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  • Christian Lundgaard dominates for first IndyCar career victory in Toronto

    Christian Lundgaard dominates for first IndyCar career victory in Toronto

    In his 28th career start in the NTT IndyCar Series, Christian Lundgaard etched his name as an IndyCar Series race winner after capping off a dominant run from pole position to win for the first time in the Honda Indy Toronto at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Canada, on Sunday, July 16.

    The 21-year-old Lundgaard from Hedensted, Denmark, commenced the sport’s lone visit north of the border in Canada by notching his second IndyCar career pole on Saturday, July 15, amid mixed weather conditions. Amid a multi-car incident in the opening lap, Lundgaard proceeded to lead the first 18 laps before surrendering the lead to pit amid alternate strategies ensuing within the field. Through more on-track chaos and mixed strategy, Lundgaard, who briefly led from Laps 37 to 48, assumed the lead for good on Lap 62 after Scott Dixon surrendered the lead to pit under green. For the remainder of the event, Lundgaard methodically stretched his advantage while navigating his way around the 11-turn circuit and beat runner-up and championship points leader Alex Palou by more than 11 seconds to achieve his first checkered flag in the IndyCar circuit.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, July 15, Christian Lundgaard captured his second IndyCar career pole after posting a pole-winning lap at 100.217 mph in 1:04.1567. Joining him on the front row was Scott McLaughlin, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 99.716 mph in 1:04.4790.

    When the green flag and the race commenced, Lundgaard rocketed ahead with the lead while McLaughlin veered right to defend the runner-up spot ahead of Pato O’Ward and his No. 5 Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet through Princess Blvd. and entering the first turn. The field then fanned out to multiple lanes through the first two turns as Lundgaard continued to lead.

    Then as the field entered Lake Shore Blvd., the first caution of the event flew when Tom Blomqvist, the reigning two-time Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona winner who was making his IndyCar debut for Meyer Shank Racing and as an interim competitor for the injured Simon Pagenaud, got pushed and squeezed into the wall amid a three-wide battle involving Ryan Hunter-Reay and Jack Harvey. With Blomqvist hitting the wall, Harvey and Hunter-Reay were also involved as they squeezed into one another and veered sideways and into the wall, thus igniting a stack up towards the rear of the field as Alexander Rossi, Santino Ferrucci, Sting Ray Rob, Benjamin Pedersen and Graham Rahal were also involved.

    Following an extensive caution period, the race resumed under green flag conditions on the ninth lap. At the start, Lundgaard retained the top spot ahead of McLaughlin as the field navigated its way through Princess Blvd. before navigating through the first two turns and entering Lake Shore Blvd. The field proceeded to navigate its way through Turns 3 and 4 before entering Ontario Dr. before navigating back on Princess Blvd. and Manitoba Dr. Following another series of turns from Turns 5 to 11 and back to the frontstretch, Lundgaard continued to lead and he would retain the top spot through the Lap 10 mark while McLaughlin, O’Ward, Marcus Ericsson and Scott Dixon were battling in the top five.

    Through the first 15 scheduled laps, Lundgaard was leading by more than three seconds over McLaughlin while O’Ward retained third. Behind, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Ericsson and Dixon were running in the top five while Kyle Kirkwood, Flex Rosenqvist, Will Power, Josef Newgarden and Colton Herta were running in the top 10. Behind, Marcus Armstrong was in 11th while Romain Grosjean, Alex Palou, Rinus VeeKay and Helio Castroneves were mired in the top 15.

    A lap later, Armstrong, who was battling Grosjean for 11th, pitted under green. Rosenqvist and David Malukas would pit during the following lap under green as Lundgaard was leading by more than four seconds over McLaughlin. More pit stops would then ensue the proceeding lap as Kirkwood and Newgarden pitted.

    Then on Lap 19, McLaughlin cycled into the lead as Lundgaard pitted under green. Once Lundgaard returned to the track, he was mired in 12th in between Juncos Racing’s Callum Ilott and Agustin Canapino while McLaughlin, O’Ward, Ericsson, Dixon and Power were running in the top five. O’Ward would then surrender third place to pit at the Lap 20 mark, where he would blend back on the track in 14th.

    At the Lap 25 mark, McLaughlin was leading by more than two seconds over Ericsson while Dixon, Power and Herta were running in the top five. With Grosjean, Palou, VeeKay, Castroneves and Lundgaard running in the top 10, O’Ward was still mired in 14th while Newgarden was back in 17th in between Rosenqvist and Marcus Armstrong.

    Five laps later, McLaughlin continued to lead by more than four seconds over Ericsson while third-place Dixon trailed by more than five seconds. With Power and Herta running in the top five, Palou navigated his way around Grosjean for sixth while Lundgaard was up in eighth ahead of VeeKay and Castroneves. Another two laps later, Grosjean pitted from the top 10 under green while McLaughin retained the lead by more than five seconds over Ericsson. Herta would also pit from the top five followed by Augustin Canapino.

    Then on Lap 30, McLaughlin navigated his No. 3 Gallagher Dallara-Chevrolet onto pit road for his first pit service of the day as Ericsson cycled his No. 8 Huski Chocolate Dallara-Honda into the lead. Ericsson would then pit during the following lap followed by Castroneves and Callum Ilott. With Dixon cycling his No. 9 PNC Bank Dallara-Honda into the lead, McLaughlin was scored in fifth behind Lundgaard. On Lap 37, however, the top-three competitors that included Dixon, Power and Palou pitted under green as Lundgaard cycled back into the lead. Following their pit stops, Power managed to muscle ahead of Dixon and Palou on the track and within the top 10 while Ericsson was in fifth following his pit service.

    Then as the event was approaching its halfway mark on Lap 41, the event’s second caution flew when Grosjean lost control of the steering of his No. 28 DHL Dallara-Honda and veered straight into the wall just past Turn 10 as his strong run came to an end. At the moment of caution, Lundgaard was leading ahead of McLaughlin, O’Ward, Kyle Kirkwood and Ericsson while Newgarden, Power, Dixon, Palou and Rosenqvist were in the top 10.

