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As the IndyCar Series makes its annual stop July 18-20, at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, the HVM Racing team and rookie driver E.J. Viso have already had their share of excitement this season.

This past winter, team owner Keith Wiggins had just hired Viso to be his driver for what was expected to be a season of road-course racing in the Champ Car World Series, but a week later the two series unified to become the IndyCar Series.

"And I'd like to be able to tell you that we hired E.J. knowing full well that he'd do a great job on the ovals, but quite frankly we had no idea," Wiggins said. "Great road-course drivers are able to adapt to ovals better than oval-track drivers can to road courses, and E.J. has adapted quite well this season."

The HVM Team finished third in the Champ Car Series points standings in 2007, and was fourth in 2006. In seven years of racing, the team has six wins, two poles and 16 podium finishes to its credit. Now the slate was being wiped clean.

But the HVM bunch appear to be fast learners.

In the second race of the season, in an unfamiliar car on an equally unfamiliar temporary street circuit in St. Petersburg, Fla., Viso led 12 laps of the race and, were it not for a storm that ended the race early, might have had enough fuel to win it.

Despite the sharp learning curve, Viso says he's enjoyed his rookie season so far.

"All the time we're making progress," the native Venezuelan said Tuesday, July 15. "We're working hard as a team and are chasing the big teams (like Ganassi Racing, Penske Racing and Andretti-Green) with our limited resources, and I think we're getting better and better each time out."

In a recent race at Watkins Glen, N.Y., controversy surrounded the team when Viso made contact with veteran Indy Racing League driver Vitor Meira and was sent to the back of the race field. Viso battled back to finish 10th, but the penalty may have cost him valuable points.

"The officials saw it their way, but if it happens tomorrow I'd do it the same way," Viso said.

Wiggins said Viso has made his share of rookie mistakes, but he doesn't consider Watkins Glen to be one of them.

"I'm from European racing, where passing seems to be more aggressive than it is over here," Wiggins said. "When you're driving, there's always situations where a decision regarding a passing opportunity can go in either direction. I think that was the case here."

Then, with the 23-year-old ready to redeem himself in Nashville, Tenn., Viso came down with the mumps. The entire HVM Racing team voluntarily quarantined itself to avoid coming in contact with fellow racers and fans, and missed the July 12 race.

"In my 30 years of auto racing, I've never had that happen," Wiggins said. "It has been a unique season in that respect."

Viso was cleared to drive again this past Saturday, and all but one member of HVM Racing have been cleared to return to the track.

Missing out on points in Nashville has dropped Viso to fourth in the rookie points standings, which is a more exclusive group due to the fact that many of the supposed "rookies" were once veterans in the Champ Car Series.

Viso raced in the European GP2 series and once was a Formula One test driver for the Spyker team. He has four top-10 finishes and eight top-20 finishes this season.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2851 or jbombatch@coxohio.com.