We're At Mid-Ohio For The Honda Indy 200

And by "we" I mean me, specifically. I'm here at the legendary Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course all weekend to cover the Honda Indy 200. This is not only the first time I've covered an IndyCar race, but the first time I've ever been to one, period. I'm pretty excited to be here.

Also, coming from Texas I'm just happy to be somewhere where it's not 100 degrees outside.

It'll be interesting for a first-timer. This season of IndyCar has seen its troubles. The year has been marked with freak aerial incidents, expensive new aero kits, a spectator injury, clamping down on driver criticism, and now the resignation of its president.

All of this comes at a time when the series is making steady and incremental gains but still struggling to find a way back to America's open wheel glory days, even when it has some of the best racing action you can see anywhere. Ratings-wise it's the best season they've had in years, and that's a positive thing.

And Mid-Ohio is great because in addition to being a pretty spectacular 2.25-mile, 13-turn race course for this race, it's always a big draw for some of the region's most dedicated and loyal longtime IndyCar fans.

Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya comes into this race, the third to last of the 2015 season, with the lead in points. Graham Rahal is right behind him with Scott Dixon coming up in third. Dixon was fastest in practice yesterday and he's won five of the last eight races here, so I think it's safe to say his chances are solid. But unlike Formula One lately, there's a lot of variety in who could win an IndyCar race, which is what makes it fun.

In addition to IndyCar there's also a Pirelli World Challenge race here and that's always a ton of fun to watch.

If you're out at Mid-Ohio for the race weekend, hit me up, I'll be out and about. If you're watching from home, let us know what you hope to see out here.

Photos credit Damien Harvey for Jalopnik

Contact the author at patrick@jalopnik.com.