    During the caution period, some names including Kirkwood, Rosenqvist, Palou, Herta, Malukas, Graham Rahal and Callum Ilott pitted while the rest led by Lundgaard remained on the track. Not long after and prior to a restart on Lap 46, the event quickly returned under a caution period when Kirkwood ran into the rear of Castroneves’ No. 06 SiriusXM Dallara-Honda and sent him spinning in Turn 11, thus ending his race, as Palou sustained damage to his front wing after hitting the wall while trying to avoid Castroneves. Despite the contact, Palou continued to run on the track despite concerns of his front wing being damaged.

    Amid the extensive caution period, a majority of the field led by Lundgaard pitted for fresh tires and fuel while some including McLaughlin, Dixon, VeeKay, Kirkwood, Herta and Palou remained on the track with alternate strategies ensuing.

    When the race restarted under green with 34 laps remaining, McLaughlin jumped ahead of Dixon to retain the lead through the first two turns and entering Lake Shore Blvd. With the field fanning out, a series of battles ensued as Lundgaard and O’Ward were trying to navigate their way towards the front from the top 10. Amid the battles, Kirkwood, who was running within the top five, pitted after being assessed a stop-and-go penalty from the contact with Castroneves while VeeKay, Palou and Herta were in the top five.

    With 30 laps remaining, McLaughlin was leading by eight-tenths of a second over fellow Kiwi competitor Dixon while VeeKay and Palou were in the top four. Behind, Lundgaard moved up to fifth and was trailing the lead by more than seven seconds while Herta, O’Ward, Power, Ericsson and Newgarden were in the top 10.

    Four laps later, VeeKay pitted from third place, which allowed Palou, Lundgaard and Herta to move up one spots respectively into the top five while McLaughlin was leading by more than a second over Dixon. McLaughlin would then surrender the lead to pit with 25 laps remaining as Dixon cycled into the lead followed by teammate Palou and Lundgaard.

    Then with 24 laps remaining, Lundgaard, who pulled a bold overtake on Palou through Turns 3 and 4 to take second place, cycled back into the lead after Dixon pitted under green. In the ensuing laps, Power overtook O’Ward for fourth while Palou, who continued to proceed at full pace despite his damaged front wing, retained second ahead of Colton Herta.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Lundgaard was leading by more than two seconds over Palou while Herta, Power and O’Ward were running in the top five. With Ericsson in sixth, Newgarden, Marcus Armstrong, Rosenqvist and Agustin Canapino were in the top 10 while Dixon and McLaughlin were mired back in 14th and 15th, respectively.

    With 10 laps remaining, Lundgaard retained the lead by nearly seven seconds over Palou while Herta, Power and Ericsson were scored in the top five. In the process, Newgarden, Armstrong, O’Ward, Rosenqvist and Dixon were in the top 10. By then, David Malukas retired four laps earlier after making contact with the wall and damaging his suspension.

    Five laps later, Lundgaard extended his advantage to more than nine seconds over Palou, who was being pressured by Herta amid his front wing damage as Power and Ericsson started to close in on the battle.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Lundgaard remained as the leader by more than 10 seconds over Palou, who continued to run strong on the track amid his front wing damage in front of Herta. By then, Power and Ericsson both pitted after coming up short on fuel, which allowed Newgarden and Dixon to move into the top five. With no competition lurking behind him, Lundgaard, driving the No. 45 Vivid Clear Rx Dallara-Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, was able to navigate his way around the 11-turn circuit smoothly for a final time and cycle back to the frontstretch to claim his first career checkered flag in the IndyCar circuit.

    With the victory, Lundgaard, who is currently campaigning in his second full-time season in the IndyCar circuit and whose previous best result was second place that occurred at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course last August, became the first competitor to achieve a first IndyCar race victory since Kyle Kirkwood won at the Streets of Long Beach, California, this past April. He also recorded the first victory for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing since the team last won the 2020 Indianapolis 500 with Takuma Sato. Lundgaard also joined Adrian Fernandez and the late Justin Wilson as competitors to achieve a first IndyCar victory at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Canada.

    With the victory, Lundgaard, who celebrated his first IndyCar win with his friend, Victor, vowed to shave his mustache he grew during the offseason amid the promise that he would do so once he would win an IndyCar race.

    Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “I’m pretty drained from energy right now,” Lundgaard, who led a race-high 54 of 85 laps, said on Peacock. “The Hy-Vee VIVID car has just been fast all weekend. I said it before the race [that] we had a car that was fast enough to win. We pulled it off and I think we did by 10 seconds. This team, they do deserve this because if we look at where we were early this season and even last year at this point, we were nowhere near this, so I’m just extremely happy for everybody right now. Everything [the owners] are doing for this team, we’re moving forward.”

    “[This win]’s huge for us,” Bobby Rahal, co-owner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, added. “Any win’s big. We were knocking on the door at Mid-Ohio with Graham’s [Rahal] qualifying run and Christian’s for that matter. This weekend, it wasn’t easy. We didn’t start out really super great, but we kept working at it. Christian was hooked up. I think he just was kind of like on a mission this weekend. You saw that on that race. He just drove away from everybody. The crew did a great job. That strategy in the No. 45 pit was the right strategy and Christian just didn’t put a foot wrong. A great weekend for us. “

    While Lundgaard celebrated a first victory, Palou, who started the lowest of this season in 15th, was left relieved on pit road after having enough power to nurse his No. 10 Journie Rewards Dallara-Honda with the damaged front wing home in the runner-up spot, one spot shy of achieving four consecutive IndyCar victories following recent victories in Detroit, Road America and Mid-Ohio, while Colton Herta achieved his first podium result of the season by finishing third just as he ran out of fuel.

    “We knew it was going to be an eventful race,” Palou said. “I had a lot of ups and downs. We had a really fast car. I don’t know how we made it with this wing. The car was still handling OK, and then we just had to save a ton of fuel, a ton of tires. But we made it. Glad we finished P2 today. A win could have been possible, but I did a bad qualifying yesterday. As long as we have fast cars like we’ve been doing, we’re going to be OK. The guys did an amazing strategy call. It was tough to save that much fuel, but they just put me on that position. Kudos to the No. 10 car.”

