The 2017 Mid-Ohio Challenge was the 21st stock car race of the 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series season and the fifth iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, August 12, 2018, in Lexington, Ohio at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, a 2.258 miles (3.634 km) permanent road course. The race took the scheduled 75 laps to complete. At race's end, Sam Hornish Jr., driving for Team Penske, would hold off the field on the final restart with five to go to complete a dominant performance.^[1] The win was Hornish's sixth and to date, final career win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and his only win of the season. To fill out the podium, Daniel Hemric, driving for Richard Childress Racing, and Matt Tifft, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

The layout of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the venue where the race was held.

The track is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. Mid-Ohio has also colloquially become a term for the entire north-central region of the state, from south of Sandusky to the north of Columbus.

The track opened as a 15-turn, 2.4 mile (3.86 km) road circuit run clockwise. The back portion of the track allows speeds approaching 180 mph (290 km/h). A separate starting line is located on the backstretch to allow for safer rolling starts. The regular start / finish line is located on the pit straight. There is grandstand seating for 10,000 spectators and three observation mounds alongside the track raise the capacity to over 75,000.

Practice

Originally, two practices were scheduled to be held on Friday, August 11. However, rain would force the cancellation of both sessions. Instead, a lone practice session was run the following day.^[2]

The only 45-minute practice session was held on Saturday, August 12, at 8:00 AM EST.^[3] Sam Hornish Jr., driving for Team Penske would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 1:25.695 and an average speed of 94.857 miles per hour (152.658 km/h).^[4]

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Saturday, August 12, at 12:00 PM EST.^[3] Since the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course, the qualifying system was a multi-car system that included two rounds. The first round was 25 minutes, where every driver would be able to set a lap within the 25 minutes. Then, the second round would consist of the fastest 12 cars in Round 1, and drivers would have 10 minutes to set a lap. Whoever set the fastest time in Round 2 would win the pole.^[5]

Sam Hornish Jr., driving for Team Penske would win the pole, with a lap of 1:23.921 and an average speed of 96.863 miles per hour (155.886 km/h) in the second round.^[6]

No drivers would fail to qualify.

Race results

Stage 1 Laps: 20

Stage 2 Laps: 20

Stage 3 Laps: 35

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Elliott Sadler 763 2 William Byron 682 (-81) 3 Justin Allgaier 621 (–142) 4 Brennan Poole 581 (–182) 5 Daniel Hemric 567 (–196) 6 Cole Custer 505 (-258) 7 Matt Tifft 494 (-269) 8 Ryan Reed 457 (-306) 9 Dakoda Armstrong 431 (-332) 10 Blake Koch 431 (-332) 11 Brendan Gaughan 421 (-342) 12 Michael Annett 410 (-353) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 12 positions are included for the driver standings.

References