had 30 points, seven rebounds and six assists in his debut.* The

STEAM CORNERS, OHIO -- Road racing has become the bread and butter of the Verizon IndyCar Series, and the open-wheelers headline one of Americas top summer road racing festivals this weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.?The Honda Indy 200 weekend features not only the IndyCar Series, but the full Mazda Road to Indy lineup as well as multiple classes in the Pirelli World Challenge, creating three days of dawn-to-dusk action.?While oval tracks like Texas Motor Speedway and Iowa Speedway struggled to fill the seats this summer, business was booming for IndyCar in June on its return to the Road America road course in Wisconsin after a nine-year absence. The Honda Indy Toronto also demonstrated a substantial increase in attendance this year as well, and Long Beach, St. Petersburg and Barber Motorsports Park continue to perform well for IndyCar at the gate.?Boosted by the presence of the Columbus-based Truesports team and driver Bobby Rahal, open-wheel racing built a substantial crowd base in Ohio when the CART-sanctioned IndyCar Series raced there from 1983-2003. After dropping off the calendar in the latter years of the IndyCar split, Mid-Ohios crowds have grown every year since 2007, the year the modern IndyCar Series made its debut on the 2.38-mile road course located -- logically enough -- midway between Columbus and Cleveland.?The IndyCar event, known as the Honda Indy 200, succeeds almost in spite of itself. Mid-Ohio was built in the early 1960s, updated and expanded in the early 80s, and it is still state-of-the-art 1983. Thats part of its charm, but its also frustrating to think just how much potential the venue would have if track owners Kevin Savoree and Kim Green would make the same kind of investment that has resulted in Road America maintaining its old-fashioned allure while providing modern amenities to spectators and competitors.?At Mid-Ohio, its the facility itself that continues to draw people. The hilly, wooded terrain is perfect for camping and hiking, and the race track that winds through the land is a gem for spectators, compact enough to walk most of a lap and watch from almost all of the 14 corners in an hour.?Its a favorite among drivers too. Youll often hear words like technical, challenging, and physically demanding come up in discussion.?The corners range from the 50-mph hairpin known as the Keyhole to the fearsome Turn 1, an off-camber, 90-degree left-hander taken flat in fifth gear more than 100 mph faster. Theres hard braking into the Keyhole and the unique banked Esses, and many good qualifying efforts have been thrown away when a driver failed to properly negotiate the Carousel that ends the lap.?Its a course that really has a bit of everything, observed Chip Ganassi Racings Charlie Kimball, who earned his only Indy car win with a dominant drive in 2013. Tight corners, flowing corners, elevation changes -- it can be challenging, for sure.?More than any other team, Ganassi Racing has gotten a handle on Mid-Ohio and its quirks. Ganassi drivers have won six of the last seven Indy car races at Mid-Ohio, with a total of 10 wins since 1996.?Four-time IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon is responsible for half of those victories, taking the honors in 2007, 09, 11, 12 and 14. There have been times when the New Zealander has been simply peerless, such as in 2009 when he won by nearly 30 seconds.?Dixon arrives at Mid-Ohio this year not only needing a win to get back into championship contention (hes fourth in the IndyCar Series standings, 83 points behind leader Simon Pagenaud) but also to gain some momentum and positive attention for Ganassi in the wake of this weeks news that longtime sponsor Target Stores is ending its support of the team at the end of the 2016 season after 27 years. ?Dixon was unofficially fastest in a recent open test at Mid-Ohio, reported lapping about 0.1 second under his track record of 1:04.55.?Its a place that we always feel that all four of our teams will have a shot at winning, and there arent many tracks out there where your confidence level is that high as a team, Dixon stated. We always have a stable platform to work with at Mid-Ohio and its a track that really feels like home.?Mid-Ohio truly is a home track for Graham Rahal, who despite no longer living in greater Columbus, has taken on his fathers mantle as the local favorite.?Graham Rahals victory at Mid-Ohio in 2015 was one of the most popular wins in recent memory, and he made it even more special to the partisan crowd by wearing a helmet designed to look like an Ohio State Buckeyes football helmet.?This year, Rahal has refined the design, adding additional buckeye stickers to signify the five podium finishes he achieved in the last year -- and a few grass stains too. Hell also wear a firesuit that incorporates Steak n Shake branding into an OSU football uniform theme.?To win at Mid-Ohio is a career accomplishment that I will never forget or take for granted, Rahal remarked. The way it all came together last year, every aspect of it, made it perfect for me.?Other drivers to watch this weekend include points leader Pagenaud, who has seen his margin shrink to 47 points over Will Power. Helio Castroneves is 74 points back as Team Penske drivers hold