    Dixon, who won last year’s IndyCar event at Toronto, came home in fourth while Newgarden settled in fifth. McLaughlin, Armstrong, Pato O’Ward, Graham Rahal and Rosenqvist completed the top 10 on the track. Notably, Ericsson and Power ended up 11th and 14th, respectively, while Kirkwood ended up 15th.

    There were seven lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured three cautions for 16 laps. In total, 15 of 27 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 10th event of the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series season, Alex Palou continues to lead the championship standings by 117 points over teammate Scott Dixon, 126 over Josef Newgarden, 142 over teammate Marcus Ericsson and 143 over Pato O’Ward.

    Results.

    1. Christian Lundgaard, 54 laps led

    2. Alex Palou

    3. Colton Herta

    4. Scott Dixon, two laps led

    5. Josef Newgarden

    6. Scott McLaughlin, 28 laps led

    7. Marcus Armstrong

    8. Pato O’Ward

    9. Graham Rahal

    10. Felix Rosenqvist

    11. Marcus Ericsson

    12. Agustin Canapino

    13. Rinus VeeKay

    14. Will Power

    15. Kyle Kirkwood

    16. Alexander Rossi

    17. Santino Ferrucci

    18. Callum Ilott – OUT, Contact

    19. Sting Ray Robb, three laps down

    20. David Malukas – OUT, Contact

    21. Helio Castroneves – OUT, Contact

    22. Romain Grosjean – OUT, Contact

    23. Devlin DeFrancesco – OUT, Mechanical

    24. Jack Harvey – OUT, Contact

    25. Tom Blomqvist – OUT, Contact

    26. Ryan Hunter-Reay – OUT, Contact

    27. Benjamin Pedersen – OUT, Contact

    Next on the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series schedule is the series’ doubleheader weekend feature at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. The first event of the doubleheader weekend feature, Hy-Vee Homefront 250, is set to occur next Saturday, July 22, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC while the second event, Hy-Vee One Step 250, will follow suit next Sunday, July 23, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Dixon wins at Toronto, ties Mario Andretti for second place on all-time wins list

    Dixon wins at Toronto, ties Mario Andretti for second place on all-time wins list

    The NTT IndyCar Series’ return to the north of the border produced two achievements for Scott Dixon after Dixon prevailed over a 19-run dash to the finish to win the Honda Indy Toronto at the Exhibition Place in Toronto, Canada, on Sunday, July 17.

    The six-time IndyCar champion from Brisbane, Australia, who started on the front row alongside pole-sitter Colton Herta, utilized his planned pit strategy to perfection as he cycled to the lead on Lap 32 of 85. From there, he led a total of 40 laps as he fended Herta and Felix Rosenqvist to snap a 23-race winless drought and move into a tie with Mario Andretti for second place on the all-time IndyCar Series wins list with his 52nd career victory.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Colton Herta became the first multi-pole winner of this season after he clocked in a pole-winning lap at 108.480 mph in 59.2698 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Scott Dixon, whose best time occurred at 108.317 mph in 59.3592 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Herta cleared the field entering the first turn and took off with the lead followed by Dixon while Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi battled for third in front of Scott McLaughlin and David Malukas. As the field filed in a long single-file line through 11-turn street circuit, Herta led the first lap over Dixon.

    During the following lap, however, the first caution flew due to debris in Turn 8 and when an early contact within the field resulted with Takuma Sato’s left-front tire to blow and his left-front suspension to break as his event came to an early end. Under caution, some like rookie Kyle Kirkwood, Dalton Kellett and Conor Daly pitted while the rest led by Herta remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on the fourth lap, Herta retained the lead ahead of Dixon and Newgarden while Felix Rosenqvist made an early move on Malukas to move into sixth place as the field remained in a long single-file line.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Herta remained as the leader by more than a second over Dixon followed by Newgarden, Rossi and McLaughlin while Rosenqvist, Malukas, rookie Callum Ilott, Marcus Ericsson and rookie Christian Lundgaard were scored in the top 10. By then, Alex Palou pitted his No. 10 NTT Data Dallara-Honda under green.

    Two laps later, names like Simon Pagenaud, Newgarden, Lundgaard, Rossi and Romain Grosjean pitted under green. Malukas, Will Power, Ilott, Devlin DeFrancesco, Jack Harvey, Ericsson, Grosjean, Newgarden and Rossi would also pit during the proceeding laps from Laps 13 to 17.

    By Lap 18, Herta surrendered the lead to pit under green along with Scott McLaughlin as Felix Rosenqvist emerged as the leader followed by Graham Rahal, Helio Castroneves, Rinus VeeKay and Pato O’Ward. Once the field reached the Lap 20 mark, Rahal inherited the lead while Rosenqvist pitted under green.

    Two laps later, Ilott, who was running in 16th place, locked up his front tires and briefly went off the course, though he managed to cycle his way back on the circuit without drawing a caution.

    Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Graham Rahal was leading by more than six seconds over Rinus VeeKay followed by Pato O’Ward, Jimmie Johnson and Scott Dixon while Herta was back in sixth ahead of Conor Daly, Newgarden, Rossi and Malukas. Once Rahal pitted a lap later, however, VeeKay emerged with the lead followed by O’Ward while Herta moved back into the top five.

    On Lap 29, O’Ward made a bold move beneath VeeKay entering the third turn to move his No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet into the lead. Once VeeKay and O’Ward pitted during the following three and four laps later, Dixon cycled his No. 9 PNC Bank Dallara-Honda into the lead followed by Herta, Johnson, Daly and Newgarden. By then, Kellett also pitted after his No. 4 K-Line Insulators USA Dallara-Chevrolet was billowing smoke, a mechanical issue that would eliminate him from further contention.

    At the halfway mark between Laps 42 and 43, Dixon continued to lead by more than two seconds over Herta while Newgarden, Rossi, Rosenqvist, Malukas, McLaughlin, Ericsson, Pagenaud and Rahal were running in the top 10. By then, Palou was in 11th ahead of Lundgaard, VeeKay, O’Ward and Grosjean while DeFrancesco, Power, Castroneves, Harvey and Daly were in the top 20 ahead of Johnson.

