INDYCAR: Dixon leads third Mid-Ohio practice

Scott Dixon, big surprise, set the fastest lap in Saturday's final practice before qualifying for Sunday's Honda Indy 200 but 18 other drivers broke Dixon's track record in a dizzying 45-minute session.

Dixon, a five-time winner here at Mid-Ohio, cracked a 1:03.724 in the Target Chevy which obliterated his year-old mark of 1:04.581 around the twisting, 2.2-mile road course. But it was a logjam at the top as point leader Simon Pagenaud, Will Power and Josef Newgarden were less than two-tenths of a second behind Dixon and Tony Kanaan was only two-tenths behind his Ganassi teammate.

Related Stories

"It's insane, the most competitive field ever," said Kanaan. "Two tenths of a second used to drop you to fourth or fifth and now you'd be down in 16th."

All four of Ganassi's cars were in the top 10 as rookie Max Chilton was sixth and Charlie Kimball eighth and Chevrolet owned seven on the top-10 times.

Defending champ Graham Rahal was again the quickest of the Hondas with a 1:04.076 – good for seventh – while James Hinchcliffe and Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out top 10 in Hondas.

From Dixon to Marco Andretti, last at 1:04.766, only a second separated 22 cars.

A pair of IndyCar rookies brought out red flags during the 45-minute session. The most comical scene involved Ed Carpenter Racing's Spencer Pigot, who slid off into the gravel trap at Turn 4 and was asked to stay in the car while track workers – with the help of the Holmatro Safety Team – lifted his No. 20 Chevy into the air and slowly drove him back to the racing surface before firing the engine and sending the defending Indy Lights champion on his way.

Dale Coyne Racing's Conor Daly went off at Turn 7 in his No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda to close the session and gently nosed into the barriers. Daly also went off in the first practice session and incurred nose damage.

UP NEXT: Qualifying at 2 p.m. ET.

PRACTICE 3 TIMES: