Graham Rahal used strategy and a timely caution to vault into the lead in the second half of the race and held the lead for the final third to grab his second win of 2015 and his first career at the Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course. Rahal made his final stop on lap 66 just as Sage Karam spun exiting turning three. The full course caution allowed Rahal to move to the lead as others were forced to stop under yellow. He then held off Justin Wilson on a pair of late-race restarts to secure the win. “Honestly, if I’d won a lot of races in my career but I never won this one, I think I’d be pretty disappointed. For me and the Steak ‘n Shake team, that win means more to me than anything else, means more than my first win to me. This is the best day," said an elated Rahal.

Wilson, for his part, enjoyed a great run to finish second while Simon Pagenaud had one of his better days of 2015 to finish third.

Scott Dixon dominated the opening laps, but an untimely caution forced to make his first stop under caution, which dropped him outside of the top ten just after lap 21. However, Karam's spin and caution came after Dixon made his final stop, allowing to climb back up the order. Dixon eventually finished fourth while teammate Tony Kanaan finished fifth.

Dixon led the field to the green flag, but race was only green for a lap. Will Power, who was shuffled back to fifth off the initial start, went off track entering turn three while battling with Josef Newgarden. When he reentered the circuit, he tagged the left rear of Charlie Kimball, puncturing Kimball's tire and sending the Chip Ganassi driver into a spin in turn six.

Racing resumed on lap seven and Dixon again retained the lead. But, with the pit window open, several drivers opted to pit early. Among them, Montoya, Rahal, Newgarden, and Pagenaud all pitted prior to lap 20, which proved advantageous when a caution flew on lap 21 after contact between Takuma Sato and Stefano Coletti spread debris across the entrance to turn three. Dixon, Bourdais, Castroneves, Filippi, Hunter-Reay, Kanaan, Hawksworth, and Munoz all needed to pit under caution, which turned the running upside down up front.

When racing resumed on lap 27, Tristan Vautier had his Dale Coyne Racing machine in the lead. But, he pitted after the lap two caution, meaning he was out front for a handful of laps before he stopped again. That put Justin Wilson the leader because he managed a slick outside pass on both Rahal and Montoya through turn six on the restart. Wilson continued to lead until the next round of stops, after which Montoya vaulted into the lead ahead of Newgarden and Rahal, with Wilson now fourth ahead of Will Power, who was on the comeback trail following a wing change on his first stop after his early contact with Kimball.

Montoya led the way through the stint and appeared to be on cruise control until the final round of stops began. Several drivers stopped early, including Wilson and Dixon. Rahal, too, jumped into the pits early, which proved fortuitous when Sage Karam spun in turn three moments later. The spin brought out a caution, over which Montoya voiced displeasure, believing Karam spun intentionally to help teammate Dixon regain track position.

The incident forced the rest of the leaders to stop. Though Montoya won the race off pit road, he restarted back in 12th while title rival Rahal led the field back to green on lap 69.

Wilson and Pagenaud challenge Rahal on the restart, but the Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver held them off to retain the lead. However, his work was not done. Charlie Kimball, who spent the entire race trying to make up ground after his early spin, spun again into the gravel in turn three, this time after contact with Rodolfo Gonzalez.

Racing resumed with seven laps remaining and Wilson tried an aggressive outside move on Rahal, but again the RLL driver held him off. This time, he was able to cruise home to take his second win of the season. "Strategy just worked today. Sometimes things just go your way and today was one of those days," added Rahal, who then reminisced about his family's history at the track. "For the Rahals, when it goes back to Jim Trueman and everyone else, this track has been pretty special to us for so, so many years. Jim was the man who founded this place, got this place going. He was also the one who got my dad started in racing. It’s come full circle. I used to go to the Steak ‘n Shake about 5 to 8 miles from here and play around, eat a lot of cheese fries and stuff. It’s funny how this whole thing has come together."

Wilson ended the day second, his best result since joining Andretti Autosport. "It feels great to get a second place," Wilson declared. "I was pushing like hell to try and get past Graham (Rahal) on that restart; I knew I couldn’t lean on him or bang wheels with him – he’s a Honda driver going for the championship, so that was in the back of my mind. At the same time I wanted to push him as hard as I could, make him honest and make him earn it. He did a fantastic job today. I had one more push-to-pass left but Graham was too quick."

Pagenaud finished third, his best finish since race one of the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit and held similar enthusiasm."It was a great day for the PPG Chevy, really," said the Frenchman. "We had the roughest weekend of all. We had some mechanical issues earlier in the weekend, and Chevy and the whole team put a new engine in the back of the car for qualifying and then it was good. It's funny how it works. We qualified badly and then we have a podium (finish). Good day, good day for the guys, it's uplifting."

Dixon finished fourth with Tony Kanaan finishing fifth. Dixon described how difficult it was to make up ground once he was shuffled back. "It's tough when everyone has the same pace and everyone is on the same tire. With the new aero kits, there's just such a big wake behind the cars and it sometimes makes it tough to get around people. We were trying to line up for that last restart there and the leader went way early there. Not a bad day for the Target car overall in the points and (we) moved up a bit in the championship race."

Montoya could gain no ground in the final stint and ended the day in 11th, his second consecutive finish outside the top ten. Still, he remains positive about his championship status. "Everyone on the Hawk Performance Chevy did an amazing job today," he asserted. "From where we were on Friday to today was a huge difference. We did everything we were supposed to do today and the race was playing out perfectly for us. Unfortunately we got a caution with about 25 laps to go that we didn't need. It worked out for some and didn't work out for others. But we had a great car and we still have the points lead. Ready for Pocono, where we won last year."

Montoya is still the championship leader, but Rahal slashed the margin to nine points as two races remain. Scott Dixon sits 34 points back in third, while Castroneves and Power sit fourth and fifth and still have a chance to catch Montoya.

Mid-Ohio