    Two laps later, the caution flew when Felix Rosenqvist, who gained a huge run on Alexander Rossi entering Turn 3, made contact with Rossi in the third turn, which sent Rossi’s No. 27 NAPA/AutoNation Dallara-Honda hard into the outside wall as his event came to an end.

    Under caution, the leaders led by Dixon pitted as Dixon exited first followed by Herta, Rosenqvist, McLaughlin and Rahal. Back on the track, however, VeeKay, who remained on the track, inherited the lead along with teammate Conor Daly.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 49, VeeKay took off with the top spot followed by Daly while Dixon was back in third ahead of Herta and Rosenqvist. 

    Then with 30 laps remaining, the caution returned due to a piece of concrete asphalt that was reported on the track. During the caution period, Daly pitted while the rest of the field led by VeeKay and Dixon remained on the track.

    With 27 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as VeeKay retained the lead followed by Dixon, Herta, Rosenqvist and McLaughlin. As the field jostled for late positions through the turns, Palou made contact with teammate Ericsson through Turns 3 to 5 while battling for eighth place. Shortly after, the caution flew when Kyle Kirkwood collided into Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Carvana Dallara-Honda in Turn 9 as both competitors came to a rest in the turn. During the caution period, VeeKay surrendered the lead to pit while Dixon assumed the lead.

    Down to the final 19 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Dixon was able to jump ahead with the lead followed by Herta and Rosenqvist while Rahal made a bold move on McLaughlin entering the first turn to move into fourth place, where he was followed by Pagenaud, Ericsson and a hard-charging Palou. As the field fanned out and jumbled for positions, Dixon started to gap Herta by a second. By then, McLaughlin had fallen back to ninth in front of Newgarden.

    With 15 laps remaining, Dixon extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Herta followed by Rosenqvist, Rahal and Ericsson while Palou, Pagenaud, Lundgaard, McLaughlin and Newgarden were in the top 10. By then, O’Ward was in 11th, VeeKay was back in 13th and Power was mired in 15th.

    With less than 10 laps remaining, Dixon continued to lead by nearly two seconds over both Herta’s No. 26 Gainbridge Dallara-Honda and Rosenqvist’s No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet. He continued to retain the lead by more than two seconds as the field hit the final five-lap mark.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Dixon remained as the leader by more than two seconds over Herta and Rosenqvist. As Herta and Rosenqvist continued to battle for the runner-up spot, this allowed Dixon to drive away with a clear race track in front of him. With no striking challenges approaching him through the 11-turn circuit, Dixon was able to cycle back to the finish line as he claimed his first checkered flag of the 2022 season and became the seventh different winner of this season.

    In addition, Dixon claimed his fourth victory at Toronto, the second victory of the season for Chip Ganassi Racing, the third for Honda and his 52nd career win in the IndyCar Series, which placed him in a tie with Mario Andretti for second place on the all-time IndyCar wins list as he now trails the all-time wins leader AJ Foyt, who holds 67 victories. The victory was Dixon’s first since winning the first of a Texas Motor Speedway doubleheader feature in May 2021 as he also extended his winning streak to 18 consecutive IndyCar seasons.

    Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “It was a tough drive,” Dixon said on Peacock. “[I] Ended a streak there, which is fantastic. Just so happy for the team. It’s been a crazy year for the No. 9 [team]. I still feel extremely bad for all our partners and everybody involved for the [Indianapolis] 500. The PNC Bank No. 9 [Honda] back in winner’s circle. Man, it just feels so good. Massive thank you to Honda. To get that fuel mileage, today, was so easy.”

    “It’s amazing,” Dixon added, “To be close to Mario, every time I’m asked these questions, I’m just so thankful that we still have AJ [Foyt] and [Andretti] in the pits. We get to see them. We get to talk to them. Just fantastic. It’s huge, man. Just feel so lucky to be a part of this group. Hopefully, we’re kind of in the title hunt now. I’m hoping this is the start of the roll. It was just tremendous to see all the teams work really well this weekend.” 

    Herta, who led 17 laps, settled in second place and more than eight-tenths of a second behind Dixon while Rosenqvist achieved his first podium result in more than a season after finishing in third place.

    “Felix was really fast,” Herta said. “I’m glad we were able to keep him behind us. We just struggled with tire wear. Other than that, our car was amazing, and obviously got beat by Dixon, but one of those races I have to be proud of. The team did an amazing job. The car was really good all weekend. A pole and second, I’m happy with that. Hopefully, we can continue with these results more consistently. We just need to make this a little bit more regular and then, do it again next year and we’ll be looking a lot better in the championship.”

    What a fun race,” Rosenqvist said. “We had to fight really hard for it. The strategy for the race, you had to overtake on track and do good pit stops. I think we nailed both of those. We took the opportunities we had and that slowly moved us forward. Really good fun, good racing as it should be. First podium with the team. Really, really stoked. This weekend hopefully makes [McLaren CEO] Zak [Brown] doubt some things. Still a long way to go in the year, but every race just keeps getting better and better, and this is the trajectory we want to be on, and I’m excited for the rest of the season.”

    Rahal, who led six laps, came home in fourth while points leader Ericsson rounded out the top five. Completing the top 10 were Alex Palou, Simon Pagenaud, rookie Christian Lundgaard, Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden.

    There were seven lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 15 laps.

    With his top-five result, Marcus Ericsson continues to lead the standings by 35 points over Will Power, 37 over Alex Palou, 44 over both Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon, 75 over Pato O’Ward and 77 over Scott McLaughlin.

    Results.

