After missing two years due to issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, Honda Indy Toronto race day returns to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES today. Action begins at 3:00 PM (ET) on Peacock Premium and the INDYCAR Radio Network, with the 25-car start scheduled for 3:30 PM
This event at Exhibition Place is one of the oldest on the sport’s schedule, with the first race won by Bobby Rahal coming in 1986. Only Indianapolis Motor Speedway (1911), Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (1980), Road America (1982) ), WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (1983) and the Streets of Long Beach, California (1984) can trace their series roots even further back, and the Toronto track ranks fourth among them in number of series hosted races (this will be the 36th).
The fans, who some consider the series’ most passionate, are also returning in droves. Large crowds were seen on Friday and Saturday and the promoter is expecting another great turnout today.
The weather plays its part, too, with sunshine lapping the 11 turns and the 1.786-mile temporary street circuit a few miles west of downtown.
Drivers, start the engines!
Hertha leads in a competitive field
Colton Herta (#26 Gainbridge Honda of Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian) won the NTT P1 award on Saturday, ending a streak of nine consecutive different pole wins to start the season. That’s one shy of the sport’s all-time record set in 1952.
That being said, this field is as competitive as any in sports, and that needs to be on display today.
While Herta set a monster lap in Saturday’s qualifying – 59.2696 seconds – a total of nine drivers set laps under the one-minute mark. Scott Dixon (#9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) was less than a tenth of a second off Hertha’s pace, with Josef Newgarden (#2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet) just moments behind Dixon.
Dixon and Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet) each won three times at the track, which last hosted the NTT INDYCAR SERIES in 2019. Newgarden won twice.
Simon Pagenaud won the 2019 race for Team Penske, and he will look to continue his streak of strong finishes at this track – fifth, second and first in his last three outings – in the No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing.
No other driver in the field has won at this track, but there are certainly many capable of doing so. Fifteen of the 25 drivers who will compete have won races in this series.
Rookies all over the field
With the Toronto event not held in 2020 and 2021, more than half of the players have not raced an NTT INDYCAR Series car at this track.
Rookie David Malukas (No. 18 HMD Honda of Dale Coyne Racing with HMD), the No. 5 qualifier, leads the pack of drivers who have no such experience at this track, although the Chicago native has competed at the track in junior formulas, including Indy Lights, presented by Cooper Tires in 2019.
Toronto native Devlin DeFrancesco, who will start a career-best 12th in Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport’s No. 29 PowerTap Honda, is among seven drivers making their first Toronto start of any kind today.
Other first-timers include rookie Christian Lundgaard (No. 30 HUB International Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing), reigning series champion Alex Palu (No. 10 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Honda), Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Carvana Chip Ganassi Racing Honda), Scott McLaughlin (#3 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet), rookie Callum Ilott (#77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet) and Romain Grosjean (#28 DHL Honda of Andretti Autosport.
Four rookies start in the top 12. All four have their highest starting positions. Ilott remains seventh, Lundgaard 10th.
Small borders, lots of action
The weekend already saw its share of cars sliding, with some either scraping the wall or hitting it with enough force to require a significant amount of work from the respective crews.
Now squeeze 25 eager drivers into a tight space with these temporary barriers located on either side of the racing line. It can cause problems.
“It’s definitely a song known for a lot of chaos,” Power said.
Dixon said: “It (the track) is quite technical and … the best grip is on the wall, so the closer you get (to the wall) the faster you go. It’s hard to judge. It will be a race of attrition with some safety precautions here and there.”
The 2019 race saw a major dust up on the first lap as Power attempted to overtake Graham Rahal at Turn 8.
Andretti Autosport will try to avoid the problems it had at Mid-Ohio with its tangled drivers. But all four start in the top 12 – Grosjean and DeFrancesco occupying the sixth row – so that’s something else to watch today.
Tire temperatures
The Toronto race presents a different challenge for Firestone, which must consider the summer heat and humidity when selecting its tires for NTT INDYCAR SERIES races.
The weather in Toronto is generally cooler than in the US
“The Toronto climate brings much milder temperatures than our typical summer race in the U.S., demonstrating the versatility of our street tires as we (brought) the same primary and alternate compounds and constructions to the Firestone Firehawk as the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Pete in 2022,” said Cara Krstolich, director of Race Tire Engineering and Production, Bridgestone Americas Motorsports.
McLaughlin’s crew remains the leader in the Firestone Pit Stop Performance Award standings. Points are awarded after each race based on the shortest accumulated pit lane time during a race, and the points distribution reflects race points. McLaughlin’s band leads the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Dixon with 48 points.
Ed Carpenter’s Rinus VeeKay Racing Team (#21 Bitcoin Racing Team with BitNile Chevrolet) had the top score in the July 3 race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
VeeKay leads the Warmup
Rinus VeeKay led the 30-minute warm-up this morning in the No. 21 Bitcoin Racing Team with BitNile Chevrolet, which is a bit of an eye-opener as he will start 20th this afternoon after a disappointing qualifying session on Saturday. VeeKay’s best lap was 59.8987 seconds.
SEE: Warm-up results
Alexander Rossi was the only other driver to break the one-minute barrier in the session, second with a 59.9439 in the No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS/AutoNation Honda. Reigning series champion Alex Palu was third with a 1:00.1391 in the No. 10 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
NTT P1 award winner Colton Herta finished 11th with a 1:00.6008 in an eventful session in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda. Herta stalled while trying to exit his pit lane on the tight Toronto pit lane and also triggered the only red flag of the session, locking up his brakes entering Turn 3 and stopping in the walk zone. Herta did not make contact during the incident and returned to the track after the AMR INDYCAR safety team restarted his car.
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