Car Vintage Racing Association’s (SVRA) SpeedTour brought three types of racing series to town.
SVRA’s SpeedTour encompassed 16 races.
Malcolm Ross got the better of Robert Baxter by 1.4 seconds in the Group 1,3,4,5B Miata feature race No. 1, but Baxter turned the tables in Race Two, beating Ross by 4.75 seconds. The Group 2 features were won by Eric Lanbein with a 5.7-second lead over Joe Blacker in Race One and by Eric Wisniewski, by a 42.9-second margin over Dan Cowdrey and 43.3 seconds over Eric Inkrott.
Group 5A 7, 9, 11 had two races won by Stuart Crow, with an 8.1-second advantage over David Huber in the first feature and by a 6.1-second margin over Nathan Byrd in Race Two. Group 6,12A was dominated by Scott Borchetta, who won Race One by 12 seconds over Michael Origer and who hit the finish line 34.4 seconds ahead of Jonathan DeGraynor in Race Two.
Group 8, 12 B saw Steve Shardt finish 1.2 seconds ahead of Lisa Hansen in Race One and Brian Thomas Himes win by 1.8 seconds over Lisa Hansen in Race Two.
Group 10's two feature races were both won by Joe Nemechek by 1.0 seconds over Scott Borchetta.
The International GT had three features, won by Tom Pank over LJ Hyett/Gunnar Jeannette by 0.12 seconds; by Nathan Byrd over Craig Hillis by 0.11 seconds; and by Hyett/Jeanette over Plank by 0.13 seconds.
The SVRA Endurance Race was claimed by Nathan Byrd, with a 0.11-second winning margin over Craig Hillis.
Next up is the Honda Indy 200. The event will again be a major part of Ohio’s Fourth of July weekend celebrations, July 1-3. On track, the NTT Indycar Series returns to Mid-Ohio for the 39th time, and all three series from the Road to Indy open-wheel development ladder also join the schedule. The Porsche Sprint Challenge North America and Speed Energy Stadium Super Trucks cap off the on-track action, featuring 11 total races.
On Saturday, July 2, after the on-track activities conclude, fans and campers can enjoy a fireworks display after sunset. “Camping with Honda” also returns for campers to participate in throughout the Honda Indy 200 weekend. This year’s theme encourages campers to decorate their sites in patriotic red, white and blue.
The final event of this three-weekend stretch brings the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series to Mid-Ohio for the first time on July 8-9. The O’Reilly Auto Parts 150 will cover 151 miles in 67 laps, and the two-day event also includes the Dawn 150, an ARCA Menards Series race taking the green flag on Friday late afternoon. Fans will have the opportunity to see ARCA Menards Series team transporters, race cars and drivers up close at the Menards Fan Fest at the Menards store in Ontario, Ohio, on Thursday, July 7, starting at 3 p.m. to kick off the weekend’s festivities. The race team haulers will depart Menards and parade in unison to Mid-Ohio at approximately 7 p.m.
Children 12 and under are admitted free to Mid-Ohio when accompanied by a ticketed adult. Free parking is available. A weekend general admission ticket offers the best fan value. For the Vintage Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio, general admission is $50, and daily tickets are $30. Tickets are $10 additional each when purchased at the gate. Tent and motor home camping is available on site. To order tickets in advance, visit midohio.com.
Sports Car Course has been owned and operated by Green Savoree Mid-Ohio, LLC since 2011, just the raceway’s third private ownership group in its history.
For more information, visit midohio.com, its Facebook page at MidOhioSportsCarCourse or follow updates on Twitter @Mid_Ohio and Instagram @officialmidohio.com.
