INDYCAR: So near, so far for Aleshin

The strategy was perfect, the car was great and Mikhail Aleshin was all set for his first IndyCar victory Sunday afternoon at Mid-Ohio.

Leading the Honda Indy 200 and Will Power by 10 seconds on lap 61, all Aleshin needed was a good pit stop and a green-flag track for the final 30 laps on a road course that hasn't bred very many caution flags the past few years.

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But Jack Hawskworth crashed in Turn 1 to bring out a full-course yellow and now Aleshin needed a clean final pit stop. His SPM crew gave him great service and sent him out right in front of Josef Newgarden, who was coming into his pit box. They tangled and in a matter of seconds he'd gone from the catbird seat to 17th place.

"The #7 crew have been working hard to get quicker and we had a great last stop," said owner Sam Schmidt. "I guess that's one time I wish we'd have been about a second slower. But that's racing."

After climbing out of his car, Aleshin was gracious, not angry, as he thanked his crew members instead of scolding them.

"It was an unfortunate incident – we all make mistakes, and sometimes these things happen," said the 29-year-old Moscow native. "We were ready to win but just got a little bit unlucky."

Last for much of Friday's practice, engineer Blair Perschbacher and Aleshin kept working with their SMP Dallara-Honda and he qualified 10th. Running eighth on Sunday, he pitted on lap 12 and Scott Dixon brought out a full-course caution on lap 15 that leap-frogged him into the lead on lap 26 following everyone's pit stops.

Aleshin led laps 26-41 before pitting and again found himself leading by lap 45 when the pit stops cycled through. On black tires instead of the softer reds being used by Simon Pagenaud and Power, he pulled steadily ahead.

"The car was amazing – nobody was faster than us and I was very comfortable in front," said the young man who nearly lost his life at Fontana in 2014. "I wasn't even pushing that hard because I was saving fuel and everything was looking good."

Sitting on the pit wall afterward – with an ice pack on his right hand because the wheel wrapped around it when he hit Newgarden – Aleshin accepted well wishes from teammate James Hinchcliffe's crew and Dario Franchitti.

"Nice job out there pal," said the three-time Indy 500 winner.

Aleshin smiled and thanked Franchitti for noticing.

"That was nice of him," he said. "So today wasn't all bad."