down positions 1-2-3 in the IndyCar Series championship standings.?Pagenaud was pleased with his recent Mid-Ohio test program, declaring Were ready to go.?Castroneves owns two Mid-Ohio wins, but they came back in 2000 and 01 in the CART-sanctioned Indy car series. Team Penskes fourth driver Juan Montoya won at Mid-Ohio for Ganassi Racing in 1999.?Surprisingly, Power has never won at a track that would seem to suit him. Hes earned multiple poles and led many laps, but never bettered a second place finish.?Weve built a lot of momentum in the middle part of the season and well look to keep it going at Mid-Ohio, Power said. Weve gotten ourselves into the championship fight, but its still a little early to be counting points. We just need to keep doing what we have been and let the points manage themselves.?It is not a track that Ive won at before, so this would be a great time to do that, he added. But well need to work hard to accomplish that. Cheap Football Jerseys Authentic .Y. -- Jayna Hefford scored the winning goal Friday as Canada survived a scare with a 4-3 win over Sweden at the Four Nations womens hockey tournament. Cheap Football Jerseys China . Here are his mid-season NBA awards. MVP: (KEVIN DURANT-Thunder) - Has been sensational this season and more importantly, the most consistent player in the league. Considering that his team has been without star guard Russell Westbrook and with the free agent departure of sharpshooter Kevin Martin, hes had to carry the majority of the load to not only keep his team afloat but more importantly, at an elite level. http://www.cheapfootballjerseys.us.org/ .com) - The Montreal Canadiens embark on their first road trip of the season as they head out west to battle the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Football Jerseys Sale . In the lead up - which seemed to begin the moment Mike Geiger blew the whistle in Houston last Thursday night - the Impact rumour mill went into overdrive. The speculation went into meltdown mode, of the golden nugget variety. Discount Football Jerseys . Wilson hit Schenn from behind during Tuesday nights game in Philadelphia, earning a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct. He has a phone hearing with the department of player safety, which limits any potential suspension to five or fewer games. The John R. Wooden Award, presented to the nations best college basketball player, released its first watch list on Tuesday.The preseason list includes 50 names, but it should be noted that players not on the current list can be added as the season progresses and the best players are revealed.They range from those who arent household names, such as Davidsons Jack Gibbs and Valparaisos Alec Peters, to players who have been around a while, such as Kansas Frank Mason III and Virginias London Perrantes.A front-runner to consider this season may be Duke junior guard Grayson Allen, who was the leading vote-getter in the Associated Press preseason All-America team after averaging 21.6 points last season. Close behind Allen is California sophomore forward Ivan Rabb, who averaged 12.5 points and 8.6 rebounds last season.It should be noted that maintaining at least a 2.0 cumulative grade point average is factored into the award. Thats what kept LSUs?Ben Simmons?off the final ballot last season.The Wooden Award will announce a midseason top 25 in January and a late-season top 20 in February before producing its final ballot in March. The winner will be announced in April.Here are a few breakdowns of the preseason list:* Judging by the class breakdown of the list, this season wont be the year of the senior. Last season the Wooden Award race was close between seniors Buddy Hield (Oklahoma) and Denzel Valentine (Michigan State)?and had 26 seniors on the preseason top 50. This year the number of seniors, while the most of aany class, dropped to 16.ddddddddddddThat includes defending national champion Villanovas contributions to the list with Kris Jenkins and Josh Hart.* Freshmen picked up the most spots this year, going from seven in 2015 to 12. A few have already made splashes, such as Washingtons Markelle Fultz, who had 30 points, seven rebounds and six assists in his debut.* The sophomore and junior classes contributed 11 players each.* Five players named to the preseason top 50 are making repeat appearances, having also been on it to begin last season: Dukes Allen; Indianas James Blackmon Jr.; Wisconsins Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig; and Marylands Melo Trimble.* Several players who have yet to take the court this season form the injured reserve section of the list: Dukes Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum and Oregons Dillon Brooks are still trying to become healthy enough to play.* Players from 10 schools comprise exactly half the list with Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, Oregon and Wisconsin each represented by three players apiece. Last year, Kentucky and Indiana were the only schools with three players each.* The ACC leads all conferences with 12 players selected, and its eight different schools represented also were the most among all conferences. The Big Ten matched its selections from last year and had 10 players from seven different schools, which was second most among conferences in both categories. ' ' '