    1. Scott Dixon, 40 laps led

    2. Colton Herta, 17 laps led

    3. Felix Rosenqvist, one lap led

    4. Graham Rahal, six laps led

    5. Marcus Ericsson

    6. Alex Palou

    7. Simon Pagenaud

    8. Christian Lundgaard

    9. Scott McLaughlin

    10. Josef Newgarden

    11. Pato O’Ward, three laps led

    12. David Malukas

    13. Rinus VeeKay, 18 laps led

    14. Callum Ilott

    15. Will Power

    16. Romain Grosjean

    17. Helio Castroneves

    18. Devlin DeFrancesco

    19. Jack Harvey

    20. Conor Daly

    21. Jimmie Johnson, 12 laps down

    22. Kyle Kirkwood – OUT, Contact

    23. Alexander Rossi – OUT, Contact

    24. Dalton Kellett – OUT, Mechanical

    25. Takuma Sato – OUT, Contact

    Next on the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series schedule is a doubleheader feature at Iowa Speedway, which marks the series return to the circuit following a one-year absence. The first IndyCar doubleheader event at Iowa will occur on Saturday, July 23, at 4 p.m. ET on NBC while the second event will occur on Sunday, July 24, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • IndyCar: The Future Looks Bright For the Honda Indy Toronto

    IndyCar: The Future Looks Bright For the Honda Indy Toronto

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    IndyCar Director of Engine Development Trevor Knowles and Honda Indy Toronto VP & GM Charlie Johnstone

    Every year, fans across Canada head to Exhibition Grounds to see the Honda Indy Toronto, which is headlined by the IZOD IndyCar Series.

    With IndyCar debuting a new chassis for 2012, anticipation is high for this year’s event.

    “I think this year’s Honda Indy Toronto is going to be spectacular,” Honda Indy Toronto VP and GM Charlie Johnston says. “It’s the largest sporting event in Ontario. We now have a new chassis that the Indy teams will be running – it will be the first time for the new chassis in Toronto. The new engines manufactures, you’ll see increased competition so I think the future looks really bright for this year and future years for the Honda Indy Toronto.”

    Johnston was at the Canadian Motorsports Expo on Friday February 11th, part of the Canadian unveil of the 2012 Dallara DW12 chassis.

    The car includes many safety features to make the IndyCar Series safer after the death of Dan Wheldon at Las Vegas last October. Ironically, Wheldon had been helping series officials throughout 2011 develop this car, so therefore the car was named DW12 after Wheldon.

    Johnston says the car looks good and addresses safety issues, but also addresses other concerns.

    “I think they’ve really addressed some of the safety issues, speed issues and cost issues so we’ve got a lighter, faster, safer racecar so it’s going to be awesome in the streets of Toronto,” he says.

    Coming into the race, a lot of Ontario fans have kept their eyes as of late on Oakville, Ontario native James Hinchcliffe. Hinchcliffe recently announced that he would be replacing Danica Patrick at Andretti Autosport, driving the Go Daddy car in 2012.

    “I think it’s great,” Johnstone comments. “James is a great kid to be in the Go Daddy, to be driving for Michael Andretti, who has won this race five times and this will be his hometown race. I think the future is bright for both James and his involvement in the Honda Indy Toronto.”

    Beyond Hinchcliffe, Alex Tagliani is locked to be part of this year’s edition of the race, while Paul Tracy is trying to solidify details to be there.

    “Anytime you can have Canadians involved with the Honda Indy Toronto is great and cheer for the local heroes is fabulous,” Johnstone comments.

    For more information on the Honda Indy Toronto and to get tickets, check out http://www.hondaindytoronto.com.

  • Dario Franchitti Scores 30th IZOD IndyCar Series Win in Honda Indy Toronto

    Dario Franchitti Scores 30th IZOD IndyCar Series Win in Honda Indy Toronto

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    After taking the lead on lap 71, Dario Franchitti led teammate Scott Dixon to the checkered flag for his third win in Toronto and the 30th IndyCar Series win of the year for the points leader.

    “I was pretty happy just be in the company of Rick and J.R., and to get my 30th win today means a lot, especially here in Toronto,” Franchitti said. “I got my first pole here in 1997. I love racing in Canada. We had that incident with Will. He out braked himself to out brake me and opened up the door, I went down the inside, I held the wall and Will came down. I put my nose in there, I was trying to get my nose out, but ultimately he closed the door and paid the price.”

    The incident, in which Franchitti spoke of with pole sitter and points rival Will Power, happened on lap 56 when they were battling for fifth in turn three. Power kept soildering on, till hitting the tire barrier on lap 66 in turn five after contact with Alex Tagliani.

    “It’s just a really disappointing finish for the Verizon car today,” Power said. “My team did a great job in the pits and we were working our way back toward the front and we got past (Dario) Franchitti. We went into the corner and I gave him room and then he just drove into me. I understood he was going to get penalized but then there was no call – I just don’t understand that. After that we were just trying to get the best result possible before Tag (Alex Tagliani) hit me from behind. It’s very tough to have two DNFs (did not finish) in a row. All I can say is we’ll keep working hard and hopefully come back strong at Edmonton.”

    “The contact with Will was also a shame,” Tagliani said afterwards. “Will was on blacks. I tried to pass him a couple of times in turn three. He was blocking a bit, and then I made a move on the inside in turn eight and it got tight.”

    Meanwhile, it was Franchitti’s teammate Dixon who came home second for his fourth podium finish in the last five races.

    “It’s frustrating because these street races are part luck, you know,” Dixon said. “Will and I were one and two, then he comes out like 18th or something like that, so it’s—and the 10 car gets it everytime, so I’ll call back on the radio and say, ‘Let me guess who’s leading. The 10 car.’ Which, is good on him, they make good strategy, and obviously Dario is quick as well and we all had to pass a lot of cars, but it’s frustrating. We were getting into a nice rhythm there, car was quick and good, and then the strategy throws it all off.”

    Ryan Hunter-Reay finished third for his best finish of the season.

    “I got third and now we just have to go win one,” he said. “The Ganassi boys did a great job.  Congrats to Dario.  Those cars were the class of the field today.  The two red and white cars – they just took off.”

    Hunter-Reay’s day wasnt’ totally clean, however, as he made contact with Graham Rahal on lap 80 in turn three, though no caution was brought out due to the incident.

