STEAM CORNERS, Ohio – Ohio’s own Graham Rahal was the fastest driver in Sunday morning’s 30-minute warmup session for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio.
Rahal, who grew up in nearby New Albany, Ohio, turned a fast lap at 1:08.4255 around the 2.258-mile, 13-turn Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Six-time Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio winner Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing was second at 1:08.6916 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda.
Second-year IndyCar driver David Malukas of Dale Coyne Racing was third at 1:08.6385 in the No. 18 Honda followed by Andretti Autosport driver Devlin DeFrancesco’s 1:08.7787 and Marcus Ericsson’s 1:08.924, both in Hondas.
Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio pole winner Colton Herta was sixth at 1:09.0804 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda for Andretti Autosport.
Team Penske’s Will Power brought out a red flag when he ran off course in Turn 4 and the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet was stuck in the gravel. After it was extricated, the session resumed.
Conor Daly, who replaced Simon Pagenaud after the Meyer Shank Racing driver was not cleared to compete by the IndyCar Medical Team, had to quickly adapt to the No. 60 SiriusXM/Auto Nation Honda.
Pagenaud had a massive crash in turn four on Saturday as the car barrel-rolled 6-1/2 times before coming to a stop against the tire barriers.
IndyCar Medical did not clear the 2016 Mid-Ohio winner on Saturday and determined he needed to be re-evaluated on Sunday.
After the second evaluation, IndyCar Medical told Pagenaud to sit out Sunday’s race.
“I feel good, everything is fine, unfortunately with the great medical team we have behind us, they thought it was best I sit out the race today and I respect that,” Pagenaud said. “I’m a pro. I can tell them whether a race car is good or not and they can tell me about my head.
“I’m a racer, man. I just want to go race. I have raced with much worse, but it will be tough today to watch from the bench. It is what is best for me, what is best for the team, and I respect the medical decision.
“I’m here today, will see what Conor Daly does, and hope he can bring it home for the team.”
Daly, who had been released from Ed Carpenter Racing after the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, was at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course as a spectator and was an easy choice as Pagenaud’s replacement.
In addition to getting acclimated with Meyer-Shank Racing, Daly was also driving a Honda backup car that had to be prepared overnight for the 13-turn, 2.258-mile road course.
Also, the weather conditions were dramatically different on Sunday morning. An early morning rainstorm had washed off the track and the temperature dropped to 72 degrees with 89 percent humidity when the warmup began.
It was also cloudy an overcast on Sunday compared to hotter and sunnier on Saturday.
Daly was able to finish Sunday’s session 12th fastest out of 27 drivers on track with a fast time of 1:09.3978.
“I don’t know yet,” Daly said. “I’m still getting used to some things. This team does a great job of giving me information. It felt pretty good. It’s something I enjoy. I appreciate these guys helping me out. It’s a cool car.
“We can only go forward. Strategically, we will go opposite of what everyone else does and move forward. I don’t know how the tires are here yet. But I enjoyed the primaries first off and then the Reds. It’s a long race.
“Simon Pagenaud has been super helpful. He sent me a text this morning and knows what is going on. I know he will be back, very strong.”
Sunday’s race can be seen on USA Network with the broadcasting beginning at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time and the green flag set for 1:47 p.m. ET.