Pre-Race Notes: Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio
Lexington, Ohio | July 3-5, 2026
The NTT INDYCAR® SERIES is back on track this Independence Day weekend in Lexington, Ohio, for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course, along with an INDY NXT by Firestone doubleheader. The 2.258-mile, 13-turn (eight right, five left) natural terrain permanent road course features a blind left-hand high-speed corner (Turn 1), a tight “keyhole” corner, a flowing “carousel”, and 136 feet of elevation changes.
Nearly 200 Firestone Race Tire Engineering and Production team members from the Advance Tire Production Center (ATPC) in Akron, Ohio, will be in attendance this weekend as guests at Firestone’s trackside hospitality to enjoy their home race and celebrate Firestone’s 125th anniversary.
More than 37,000 Firestone Firehawk race tires, for both the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT by Firestone, are designed and manufactured at ATPC in the same Ohio community where Harvey Firestone founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company and began its legacy of tire manufacturing on August 3, 1900. ATPC opened in 2022 and is certified by the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) system for its transparency and traceability of sustainable raw materials[1].
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
- Firestone will provide approximately 1400 race tires to 25 NTT INDYCAR SERIES entries for practices and qualifying, including the Firestone Fast Six, and Sunday’s 90-lap (203.22-mile) race.
- Firestone will supply Firehawk race tires for use at Mid-Ohio Sportscar course that integrate Bridgestone global ENLITEN™ Technology components[2], including the following materials[3]:
- Renewable soybean oil: Replaces petroleum-based oils traditionally used in tire compounds
- Recycled carbon black: Reinforcement material recovered from end-of-life tire
- As per INDYCAR Rule 15.3.3.2.1. for road course events, each entry must use one (1) set of primary tires and one (1) set of new (sticker) alternate tires. Each set must complete at least two laps in the race.
- Firestone Racing provides a real-time tire tracker at Livetiming.net/FIRESTONE for media and fans to follow track tire strategies in qualifying and the race.
Each NTT INDYCAR SERIES entry will receive the following allocation of Firestone Firehawk race tires:
- Primary (black sidewall): 5 sets per entry (Rookies receive an extra set for Practice 1)
- Alternate (red sidewall): 5 sets per entry
- Rain (graysidewall): 5 sets per entry
Notes from Cory Williams, Principal Program Engineer:
We’ve produced primary tires for this year’s Mid-Ohio race that have the same construction and tread compound as last year.
While the construction of this year’s alternate (red-sidewall) tire for the Honda 200 is the same as the primary, we developed a new tread compound that should exhibit increased grip compared to last year. It is also expected to have a slight increase in wear-rate as compared to last year’s alternate tire.
INDY NXT by Firestone
- Firestone will supply more than 550 INDY NXT Firehawk race tires to 24 entries for use during the Mid-Ohio doubleheader weekend. These tires integrate Bridgestone global ENLITEN™ Technology components[2], including the following materials[3]:
- Renewable soybean oil: Replaces petroleum-based oils traditionally used in tire compounds
- Recycled carbon black: Reinforcement material recovered from end-of-life tires
- These race tires are provided for practice, qualifying, Saturday’s Race 1 (35 laps / 79.03-mile or 55-minute) and Sunday’s Race 2 (30 laps / 67.74 miles or 50 minutes).
Each INDY NXT by Firestone entry is provided with the following allocation of race tires:
- Primary: 3 sets per entry, plus 2 carryover sets from the Detroit Grand Prix
- Rain: 3 sets per entry