The results after nineteen races on sixteen weekends determined the 2013 IndyCar Champion. The series opened in late-March at St. Petersburg and ended at Auto Club Speedway in mid-October. The Championship had a good mix of ovals, temporary street circuit and road courses.

The series continued to use the Dallara DW-12 which was introduced in 2012 to replace the Dallara IR5. The philosophy behind a spec car was to control costs ($349,000/chassis). The DW12 also incorporated many new safety features – most noticeable was the bodywork surrounding the rear tires. The DW designation was in honour of the late Dan Wheldon, who had performed much of the testing on the new car.

There were two manufacturers providing engines for the season – Chevrolet and Honda. The twin-turbocharged engines produced approximately the same horsepower – 550-700-hp depending on the turbo boost.

There were some changes for 2013:

  • A point was awarded for leading a lap and two points were given to the driver leading the most laps
  • Points earned for positions nineteen through twenty-five were no longer flat – there would be a one-point difference between each of these finishing positions
  • The season included a return to Pocono Raceway and Houston’s Reliant Park
  • Also, returning was the Triple Crown which paid a $1-million bonus to a driver that won at Indianapolis, Pocono and Auto Club Speedway
  • Three venues would host doubleheader race weekends – Detroit, Toronto and Houston

    Round fourteen of the 2013 IndyCar series took place at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Twenty-four drivers would compete for ninety laps around the thirteen-turn 2.258-mile road course.

    For the second consecutive year, the Honda 200 was completed without a full course caution period.

    • Charlie Kimball driving the Honda-powered NovoLog FlexPen sponsored Chip Ganassi Racing entry captured his first IndyCar victory in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. Kimball is the ninth different winner in fourteen races and the fourth first-time victor in 2013 – the other first-time winners were James Hinchcliffe, Takuma Sato and Mike Conway. This result also gave Ganassi Racing their fifth consecutive win at Mid-Ohio.
    The second half of the Honda 200 came down to a duel between Simon Pagenaud in the Schmidt/Hamilton Motorsports Dallara and the eventual winner, Charlie Kimball. Pagenaud qualified eighth but was in the lead by lap-42. He surrendered first place to Kimball for the final time on seventy-third circuit. Kimball proved to be quicker and Pagenaud was 5.533-seconds behind him at the finish.
    Chip Ganassi driver, Dario Franchitti had a solid weekend. During the race, Franchitti chose the same strategy as the other top finishers. He decided to make three stops which meant he did not have to conserve fuel. The decision paid off as Franchitti took the final spot on the podium. His finish allowed Honda to sweep the rostrum.
    To date, Will Power’s season had not been up to his usual standards. The highlight of his year has been a third on the oval at Milwaukee. This was a particularly good result for Power as it is widely known that his strength is on the road courses. At Mid-Ohio, the Penske driver had a great qualifying effort and shared the front row with the pole-sitter, Ryan Hunter-Reay. Power was in fourth place when the race ended.
    Defending IndyCar champion, Ryan Hunter-Reay was the quickest driver in the qualifying session. This was Hunter-Reay’s third pole position of the year – his first two came at Barber Motorsport Park and Sao Paulo, Brazil. He led the first thirty laps in the Honda-powered Andretti Autosport entry before being passed by the eventual winner, Charlie Kimball. Hunter-Reay finished fifth and maintained third in the point’s standings.
    Scott Dixon, the driver of the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing entry, was twenty-nine points behind the championship leader, Helio Castroneves. Dixon and the team had to be filled with confidence as he had won the last two IndyCar races at Mid-Ohio. In fact, he had never finished outside the top-five. In 2013, both these streaks would end. After qualifying third, he finished ninth and lost some ground to Castroneves.
    Having a particularly good qualifying session was Marco Andretti. Andretti recorded the fourth quickest time driving the Honda-powered Dallara – he was the second fastest of the four Andretti Autosport entries. Unfortunately for Andretti, his performance slipped during the race and he finished ninth.
    Entering round fourteen, Helio Castroneves was the point’s leader. His season thus far included five podiums one of which was a victory at Texas – at the previous round in Toronto he was second. At Mid-Ohio, he qualified fourteenth in a field of twenty-four cars. At the conclusion of ninety laps, the driver of the No. 3 Penske Racing entry finished sixth which allowed him to maintain first place in the title chase.
    Justin Wilson drove the No. 19 Honda-powered Dallara for Dale Coyne Racing. Wilson entered the Mid-Ohio event with eight top-ten finishes which included thirds at Long Beach and Detroit. At Mid-Ohio, he was gridded seventh - at the checkered flag, Wilson lost a position and finished eighth. Wilson’s result didn’t impact his standings in the point’s chase – he was still ninth.

    FIN.STARTDRIVERCARENTRANTLAPSRETIREMENTS
    15Charlie KimballDallara DW-12 / HondaNovoLog FlexPen90-
    28Simon PagenaudDallara DW-12 / HondaSchmidt Hamilton HP90-
    36Dario FranchittiDallara DW-12 / HondaGE Reveal Chip Ganassi Racing90-
    42Will PowerDallara DW-12 / ChevroletVerizon Team Penske90-
    51Ryan Hunter-ReayDallara DW-12 / ChevroletDHL / Sun Drop Citrus Soda90-
    614Helio CastronevesDallara DW-12 / ChevroletPPG Team Penske90-
    73Scott DixonDallara DW-12 / HondaTarget Chip Ganassi Racing90-
    87Justin WilsonDallara DW-12 / HondaDale Coyne Racing90-
    94Marco AndrettiDallara DW-12 / ChevroletRC Cola / Live United90-
    1012James HinchcliffeDallara DW-12 / ChevroletGoDaddy90-
    119Simona De SilvestroDallara DW-12 / ChevroletNuclear Entergy Areva KVRT90-
    1213Sebastien BourdaisDallara DW-12 / ChevroletDragon Racing90-
    1310James JakesDallara DW-12 / HondaAcorn Stairlifts90-
    1417Oriol ServiaDallara DW-12 / ChevroletPanter Racing90-
    1516James DavisonDallara DW-12 / HondaSonny's BBQ90-
    1624Luca FilippiDallara DW-12 / HondaBarracuda Networks90-
    1711E.J. VisoDallara DW-12 / ChevroletTeam Venezuela-CITGO-PDVSA89-
    1822Graham RahalDallara DW-12 / HondaMidas/Big-O Tires89-
    1920Sebastian SaavedraDallara DW-12 / ChevroletDragon Racing89-
    2023Ed CarpenterDallara DW-12 / ChevroletFuzzy's Vodka/Ed Carpenter89-
    2121Tristan VautierDallara DW-12 / HondaAngie's List Schmidt Peterson89-
    2215Takuma SatoDallara DW-12 / HondaABC Supply/A.J. Foyt Racing89-
    2318Josef NewgardenDallara DW-12 / HondaSarah Fisher Hartman Racing88-
    2419Tony KanaanDallara DW-12 / ChevroletKV Racing Technology64Loose Wheel

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