    “Unfortunately,  it  is a bit of a product of Toronto,” Hunter-Reay continued. “I feel really bad for Graham on that. When Dixon went by him,

    [media-credit id=4 align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Graham kind of chopped him on the straight. Dixon went by him and really ran him wide in the corner into turn three.  There’s a football field worth of real estate there and I went for it and Graham slid across so. I’m not going to blame it on him and I certainly did not deliberately do that.  That was just part of Toronto.  As you can see, what we had out here today was a little bit of a crash test unfortunately. I hope the fans enjoyed it and I am just really happy to get DHL, Circle K and Sun Drop on the podium.  It was a hard fought day.  It wasn’t a straight forward podium that’s for sure.”

    Marco Andretti and Victor Meira rounded out the top five.

    The race was halted by five full course yellows throughout the 85 laps this afternoon.

    The first caution was on lap three when Ryan Briscoe and Tony Kanaan made contact in turn three, causing Kanaan to go airbourne, but he’d be okay.

    “I gave Briscoe plenty of room and he still took me out,” he said. “It was too early in the race to be doing stupid moves like that. I had a good car and was moving up the field,  I guess I overtook four cars in the first lap, so I was going to the front.  It’s a shame for the GEICO KV-Lotus guys.”

    The second caution was on lap 30 when Helio Castroneves and Tagliani made contact in turn three, halting Tagliani to a stop in turn three on the course. He’d get the car restarted and carry on.

    The third caution was on lap 39 when James Jakes stopped on the course.

    The fourth caution came out on lap 48 for a multi-car wreck involving Paul Tracy, Victor Meira, Charlie Kimball and Sebastain Bourdais.

    The fifth caution came on lap 56 for the incident involving Franchitti and Power, while the sixth caution came out on lap 71 for a multi-car accident involving Danica Patrick, Jakes and Tagliani.

    “It was just a really frustrating day,” Patrick said. “I thought we had a good race car. After we would pit for new tires, it would feel really good, but we kept getting caught out by the yellows. I have to thank the GoDaddy.com crew for working so hard all weekend.”

    The last caution was on lap 76 for another multi-car wreck involving Justin Wilson, Oriol Servia, James Hinchcliffe, Charlie Kimball, Mike Conway and Marco Andretti.

  • Two in a Row: Andrew Ranger Wins NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Streets of Toronto 100

    Two in a Row: Andrew Ranger Wins NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Streets of Toronto 100

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    After qualifying in the second position, everybody knew that Andrew Ranger would be strong so it was no surprise when he won the Streets of Toronto 100.

    Ranger took the lead on lap 12 after Jason Bowles, who started on pole and led the opening 11 laps, had a spark plug problem. The result was Ranger scoring his 18th NASCAR Canadian Tire Series win and second in a row in Toronto while Bowles got an 11th place finish.

    “I’m really happy to be on the podium again like that in first position,” he said. “We came here with the goal to win and its what happened. I really proud for Dave Jacob. He prepared me a really good car this weekend and to have PVH on board and Dodge to do those two events in Ontario and Quebec, I’m so happy just to be here on the podium first. It’s just something that’s unbelievable, but its always been a big goal.

    “I was trying to be patient and my plan was to be behind Jason the whole race and do something at the end, but I think Jason had something with his engine and I was able to pass him on the straightaway. Other than that, I tried to save my car all race long. A couple places where I slide a lot, I burned the rear tire and I was nervous because I knew at the end every time I came here, a caution came out with three laps to go. I was trying to be patient and save my rear tire and it happened again – the caution came out. I was nervous. I saw Scott right there, tried to do a little move on the outside.”

    Series points leader Scott Steckly stayed in the top five the entire race after starting third to finish second.

    “It was a definitely a good day for the Canadian Tire Dodge,” he said. “We ran in the top three all day; we were just patient. I was trying to save the car for the end of the day and we definitely still had a good car at the end. I was better than Andrew in a few spots and thought I might be able to get him there, but all in all, second is a good day.”

    Road course expert Robin Buck finished third, followed by Kerry Micks and D.J. Kennington

    “Well, it was pretty good,” he said. “I knew starting back in seventh I had to be patient. Typically here we get a lot of cautions and the cars go away quick, especially near the end, so my strategy this year has been pretty simple – just be really patient, as long as possible, and its been working out. The Quaker State Dodge did really well today. We passed a lot of cars at the end and a lot of breaks, just watching for other people’s weak spots on the track and making our moves when I had to. At the end, I think Micksy must’ve had a problem or something because he came in, just slowed up and was able to get by him.”

    After making the engine change yesterday before qualifying, Mark Dilley came home to a sixth place finish, followed by L.P. Dumoulin, Dom Thomson Jr., Peter Klutt and Brad Graham.

    Championship contender J.R. Fitzpatrick looked to finish second late in the going, however had to come to pit road under the final caution for a flat tire. As a result, he finished 19th, which has him now sitting third in points, 108 points behind Steckly. Kennington moved to second behind Steckly, now 80 points back.

    The race had three full course yellows, while having a bunch of minor incidents in between.

    The first full course yellow came out on lap three when Joey McColm made heavy contact with the turn five wall after contact with another car. Under this caution, Steve Mathews brought his car down pit road and parked it due to breaking an axle.

    The second full course yellow came out on lap 12 when Isabelle Tremblay and Dexter Stacey wrecked while battling for 14th. Tremblay was done for the day, while Stacey continued soildering on to a 12th place finish. Under this caution, the No. 3 team made a driver change as Kevin Dowler jumped in the ride, replacing Jason Hathaway, who broke his wrist a couple weeks ago. Hathaway was credited with a 20th place finish.

    The last full course caution came on lap 31 when Jason White stalled in turn eight and had to be pushed off of the track.

    The next race for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series is the A&W Crusin’ The Dub 300 at Motoplex Speedway and Event Park on July 23rd.

  • Will Power Scores Eighth Pole in a Row in Toronto; Dixon second

    Last year, Will Power won the Honda Indy Toronto and in beginning the quest to go back-to-back, Power won the PEAK Performance Pole Award at Exhibition Place in Toronto. Power’s lap of 59.5771 seconds gives him his fifth road course pole award of the season and eighth in a row over the past two seasons.

