Palou favored at Mid-Ohio

LEXINGTON — With six wins in nine races, Alex Palou enters Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio as the clear favorite and continues to close in on a potentially historic season.

The Chip Ganassi Racing driver holds a commanding 93-point lead in the NTT IndyCar Series standings and is looking for his second career win on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Palou finished second at this event a year ago and has three podium finishes in four career starts at the track.

Palou’s dominance has left little room for challengers, but several drivers hope to break through Sunday. Among them is Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood, who trails Palou in the points and owns two wins this season but has never finished better than eighth at Mid-Ohio.

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, who won at Mid-Ohio in 2022, and Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward, last year’s race winner, are also expected to contend. Six-time series champion Scott Dixon has six victories at Mid-Ohio — the most all-time — but hasn’t won since 2023 and finished 27th here last year after a rare mechanical issue.

This year’s race has been extended to 90 laps, up from 80, which is expected to influence pit strategies and tire wear. Cautions are uncommon at Mid-Ohio — only one yellow flag flew during last year’s race — making clean air and qualifying position especially important.

Sunday’s race is the first of four in a packed July for IndyCar. Practice and qualifying will take place earlier in the day, with the green flag scheduled to wave at 1:30 p.m.

With Palou chasing a potential 10-win season — a mark reached only by legends like A.J. Foyt and Al Unser — all eyes will be on whether the Spaniard can inch closer to a historic benchmark or if one of his rivals can finally knock him off course.

American runs for F1 president

WHITTLEBURY, England (AP) — American ex- Formula 1 race steward Tim Mayer confirmed his candidacy for the presidency of the sport’s governing body on Friday, claiming that incumbent Mohammed Ben Sulayem has clashed with star drivers and failed to deliver on promises of reform.

Mayer says he’ll make the FIA more democratic, arguing that Ben Sulayem has amassed too much power and spent his time quarreling about F1 drivers’ conduct.

“We’ve got major world championships where he’s fighting with, or certainly not working with, the stars of our sport,” Mayer told The Associated Press.

Mayer acknowledged that his key promises — more transparency and more resources to develop grassroots auto racing outside of wealthy countries — are similar to Ben Sulayem’s own pledges when he was elected in 2021.

Mayer says Ben Sulayem hasn’t delivered and accused him of creating an environment where staff are pushed out if they disagree.

“We’ve seen it time and time again,” Mayer told the AP, speaking near Silverstone ahead of the British Grand Prix. “He’s hired senior leadership. He’s said, ‘OK, I’m going to let you do your job.’ And then he’s fired them.”

The AP asked the FIA for a response from Ben Sulayem.

Mayer himself has said he was asked to step down as an F1 steward last year after Ben Sulayem objected to his role in an appeal filed by the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, in relation to an FIA fine. Mayer said Friday his candidacy was “not about revenge”.

FIA rules make it a daunting task to organize an opposition campaign. Mayer will need to travel the globe chasing the votes of 245 member clubs in 149 countries ahead of the Dec. 12 election. He isn’t allowed to run for president on his own, but must assemble a lengthy list of candidates for other posts from various regions of the world.

Mayer is the son of McLaren team co-founder Teddy Mayer. He has held senior roles in U.S. racing series and was a long-time F1 steward until last year.

Clark still out

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Caitlin Clark will miss her fifth consecutive game with a strained left groin for the Indiana Fever when they host Los Angeles.

The Fever announced Clark’s status on Friday, a day before their game against the Sparks. Clark’s most recent absence came Thursday night when she sat out Indiana’s 81-54 win over Las Vegas as the Fever snapped a 16-game losing streak against the Aces.

She also missed the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup victory over the Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday, which did not count toward the regular-season standings.

Clark, the first overall pick in the 2024 draft and one of the two captains selected for the WNBA All-Star Game later this month, never missed a game in college at Iowa or with the Fever as a rookie. A strained quadriceps earlier this season kept her out for five games.