Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson looks to maintain IndyCar series points lead at Mid-Ohio

LEXINGTON — No driver has been in better racing form throughout the IndyCar Series season than Marcus Ericsson.

In his fourth full season as an IndyCar driver, the former Formula 1 driver carries a 27-points championship lead — 293 points to the 266 Will Power of Team Penske — halfway through the season and to the surprise of many racing pundits.

"I think consistency and building on last year," said Ericsson in a phone interview, discussing the biggest difference this season compared to last season. "Last year was a strong year for us. We finished sixth in points and had a couple of wins and some podiums [top-three finish]. We worked in the offseason to focus on areas we feel like we were lacking a bit in."

The 2021 campaign was seen as a step-up season for Ericsson, where he finished sixth in the IndyCar Series points standings and picked up wins at the Detroit Grand Prix in Detroit and the Music City Grand Prix in Nashville.

Ericsson, who drives the No. 8 Honda-powered car for Chip Ganassi Racing, says he and his team have made an enormous improvement racing the ovals, which forces drivers to race very discipline while also maintaining speed as they position themselves on the inside or outside of the track.

"We've improved mainly in the ovals," said Ericsson. "We've improved on the ovals and still kept our form on the road and street courses. I think that's been the key for us this year."

Refining his work in the ovals in 2022 has helped the 31-year-old native of Sweden win the XPEL 375 in Fort Worth, Texas, and place second at the Sonso Grand Prix at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

Yet, the crowning achievement of his career came in May, when Ericsson won the Indianapolis 500, the most coveted race in IndyCar, by holding off Pato O'Ward late down the stretch.

With the win, Ericsson joined Kenny Brack (1999) as the only Swedish drivers to win the Indianapolis 500. Talking about the victory, Ericsson still seems on Cloud 9.

"It's almost hard to put into words," he said." It's the biggest race in the world really. It's something you dream of and work towards all your life. To actually win it, I still don't think it's actually sunk in. It's an amazing feeling and it obviously gives us a lot of confidence the rest of the season."

Ericsson will take that confidence into the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio in Lexington this Sunday as he aims to extend his points lead.

"I always enjoy Mid-Ohio," said Ericsson. "It's always a fun race and the fans come out to see us."

Last year, Ericsson finished second at Mid-Ohio and vividly remembers how the race played out.

"Yeah, I've got some good memories of it," he said. "I had a really good racecar that day. I was hunting down Josef [Newgarden] during that last stretch really well and I think there was a six second gap towards the end, and Josef ended up getting over the finish line. We were really strong and fast, so it gives us great hope that we can be even better this year because I feel like we have developed as a team since then."

Analyzing the track, Ericsson says Mid-Ohio does present some challenges.

"I think it's one of the most technical tracks that we go to on the calendar," he said. "It has a lot of flowing corners that sort of connect to each other, so you need to be very precise in the way that you drive and it makes for quite a big challenge. I think the whole track is a technical one and requires a lot from the car but also from the driver."

As Ericsson goes into the second half of the season in the points lead, his goal is to sustain his racing level that will ultimately lead to the prized IndyCar Series championship.

"It's such a close championship. It's the toughest championship in the world at this moment I believe," said Ericsson. "I think the consistency is going to be key, trying to get top 5, top 3s and get a couple more wins. I think that's what we need in the second half of the season. If we do that, we should be in the chase to win the championship when we get to the end."

jsimpson@gannett.com

Twitter: @JamesSimpsonII

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Marcus Ericsson heads into Honda Indy 200 with IndyCar Series points lead