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00:00in the ppg points chase a win at the last race in vancouver and a pull here has him
00:13now just two points behind the point leader bobby rayhall michael's season is the ultimate
00:18roller coaster a crash in the pits at long beach left him with only two points after
00:23the first two races but through all the ups and downs he put up numbers that could add
00:28up to the first ppg championship for this second generation driver this year he sat
00:34on the pole seven times more than any other driver he's led 670 laps nearly 40 percent
00:40of all laps run this season and his five victories are far and away the most in the series now
00:49the tour moves to attract michael knows well the mid ohio sports car course where last
00:54year a spin and then a broken wing could not stop the younger and ready from getting
01:06by his father and taking the checkered flag three times michael has finished second in
01:13the ppg championship this year the mantle of champion could be his but he needs a victory
01:19here at mid ohio to keep the dream alive our racing presents the 14th event of the 17 race
01:25schedule the mid ohio 200 just about halfway between cleveland and columbus and while last
01:31year they raced in the wet here's how the field will line up under ideal conditions and with the
01:36pole michael and ready on a tear in the second half of the season a winner in both toronto and
01:42vancouver outside row one is rick mears well-placed he was sixth in vancouver inside
01:48two is the consistent bobby ray hall one win and seven other top three finishes for the points
01:53leader an excellent qualifying position for scott pruitt coming off a fifth in vancouver in row three
01:58there's mo1 victory this season that at detroit also in three the eldest and ready mario fourth
02:04in vancouver on to row four to find little al don't count out the defending car champion and
02:09and john and ready struggling a bit as the season goes by in row five danny sullivan who is signed
02:14with gallus krakow for 92 and ari lyondyke a clouded future for him inside row six eddie
02:21cheever for target scotch along with toronto scott goodyear eighth in vancouver as the car
02:26circled the 2.25 mile permanent road course which features 15 turns they'll race for just under 200
02:33miles four of today's starters have won here before michael of course mario bobby ray hall
02:38twice and mo once and to get us underway here are derrick daly and the voice of indycar racing
02:43paul page there's the green flag so now we begin racing here at med ohio and rick mears gets a
02:50jump on michael can he hold it down into that tight turn oh mears got a great jump on michael
02:55but michael takes advantage of that inside down look at me kick the dust up oh michael and ready
03:01then rick mears then bobby ray hall here's the rest of the field coming through
03:12and this is the third race in a row that michael and ready has led the opening lap the rest of the
03:19field strings through you can see scott pruitt and the number 11 car as he closes in on ray hall
03:24for pruitt this is a home circuit they do most of their testing with the two true sports team here
03:29at a track that is in fact owned by true sports and remember nobody knows what leading the race
03:34how important that is more than michael remember the move he made way back in portland because it
03:39was so critical to get that lead now rick mears did get that jump but michael was very brave and
03:44very aggressive to snatch that inside line right on that opening lap but look at the lead he's now
03:49pulling away from rick mears the amount of space he puts between them that's because he's got nice
03:54clear road second place fights as rick mears being challenged by bobby ray hall then scott
04:00pruitt and emerson fittipaldi whose qualifying did not go the way they would have wanted yesterday
04:05of the penske organization because of some problems with the shock absorbers well you
04:09got a glimpse there of fittipaldi as he begins to close in now on scott pruitt in a fight for fifth
04:14place the leader of the race michael and ready as we are underway at the mid ohio sports car course
04:22in a tremendous fight in the indycars and michael and ready how for him this is a must-win situation
04:29that is if michael is to overtake bobby ray hall in the drivers standings the current points leader
04:35ray hall sits third early here at mid ohio michael and ready began this race on the pole and he
04:44continues in the lead with rick mears second and bobby ray hall sitting third here at mid ohio
04:48here again paul page as we watch a battle between eddie cheever and john and ready and just a few
04:56seconds ago john was able to try and hold off cheever but couldn't get the job done and cheever
05:03pushed his way past and picked up ninth place eddie cheever now seems to be trying to pull away
05:09from john but john staying with him he is staying with him it was actually a lapsed traffic situation