    “I think it’s impossible to get a good balance around this place with so many different surfaces and the bumps,” he said. “So you got to make the most of it.

    “It seems impossible to put a perfect lap together, too. You gain somewhere on one lap and you lose it somewhere else. It’s such a fun track because you absolutely ring the car’s neck in every possible way, under brakes, on power, everywhere. It’s always fun.

    “I don’t think qualifying is a big deal because I really think you can come from the back and win this race. It’s just that sort of track. Plenty of passing, lots of mayhem.”

    Scott Dixon qualified second to start on the front row for the second time this season with a lap of 59.6646 seconds.

    “It was pretty tough,” he said. “As I said yesterday, I think the track’s very demanding, more so this year with the bumps, just where you got to try to get the speed out of the car.

    “Qualifying was pretty smooth for us for the first two groups. I think the big question for most people today was how much you’re actually going to gain on the reds. Maybe some speculation they weren’t going to be much quicker at all. Turned out they were. So, you know, pretty decent. Little disappointed with Q3. We might adjust. Had enough in it. I’m sure Will didn’t get the most out of his lap as well. At least we’ve made improvements. The cars are quicker and obviously quicker to the No. 12 that’s been dominating on the road courses. Pretty happy all in all. Pretty confident both Target cars will be strong in the race.”

    IZOD IndyCar Series Points Leader Dario Franchitti qualified third (59.900), followed by Mike Conway (59.9330) and Graham Rahal.

    “I thought that my car was good,” he said. “That last Fast Six, I didn’t get the most out of it. I kept screwing up one corner and eventually got it halfway right, by which point was about lap five. Probably the best of the tire had gone. That was totally my fault. I didn’t get into rhythm quick enough. So ended up third.

    “I felt we probably had enough to get close to these guys, maybe not ahead. But P3 is all right. I think I’m happy with the way that the Target car is on black and red tires. We’ll see what we’ve got tomorrow.”

    Franchitti set the track record at the beginning of the session in the first round of qualifying with a lap of 59.3535 seconds, however it was Power who had the quickest lap during the Firestone Fast Six Qualifying round.

  • Esteban Guerrieri Scores Third Consecutive Sonoco Pole Award in Toronto

    On July 9th, the Firestone Indy Lights hit to the 11-turn temporary street course at Exhibition Place in Toronto, which saw Esteban Guerrieri score his third consecutive Sonoco Pole award with a lap of 1 minute, 2.986 seconds. With the pole, Guerreri gave team owner Sam Schmidt his 42nd pole award.

    “Since the beginning, everything worked quite well,” he said. “We were quick yesterday and we didn’t put any tires, we saved the tires for qualifying this morning, and I was feeling good straight away. I love the circuit, I love the city, the atmosphere, everything, so I had a lot of fun. The reward for the guys is the best I can give them, so I’m very grateful to them and to my sponsors.”

    Stefan Wilson will join him on the front row (1:03:45) after losing his quickest lap (1:02:8714), and what would’ve been his first pole start, due to a local caution on the course.

    “I felt like I got the best out of my car and pushed it to the limit,” he said. “Unfortunately I still had my last lap taken away with the yellow flag, so I’m pretty upset about that. It felt amazing; the car felt good. We made some really good changes this weekend and I was definitely a contender for the pole. It’s just heartbreaking to get that taken away. It just gives us more motivation to go for the win tomorrow.”

    Wilson’s teammate Peter Dempsy qualified third, followed by Anders Korhn and Josef Newgarden.

    Gustvao Yacaman got sixth, followed by Duarte Ferreira and Bruno Andrade. The race in Toronto on the 1.755-mile course will mark Andrade’s Firestone Indy Lights debut.

  • Will Power Looks For His Second Straight Win in Toronto

    Will Power Looks For His Second Straight Win in Toronto

    [media-credit id=4 align=”alignleft” width=”150″][/media-credit]There are times that one driver’s misfortune can turn into another’s good fortune and that was the case for Will Power. When Helio Castoneves was on trial for tax evasion charges, Roger Penske was looking for another driver to potentially replace him.

    As they say, the rest is history, but since getting together with Penske,  that now has him working with both Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe.

    “Both very good drivers,” Power commented. “I think that we all have a good relationship and work very well together. I think that we get the most of the car that we can because of each other’s feedback.”

    It has also brought lots of success, including a special win at Sonoma last year.

    “I think most my memorable win would have to be Sonoma last year after breaking my back there a year earlier and coming back and having a perfect weekend winning that race,” he said.

    So far this year, things have been quite solid for Power as in the nine races this season, he has three wins, four poles, six top fives and seven top 10s.

    “It’s been quiet, in one way, a little bit mixed up,” he said. “We’ve had a few different winners, but its just proven to be very tight, very competitive, and it’s a lot of fun. I’m enjoying it actually, more relaxed this year.”

    The last race for the IndyCars didn’t work out that good for Power, however, as he wrecked on lap 90 after having contact with another car early on pit road.

    “You don’t want to have two bad races in a row,” he said when asked if there’s added pressure this week. “It’s always possible, but I think I just need to put my focus on this weekend and forget about what happened, which I’ve done.”

    Power’s chances at going back-to-back look strong as he led the final practice for the IZOD IndyCars on Friday.

    “I think is great for racing because it has a slippery surface, very long back straight,” he said of the Toronto course. “It’s always good to put a good show on and it’s a track that you can come back from a lap down to win so it’s a place that everyone enjoys coming to.”

    Through his experience in racing, Power has learned many lessons, though the one he calls the top lesson is patience.

    “I think patience is definitely something in IndyCar that you really need,” he said. “I think that is the key to winning a championship – being patient at the right time. Its always about having a good balance between patience and aggression.”

  • Dario Franchitti and Will Power Lead IZOD IndyCar Practices at Honda Indy Toronto

    Dario Franchitti and Will Power Lead IZOD IndyCar Practices at Honda Indy Toronto

    [media-credit id=4 align=”alignleft” width=”150″][/media-credit]In preparation for the Honda Indy on July 10th, the IZOD IndyCar Series hit to the streets of Toronto for a pair of practices.

