By Andrew Cutler
August 9 2010

Once again, the narrow, twisting Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course made for a largely passing-deprived IndyCar Series event. As much as this stop might be a fan favorite for the reasonable ticket prices, the lawn chair or blanket on a hillside festival seating and the plentiful camping amenities, it is high time for the IRL to take a hard look at whether or not this track really suits their product.

With on-track action at a minimum (except for the off-track excursions by those who missed their braking points), pit strategy became the determining factor in Sunday's race. Polesitter Will Power lead in the early going, but surrendered the point on Lap 26 (during the first caution period) and never regained it from there. Alex Tagliani, who a pitted just two laps prior, soon cycled to the front as the rest of the field made their stops. 'Tag' would hold the point for 30 laps, picking up the 2 bonus points for the most laps lead. he would go on to finish in a very respectable fourth place.

In the end it was Dario Franchitti and his Ganassi crew who judged the pit strategy the best, allowing him to stop when he was least likely to be held up by other drivers in what are the smallest pit boxes on one of the narrowest pit lanes that the series uses. he would lead twenty-nine of the last thirty laps, holding of Will Power for the win, his second of the year.

After the race, both drivers said that their cars were too evenly matched for there to be much chance of pulling of a pass on each other. “I was trying really hard at the end to make him make a mistake, letting him see me in his mirrors, letting him know if he made one little slip-up, I'm going to get him,” Will Power told reporters. “That was the only way I was going to get by.” 

Helio Castroneves finished third, Tagliani (as previously mentioned) was fourth and Scott Dixon was fifth. Here are the complete race results: http://www.indycar.com:8080/var/assets/HondaIndy200atMid-OhioRaceBoxScore.pdf

Earlier in the day, England's Martin Plowman lead flag-to-flag to capture his first Firestone Indy Lights Series victory.

The IndyCar Series moves on to it's final road/street race of 2010 at Infineon Raceway, in Sonoma CA, on Sunday August 22, at 5pm ET/10pm GMT.