05:14that john and ready got slightly balked and cheever did take the opportunity went down the
05:19inside john and ready did try and take it back but cheever saw we was gonna do and did take a
05:24very very tight line at the end of the straight stop the move now we mentioned a report of possible
05:29contact between john jones and allenser jr. and fortunately we have an opportunity to take a look
05:36at that situation happened a few laps ago while little al was moving his way through traffic
05:44on that right front on the left rear it was actually randy lewis that he had waves his fist
05:49hopes that there isn't too much damage under that front suspension or the front wing but
05:54al jr. lost a lot of time to mario now he's made it up that shows he's still able to run fast
05:58well with apologies to john jones the report came to us and it was the 12 car jones instead
06:04it was the number 19 car the randy lewis entry and i don't think little al was any too happy
06:10about that let's hope that there is no sustained damage that will cause any particular problem it
06:14does not appear to be so as he continues his pursuit of mario and ready you know what he was
06:20very lucky that he actually didn't break that right front wing and we're looking very closely
06:26at the car here I don't see any damage but the tire does protrude about seven inches outside
06:31that front wing maybe that was just the only part that didn't make contact luckily he didn't break
06:36the wing or the suspension or bend it boy if he did it's a very narrow area that they were able
06:40to get in and as we look at the suspension now it looks good but of course we wouldn't be able
06:45to see would we that the kind of small damage that it could have done that's right and small
06:50little changes make big changes in the handling here but it can't be too bad because he did lose
06:54as we said 10 curlings to mario now he's right back up where he was about three laps ago he
07:00continues his pursuit of Mario Andretti a battle for sixth place see that 37.0 on the center of
07:06the steering wheel that's what the flow gauge on his dash ought to read when he comes into the pits
07:12and that's how he tells in fact on the radio some of the teams will actually report what they're
07:17seeing on their dash to the pits so that they can do the calculation against it every lap they go
07:22by that's right as he used the fuel the numbers go up he uses 10 gallons and reads 10 he uses 11
07:28gallons reads 11 if it gets to 37 the rule is you get yourself into the pits doesn't matter
07:34where you are in the track go straight to the pits if it reads above 37 well we see very little of
07:39Michael Andretti that's because he is leading this race but Rick Mears is closing down a little bit
07:45look at the interval there as Rick Mears works under Hiro Matsushita Rick Mears is now 2.7
07:52seconds behind Al Unser Jr. let's go to the Penske pits and get this update from Gary
07:57they're very happy obviously here at the way Rick Mears is settling in we talked with Richard Buck
08:02the crew chief for him just a few moments ago and they're very very comfortable it says it's a matter
08:07of getting rhythm anticipating now that first crucial fuel stop they plan at this point to
08:12bring Mears into this pit on lap 29 where Penske oversees the operation and then his teammate
08:18Fittipaldi comes on lap 30 provided he continues to get the mileage he's getting now so we're
08:22closing in on the first of two critical stops in that very narrow fuel window thus far everyone
08:29has played it very carefully in this race including second place Rick Mears while he's tried to close
08:34in on Michael and in fact tried to grab the lead away from him on the start with the exception of
08:40the Eddie Cheever pass of John Andretti there have been no changes at the top of the order
08:45everyone seems content to stay in this single-file line and I think that in part is due to the fuel
08:51situation shows how concerned they are they'd like to get to that first stop and find out
08:55exactly where they are before they really pour it on that's right strategy comes in three different
09:00parts here the first run as you say they can measure everything and monitor everything the
09:05second they can lay the plans but the third one is the one where they know if they either have
09:09enough fuel or they must short shift they really want to make sure they have enough fuel to race
09:15now Paul here's the number on Rahal's 30 wheel 36.6 now their crew chief has decided that that's
09:22the number that's the magic number for Rahal if he sees it on his digital readout 36.6 you get
09:28straight to the pits Bobby Rahal he is currently the points leader but in fact the race would end
09:35at this point that Michael Andretti will leave mid Ohio with a five-point advantage over Bobby
09:41Rahal and Michael has already picked up a point in his quest of Rahal for grabbing the pole
09:47position we'll be back to mid Ohio right after this welcome back to mid Ohio we mentioned earlier
