He will be driving for his eighth career series win, which would give him five consecutive winning seasons.Īlso working in the favor of Herta and Rahal, along with Honda, is that seven of the past series races at this track have been won by drivers starting on the front row. Herta is also a former INDYCAR SERIES race winner at Mid-Ohio, reaching victory lane in 2020. Rahal was born an hour south of the 13-turn, 2.258-mile permanent road course, attended many races here with his father, and scored the signature win of his career in the INDYCAR SERIES race in 2015. “I’m not going to lie - it was a good lap, and I knew it was solid,” Rahal said. But he very much wanted the pole at his home track. Being second in qualifying was his best effort in four-plus years – since early in the 2019 season - and he reached the Firestone Fast Six for the first time since late in 2021. “Really happy to get two in a row,” Herta said, smiling.įor Rahal, it was a mixed emotional bag. He will seek his first race win of the season Sunday in The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2023 Accord Hybrid. It was the second-closest battle for the pole on a road course or street circuit this season.įor Herta, it was the 11th pole of his still-young career and second in as many races as he also earned the top starting position for last month’s Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR. 0432 seconds, with Herta’s pole-winning time 1 minute, 6.3096 seconds. Their best laps were distinguished by just. It was Honda's first such sweep since the format was implemented more than a decade ago.Īndretti Autosport’s Colton Herta, the son of four-time race winner Bryan Herta, scored the NTT P1 Award in dramatic fashion, turning a lap tantalizingly quicker than Graham Rahal, whose father, Bobby Rahal, was a three-time INDYCAR SERIES champion. In fact, all six drivers in the Firestone Fast Six round were powered by Honda, the first time that one manufacturer has swept the final qualifying group since 2016 when Chevrolet did at Watkins Glen International.

One second-generation NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver edged another Saturday in qualifying at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and both had Honda behind them.

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