The fifth race of the 2011 American Le Mans Series season takes place this weekend at the 2.258 mile Mid-Ohio circuit. Will the mid-point of the nine race season prove to be the turning point?

The Mosport and Long Beach winning Muscle Milk Aston Martin squad finds itself in a championship fight deficit because of an early DNF at the bonus point paying 12 Hours of Sebring.

Leading the Prototype title fight are the Mid Ohio defending champions from Dyson Racing, winners of the Lime Rock round and beneficiaries of a Sebring bonus turbocharged by the top international (non-ALMS) finishers that forfeited ALMS points.

Will Mid Ohio see the Muscle Milk Aston Martin narrow the gap? Will the Dyson Mazda squad move closer to an ALMS title? Dyson recently added a second car with the impressive Steven Kane and Humaid al Masaood to help bolster their bid.

The GT category sees a potential momentum shift. The BMW of Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller parlayed a season opening three-race win streak into a big championship point lead. The Le Mans winning Corvette Racing team broke the string at the fourth stop, Mosport, followed closely by the Risi Ferrari as both BMWs caught penalties.

Will a smaller air restrictor for the BMWs set to take effect at Mid Ohio slow their championship march? Have the former F1 and now DTM bound BMW engineers already lined up the next advances to offset the mandated loss of power?

Will the 2010 Mid Ohio winners from Risi Ferrari or the 2009 winners from Flying Lizard Porsche score a first win of the season? Is Mid Ohio the break out venue for Extreme Speed Ferrari or the Falken Porsche? Both tested here during the Le Mans break. Was Jaguar’s fastest GT lap of the Mosport race a sign of newfound speed?

Stay tuned.