09:56that Danny Sullivan will be driving for Gallus Craco racing next year while Bobby Rahal will be
10:01driving for Pat Patrick here is Rahal still trying to hold off the charging Emerson Fittipaldi
10:07the question mark of course is Fittipaldi Scott Pruitt the number 11 car in fourth place just
10:13tape took the turn down onto the pit road Jan Vickas is right there
10:18just came into the pits they're gonna change all four tires no changes expected on the chassis
10:23listen that engine rev
10:31Scott Pruitt is away and just ahead Alunzer Jr. also gets underway 14.7 seconds for Scott Pruitt
10:38Alunzer Jr. in and out these should be the last stops in this race there you see little Al coming
10:44out behind Scott Pruitt also Danny Sullivan the alpha power car is into the pits in one of his
10:50last rides for Patrick racing he will go over and drive for the Gallus Craco organization and of
10:56course Bobby Rahal will take the seat in this car next year Alunzer Jr. you saw him come in and leave
11:03right behind the other pit stop this is what we just mentioned everybody we've seen so far can
11:10actually change all four tires before the fuel is finished being put in the car so Danny Sullivan
11:18works back up to speed and Bobby Rahal comes into the pits the second place car also Emerson
11:24Fittipaldi Gary he's made the call no fresh rubber fuel only we've got the clock on the stop right
11:31now everybody watching he's gone in 12.5 seconds on our clock no fresh rubber he has hot tires
11:38and Fittipaldi is back on course and Rahal jumps out just in front of him Rahal just in front of
11:44him but the two are right together on the course and the course condition is green flag racing
11:48now Fittipaldi is going to try Rahal as he comes to the outside Fittipaldi tries to dial across Rahal
11:54and Fittipaldi takes him for the moment Rahal is on the cold tires exactly what we said takes too
12:00much time to heat them up that's the gamble we now know that Emerson is trying to play and pull on
12:05and he actually pulled it off a critical corner coming for Rahal still as the tire temperatures
12:10on his car come up to operating temperature he has to tiptoe through this area because it requires
12:16a great deal of stick to navigate through here but Fittipaldi has moved into second place and
12:22here comes the leader in Janmikas here comes Michael Angeni brings it to a stop Rahal has
12:27already been in juniors already been in this could be the race if they pull it off the way they
12:31normally do Michael will keep that lead
12:42they waited for every last jump of fuel at 13.5 he's out of here and to the shouts of the team
12:47saying go go go go go get Michael out of here and right behind him his dad Mario comes into the
12:52pits there's Mario making his stop Mario Andretti came into the pits running in second place behind
13:00his son at the time due to the spot stops in front of him and now Mario runs out
13:09okay watch what happens here Rahal tries to block Emerson moves down the inside Emerson on the warm
13:15tire the hot tires goes around the outside a great move now we know why he took the gamble
13:20and it did pay off of course the downside Tony Bettenhausen catches the barrier Tony
13:26Bettenhausen with some damage to the car now Tony sits in the cockpit but looks around to
13:31see what help he may have there so it doesn't appear that there is any injury to Tony Bettenhausen
13:37under full course yellow at mid Ohio Michael Andretti is still the leader but a great bit
13:42of strategy on Emerson Fittipaldi's part puts him into second place
13:46back racing under green at mid Ohio Scott Pruitt a qualified fourth continues to race fourth the
13:55points leader Bobby Rahal sits third while Emo chases Michael right now it's a battle in the
14:01IndyCars and it's focused on this man the number five car Emerson Fittipaldi as he tries to catch
14:07Michael Andretti for the lead of the race and Michael still has the big advantage because he
14:13is the leading car he is the one that will make it most difficult for Emerson to pass because if
14:19Emerson does get right behind him watch the way Michael's line will change because he will begin
14:24to drive defensively which he's entitled to do look at Al jr. and Rick Mears you saw the interval
14:29in the order in fact you saw all the way down to this battle fifth and sixth Rick Mears and Al
14:35Unser jr. as they fight and Rick Mears starts out to try an inside line on little Al oh a difficult
14:41move to pull off there we saw he stayed on that inside line but really he never got close enough
14:46to Al jr. Al was on a wide line turned down took the apex and gets on his way now it's up to three
14:51or four car lengths but look Mears seems to close up on this straight Mears might try to the inside
14:56here under braking the fastest straightaway down to a very slow corner Mears for the moment has
15:02to break off contact interesting comparison not only here but at the front of the field
15:06between the Lola and the Penske car both Rick Mears and Emerson Fittipaldi a car that they say