    In the first practice, it was Dario Franchitti leading the way with an average speed of 102.619 and was followed by Penske Racing driver Helio Castroneves with a speed of 102.51.

    “Overall, it was a good day for the Penske Truck Rental team,” Castroneves said. “Right off the bat, the car had good balance and good speed here in Toronto. We didn’t put on new tires at the end of the last practice – I wanted to, but my new strategist (John Erickson) is already working on trying something different so I listened to him! I love the yellow car and the yellow suit of Penske Truck Rental. It reminds me of Dancing With the Stars. Let’s hope we have the same kind of result this weekend.”

    Team Penske put Erickson in place as the strategist for Castroneves for the first time this weekend in Toronto. Erickson was working with Will Power, who will now be teamed up with Tim Cindric. Finally, Clive Howell will continue to focus on his duties as team general manager.

    Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the top three at an average speed of 102.458mph.

    “We were third-quick in the first session, so we had a good morning – and I think we were having a good afternoon,” he said. “The DHL/Circle K/Sun Drop car was feeling pretty good; we were in the top five until we decided not to take new tires like most of the top 10 did. But, we’ll just save those for tomorrow and hopefully it will pay off for us.”

    Justin Wilson and Power was fourth and fifth, followed by Scott Dixon was sixth, followed by Alex Tagliani, Takumo Sato, Tony Kanaan and Mike Conway. James Hinchcliffe, who calls the Honda Indy his hometown race, was the quickest rookie in 11th.

    The first practice saw no on track incidents.

    In the second practice, Power led the way with an average speed of 104.330.

    “The Verizon car is good, but we are still not quick enough,” he said. “We put tires on there at the end of the second practice and no one else did. We are just a bit off the pace. We still have a few things in mind to improve the car. It is great to be in Toronto, though, and relaly good to see all the fans.”

    He was followed by Ganassi Racing driver Dixon with a speed of 104.145 as the top 15 cars were quicker than Franchitti’s first session quickest lap.

    “It’s definitely cool to be back at a street course, especially Toronto,” he said. “It’s a fun circuit. It’s definitely different than the last four races with all left hand turns and now coming back to a bumpy circuit. The track seems to be a little bumpier, especially going into turn 1 and maybe down the back straight as well. It’s created a few new issues that we haven’t had before. The times actually seem surprisingly quicker. Even on the primary tires, we only seems to be five-tenths off the quick times of the options.”

    Franchitti was third in the session, followed by Hinchcliffe and Kanaan. Wilson was sixth, followed by Oriol Servia, Ryan Briscoe, Castroneves and Danica Patrick.

    The second practice saw two full course yellows. The first was eight minutes into the session when Tagliani spun mid corner in turn 8, making contact with the outside retaining wall. He was then struck by Graham Rahal, briefly lifting the car off the ground. Due to the wreck, Tagliani suffered rear wing damage while Rahal had front wing damage. The second incident was when Sebastian Bourdais stopped on course in turn 8. After being re-fired by the Holmatro Safety Team, he was able to make it back to pit lane. There was also local caution, which saw Ana Beatriz spin in turn 2.

    Qualifying will take place Saturday afternoon at 12:50pm EST, with the race taking place on Sunday July 10th at 2pm ET.

  • NCAT: Jason Bowles Wins The Pole For The Streets of Toronto 100

    NCAT: Jason Bowles Wins The Pole For The Streets of Toronto 100

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    Jason Bowles ready to go out and practice.

    Jason Bowles, the one lone non-Canadian driver in the 33 car field, won the Keystone Light Pole Award with a lap of 1 minute, 16.260 seconds to break Andrew Ranger’s track record.

    “It was a good lap,” he said. “When we first went out, there was a little bit of speedy dry on the track, so it was a little bit tricky to get through that section on the second lap. But the car’s pretty good. It’s good to have Fuel Doctor on board this week and get the pole for them, our first one of the year. My guys have brought me a great car. I think it’s going to be a great race. Andrew and Scott will be tough tomorrow. We’re going to go out and I think we’re ready.”

    The pole marks the first NASCAR Canadian Tire Series pole for the driver from Ontario, California. Bowles has been a successful road course racer as he has nine K&N Pro Series West wins on road courses.

    Ranger, who set the record at 1:16.659 last year, qualified second for this weekend’s race with a fast lap of 1:16.526.

    “Well, I think its been alright,” he said. “I think we have a really good car. Jason is a little bit quicker than us, but its going to be a good race tomorrow. It’s a long race, a lot of things can happen here in the streets in Toronto. But above that, I think we’ve got a really good car for tomorrow.”

    The pair, Bowles and Ranger, finished 1-2 in last year’s race with Ranger coming out the winner.

    Points Leader Scott Steckly, meanwhile, qualified third with a lap of 1:17.002.

    “It was just another qualifying run,” he said afterwards. “Toronto isn’t one of our best tracks, that’s for sure. We put a lot of extra resources in it trying to get better here and car’s been good here so far so we’re just happy to be starting upfront.”

    Kerry Micks and Don Thomson Jr. rounded out the top five. Defending series champion D.J. Kennington qualified sixth, followed by Robin Buck, Peter Klutt, J.R. Fitzpatrick and Jeff Lapcevich. Louis-Phillippe Dumoulin was the highest rookie in 11th.

    After crashing during practice, John Farano, Noel Dowler and Ray Courtemanche Jr. did not  attempt to qualify as they were still repairing their cars.  Hugo Vannini and Kennington were also involved in wrecks, however both made a qualifying attempts with Kennington ending up 6th and Vannini in 30th. Kennington’s team continued repairs after qualifying, which could see Kennington starting at the rear as a result of unapproved changes.

    Many teams experienced mechanical difficulties during practice as Micks stalled during practice, Mark Dilley made an engine change although he qualified 14th and Jason White changed a drive train before qualifying 18th. None of the above will have to drop the rear as their changes were made before qualifying and therefore don’t fall under the Canadian Tire Series Impound procedure.

    The race is set for 2pm EST on Saturday, with it being shown on TSN on July 17th.