The track opened in 1962 as a 16-turn road course run clockwise. After one year the "Oak Tree Bend" series of turns in the northeast corner was removed for being too slow and replaced by the "Thunder Valley" downhill straight, which remains to the present day. From 1963 onward the standard layout became a 15-turn, 2.400 mi (3.862 km) circuit. The back portion of the track allows speeds approaching 200 mph (320 km/h). A separate starting line and flagstand on the backstretch enables rolling starts; the regular start/finish line sits on the pit straight.
In 1990 a refurbishment added a straightaway segment through the chicane, creating two distinct configurations: the original 2.400 mi (3.862 km) layout and a new 13-turn, 2.258 mi (3.634 km) layout that bypasses the chicane. Major series including CART, IndyCar, IMSA, and NASCAR have mostly elected to bypass the chicane; motorcycles and amateur racing typically use the 2.4-mile layout.
In 2006 connectors were added to the Keyhole section to allow three separate road course configurations, enabling simultaneous use of multiple courses. The update also included a motorcycle short course connecting turn one with the backstretch, and a motorcycle/autocross oval connecting the chicane straight with the backstretch.
In 2019 the Americas Rallycross Championship used a 10-turn, 0.7 mi (1.1 km) course utilizing the Keyhole section — the first rallycross event at the circuit.
At the conclusion of the 2023 season the track was fully repaved after a test section in turn one. In fall 2024, Turn 4 was refurbished: its original 4-degree banking was reduced to 2 degrees, the runoff area known as "China Beach" was regraded to track level, new access roads were added near the runoff, and catch basins were installed for drainage.
The track was opened in 1962 by Les Griebling and several Mansfield-area businessmen as a venue for weekend sports car racing. It hosted Can-Am and Formula 5000 through the 1970s.
In 1982 Mid-Ohio was purchased by Jim Trueman, founder of Red Roof Inns and a road racer. Trueman added permanent grandstands, amphitheater-style seating, garages with spectator balconies, a five-story media and hospitality center, tunnels, an updated paddock, and a tall three-sided scoreboard tower visible from nearly all spectator areas. Trueman died from cancer in 1986; his wife and daughter took over management. In 1989 his daughter Michelle Trueman was named president of the circuit.
On March 2, 2011, the track was purchased from Truesports by Green Savoree Racing Promotions, ending Truesports' 29 years of ownership.
The circuit first hosted sportscar racing in 1963 as part of the United States Road Racing Championship, with a 168 mi (270 km) race won by Ken Miles. The series ran there until 1968. The track returned to sportscar racing in 1972 with a 6-hour enduro under the IMSA GT Championship, hosting the series until 1993. It returned in 2000 with the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, then added the American Le Mans Series the following year. ALMS dropped the event in 2012; Grand-Am followed in 2013. The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship returned to the track in 2018.
Mid-Ohio hosted its first CART race in 1980 — a 156 mi (251 km), 65-lap event won by Johnny Rutherford in a Chaparral car. After a brief hiatus the race returned in 1983 as a 200 mi (320 km) event and appeared annually until 2003, when CART president Chris Pook cited concerns about running two Ohio events alongside the Grand Prix of Cleveland. The race returned in 2007 under the Indy Racing League.
In 2015, Graham Rahal won at Mid-Ohio for the first time, thirty years after his father Bobby Rahal won his first race there. Scott Dixon holds the record for most IndyCar victories at the circuit with seven.
In 2013 the track hosted its first NASCAR event — a 200 mi (320 km) race with the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The race length was shortened to 170 mi (270 km) in 2018. In 2022 NASCAR realigned the event to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
The unofficial lap record is 1:03.8700, set by Simon Pagenaud during qualifying for the 2016 Honda Indy 200.
Founded in 1993, the Mid-Ohio School offers licensed drivers and motorcycle riders programs in defensive driving, high-performance driving, and performance track riding. Programs include classroom and private instruction and group drills, conducted at the facility's Vehicle Dynamics Center and on track. The school is AAA Approved and a recipient of the Ohio State Highway Patrol's Partners for Safety award. Eighteen programs are available to drivers and riders of all ages and ability levels. The school has graduated over 50,000 students, including 18,500 teenagers and 13,300 motorcycle riders.
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