15:12they've been having some problems getting balanced properly on a road course that's right and that's
15:16the reason we've seen them have this trouble during racing situations when you have a full
15:22fuel load that's when the car everything on the car is taxed to the to the maximum that's when
15:26they have these troubles but both Penske's are very good here today but interesting Al jr. uses
15:31a lot more road through the infield section than Rick does and the Penske cars came here with the
15:36idea of keeping the race set up on board even through the qualifying because they needed to
15:41learn as much as they could about it now they've flashed across the line once again Michael Andretti
15:46has stretched out a bit of a lead over Fittipaldi now back up to 1.1 seconds and the battle remains
15:52here with Rick Mears trying to catch out Andrew jr. and the leader of this race well it is Michael
16:03Andretti pretty much still undecided who may win it let's go down to Jan Beekes well talking about
16:09that battle between Al jr. and Mears I spoke with the engineer and he said that Al's losing the
16:14front tires in other words he has a push in the car and the front tires are starting to go that's
16:18why he's dropping back into the clutches of Mears we just saw a great picture Jan of that push as he
16:23came up over the hill you can see the car washes way up uses a lot more road than Mears Michael
16:29Andretti and look ahead there is traffic on the course Fittipaldi no doubt sees it as well
16:35Michael who has been an absolute master as he flashes across the start finish line
16:39in full view of his wife Sandy but Michael knows how to handle the traffic but then again so does
16:45Fittipaldi the traffic may in fact be the factor in the closing laps of this race that's Hiro Matsushita
16:51just ahead of him he clears for Michael he does clear moves way to the outside I like to see him
16:56do that he can see Emerson is not behind him so he takes the apex moves back in but I'm sure he
17:01knows Emerson is behind him now he will move aside Michael now in the fastest part of the course and
17:06here comes Fittipaldi still trying to handle up the two slower cars and now he is actually blocked
17:12by both of them oh Emerson will be blocked because this is a very tight section of the race track
17:17here over the top of the hill Emerson is now being slowed look at Michael get away Emerson will not
17:22oh he didn't make it didn't get through so Emerson Fittipaldi being held up there just a bit
17:28as he tries to pursue Michael Andretti but that goes to the advantage of Michael as now he begins
17:33to pull away that's it look at the lead Michael has now what four five six current is six seconds
17:40of a lead here comes third place Bobby Raho and Scott Pruitt in fourth place down the hill
17:46and there's the battle between Rick Mears and Allenser Jr. as they continue to fight it out for fifth place
17:55over on the start finish line the white flag comes out to Michael Andretti
18:00indicating one more lap to go a final pass through the keyhole carousel
18:06and then down the long straightaway fuel should not be a problem the only problem for Michael
18:12was Emerson Fittipaldi and as they came across the line because of the traffic
18:16Fittipaldi was a full three seconds back from Michael Andretti
18:20it just shows you how big a part traffic can play in these races Michael got through
18:25but in a flash by just getting caught in this section here of the racetrack behind
18:29Greenfield and Matsushita Emerson lost a full three seconds
18:34well Michael Andretti working on his final lap here on possibly his 20th career win which will
18:41by the way tie him with Bobby Raho for 13th on the all-time win list Michael Raho or Michael
18:49Andretti will pass Bobby Raho in the points here at the same time he catches him in career wins
18:56oh Michael Andretti in the final quarter mile of the racetrack now sweeps around the carousel
19:02on to the pit straight and there are Nick Funaro's checkered flags as Michael Andretti has won and
19:09picked up the lead in the points it's the first time Michael has led in the PPG point standing
19:14this year and as they come across the line you saw that Al Unser jr was able to lead Rick Mears
19:20in the battle for fifth place as Michael Andretti comes in it's a jubilant Andretti crew led by
19:27Michael's wife Sandy who joins in the celebration back-to-back wins for Michael and visual
19:33confirmation of the results Michael winning for the sixth time in the last 10 races followed by
19:38Emerson Fittipaldi Bobby Real has to settle for third sixth through tenth includes Rick Mears a
19:44pair of Andretti's Mero and Jot with cars eight and nine there as well Eddie Cheever and Harry
19:48Leyandyke Toronto Scott Goodyear was 11 so with three races remaining Michael assumes the standings
19:54lead 22 points for the weekend for Michael moves him five in front of Bobby Raho little Al is 23
20:01off the leading base followed by Rick Mears and Emerson Fittipaldi. Brian