O'Reilly Auto Parts 150 at Mid-Ohio

The O'Reilly Auto Parts 150 at Mid-Ohio is a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race that is held at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, United States. The inaugural event will take place on July 9, 2022.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will make its first ever appearance at Mid-Ohio Sport Car Course on July 8 to 9, 2022. The popular series is one of five race weekends on the 2022 schedule.

“Our fans are going to experience a great show with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series racing at Mid-Ohio for the very first time,” Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course president Craig Rust said. “The 2022 schedule continues our commitment to bring our fans the best variety of motorsports that they have come to expect.

“With the uncertainty we all have faced the past couple seasons, it’s great to be able to release our full schedule this early to our fans, so they can make their racing plans for next summer.”

NASCAR’s Truck series previously made stops in north central Ohio from 2004 to 2008. That race was run at Mansfield Motorsports Park.

History
The NASCAR Xfinity Series has produced great road racing for its previous eight appearances at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Now the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will continue that tradition and visit for its inagural round at the track on the weekend of July 8-9. This new addition realigns Mid-Ohio’s NASCAR Xfinity Series stop to Portland International Raceway for a new event in the Pacific Northwest also promoted by Green Savoree Racing Promotions, which owns and operates Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

“Our fans are going to experience a great show with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series racing at Mid-Ohio for the very first time," said Craig Rust, president of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. “The 2022 schedule continues our commitment to bring our fans the best variety of motorsports that they have come to expect. With the uncertainty we all have faced the past couple seasons, it’s great to be able to release our full schedule this early to our fans, so they can make their racing plans for next summer!”

Mid-Ohio would host its first CART race in 1980 as a 156 miles (251.057 km), 65 lap race. There would be a brief hiatus as the race would not return until 1983, and the race would be extended as a 200-mile (324.443 km) race. Cart appeared annually until 2003, when CART president Chris Pook hinted at dropping Mid-Ohio from the CART schedule going forward, citing various issues. For many years, Mid-Ohio was on the schedule alongside the Grand Prix of Cleveland, and Pook stated it was not viable to have two races in such close proximity, and favored keeping the race at Cleveland instead. In addition, some observers felt that the powerful Champ Cars had "outgrown" the narrow, winding course, citing a lack of passing and competition over the previous several years. The race would return in 2007 under the Indy racing league and would partner as a doubleheader with the American Le Mans Series until 2012 when ALMS dropped the circuit from the calendar. The race has also featured support series such as the Road to Indy, Global Mazda MX-5 Cup, and Stadium Super Trucks. In 2015, hometown favorite Graham Rahal won at Mid-Ohio for the first time, thirty years after his father, Bobby Rahal, won his first race at the track. Scott Dixon has the most wins at the track with six.

In 2013, the track hosted its first NASCAR event as a 200-mile race with the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The length of the race was shortened in 2018 to 170 miles. The race has partnered with Trans-Am, Stadium Super Trucks, F4 United States Championship and partnered ARCA in 2020. Unlike most of the events held at the track, the Xfinity Series uses the normal start/finish line located on the pit straight to start the races, instead of the start line on the back straight.

The 2022 Truck Series schedule was released on September 29 with Mid-Ohio on Saturday, July 9. The track was given the race as a result of losing their Xfinity Series race to Portland International Raceway. Both the Mid-Ohio and Portland road courses are owned and operated by Green Savoree Racing Promotions. It was the first time that Green Savoree had a total of two NASCAR national series races in any series.

This race became an additional 23rd race on the Truck Series schedule. The series had 23 races in 2020 but only 22 races in 2021 as a result of the race at Iowa Speedway not being replaced with another race.

The race will be 151 miles and 67 laps long according to NASCAR.com. Each of the stages will be 25 laps in length.

On May 5, 2022, was announced as the title sponsor of the race. Also, "at Mid-Ohio" is part of the official name of the race (similar to races at Watkins Glen International where "at The Glen" is part of the names of the track's races), making the name of the race the "O'Reilly Auto Parts 150 at Mid-Ohio".