Foster Wins Markham Pole in Wild Qualifying Session

Photo from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

Some quick thoughts on today’s qualifying:

Louis Foster was quick all day, yet few thought he had a shot at the pole. He had the most mature drive I have seen from in his short career. Foster seemed to really enjoy the track. He dominated the Fast Six like we haven’t seen in a while. Once mhe got to first place, no one could catch him.

Foster’s pole was the first of 2026 for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

I never thought that when I saw the drivers in a Fast Six round that I would say, “Wow, Rinus VeeKay is the only one who usually makes it to this round.”

Can some big team please put him in a car?

It has been 700 days, since the Nashville finale, that Alex Palou has started a race outside the Top 10. I sure didn’t think today was going to be the day.

Markham made up for yesterday’s issues with a great day of on track action.

While Marcus Ericsson will start second, teammate Will Power had a horrible day. He crashed in practice, then crashed during qualifying. His second incident cost Kyle Kirkwood a shot at reaching the second round.

Like Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, turn 10 at Markham could be IndyCar’s Wall of Champions. Not only did Power crash there, but Josef Newgarden also clipped the tires.

Because of the altered format IndyCar returned to its normal Fast Six shootout instead if the single car format they used at other street courses this season. I like the shootout with all cars on track better. I hope they scrap the single car runs. Now that I have seen both, I find the six cars on track plan much more exciting and dramatic.

Tomorrow’s race should be a fun one with what seems like an inverted starting lineup.

Thanks for following along today.

Results

Markham Practice 2 Results; Qualifying Groups

Louis Foster had the fastest lap of the day to lead Pr5actice 2. The session was interrupted by a hard crash in turn 10 by Will Power. who ran into the tire barrier and damaged the right front corner of the car. Crew members from all three Andretti entries pitched to prepare the car for qualifying.

Qualifying will be joined in progress on FS2 at 7 pm Eastern. Those who have Fox One app can watch the beginning of the session at 6:30.

Results

Qualifying Groups

Markham Practice 1- New Track, Same Old Story

Alex Palou turned the fastest lap in opening practice for the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at the new Markham track. The next practice is at 2:30 pm Eastern.

I think the track is very cool. I love that turn 5 hairpin. What chaos awaits there.

Kyffin Simpson had a hard wall contact and sustained left rear suspension damage and may have a gearbox to repair as well.

Television update- FOX has deterthat the first 30 minutes is not important enough for over the air Television and will be exclusively on the FIX ONE app.FS2 will show qualifyingbeginninh at7 pm Eastern.

Results

Let’s Try Again

Breaking: According to Bob Pockrass and other sources, the Markham track has received the FIA approval and is cleared for track activity.

Yesterday’s PR disaster should hopefully turn into an action packed day.

The revised television schedule… maybe:

This schedule does not have the first half hour of qualifying on FOX ONE only. I will update this information as the day goes along on X.

One man’s opinion:

A racing series needs to oversee race preparation at all the venues where they race, and I think attention to Markham lessened when the DC race was announced. If you have noticed over the past few weeks, there have been lots of promos for the DC race, and very little about Markham. I almost forgot that this race was still on the schedule.

The series and their television partner are so focused on the race after Markham that this weekend’s event has been shoved to the side. As a result, IndyCar and Green Savoree ended up in an embarrassing situation.

I hope IndyCar’s relationship with the promoter isn’t damaged by this snafu. Greem Savoree promotes nearly one fourth of the IndyCar schedule. The series needs them. They aren’t going to magically find four new races.

Maybe IndyCar has learned a lesson here, but past open wheel history would suggest otherwise.

I have some other thoughts, which I will save until after next weekend’s race.

So there will be cars on track all day, and that will serve as some balm to yesterday’s sting.

Qualifying will revert to the standard format of a Fast Six rather than the single car street course final round.

Watch for updates on X @tutorindie and The Pit Window on Faqcebook.

I wil have session summaries on this site as the day goes on, but I did have some other plans as well.

Markham Postponed; Revised Saturday Schedule

After working all day to prepare the track, IndyCar scratched the entire schedule and has isued a new schedule for SWaturday.

Television timesd:

Fans at home will miss the first 30 minutes of qualifying unless they have the FOX One app. I find this inexcusable. For an entity with partial ownership in the series to not find a way tom put all of qualifying over the air is ridiculous.

I really feel for the fans who came to the track today. Even though today was free, they still needed to make arrangements to come, maybe even take a day off of work to get to the track. IndyCar could have announced the postponement earlier.

I understand first year races have issues, but this race was announced more than a year ago. This is a horrible look for IndyCar and an awful start to a five year deal.

Markham Preview

Today’s schedule: Eastern time

IndyCar Practice 1 – 3 pm FS2

From what I am hearing, this schedule may be changing. The track walk was postponed from yesterday to 8 am this morning because the track was not finished. Overnight work took place to get the track ready, and it appears the track walk has begun. First year circuits usually have issues at the start of a race weekend, so I am not surprised.

It took several years for St. Pete to figure out how to quickly build and tear down the track. Now they need less than half the time it used to take. Markham will be the home of IndyCar in Canada for five years. This problem should not happen again.

The Markham race replaces the Toronto event at Exhibition Place, a tight circuit which had undergone many changes as more buildings rose on the grounds. IndyCar would have probably had to find a new home eventually. A conflict with the World Cup did not allow the race to take place this year, and Markham, about 30 minutes away, became the new home of IndyCar for the next five years.

Newer and casual fans may be surprised that there is a race this weekend, as this event has been overshadowed promo wise by next week’s race in Washington, D. C. The quest for ratings for that race has buried promotion for this weekend’s race.

While it is a new circuit for everyone, Alex Palou and Kyle Kirkwood enter as the two favorites. They dominated t6he inaugural race at Arlington in March, and there is no reason to believe the top two drivers in the standings won’t do the same here.

The circuit looks interesting with a long backstretch and some elevation change. Turn 6 looks like a good passing zone.

Like Detroit, Markham features a split pit lane. The concept works better than I expected it to as drivers have behaved and stayed on their side of the pits on exit.

With five races left in the season, a seventh victory for Palou would pretty much wrap up his fifth championship and fourth in a row. The only real question is can Kirkwood retain second place rather than switching spots with David Malukas every weekend.

My pick for Sunday is Kyle Kirkwood. I am surprised that he hasn’t won a race since March, and street circuits are his expertise. He still won’t gain much ground on Palou, who will likely be on the podium, but Kirkwood will solidify his hold on second place.

I am anxious to see what the track looks like this afternoon and how the cars w3ill =race on it. I’ll be back this evening with a practice wrap up.

Some Thoughts on the 2027 Schedule

In what seemed a strange move, IndyCar announced the first half of the 2027 schedule yesterday. I don’t really see the point of announcing a partial schedule. Perhaps there are some things in the works for next July and August that need a lot of work, but I would prefer to wait and announce the full schedule at one time.

Most of the dates were already known from NASCAR and IMSA schedules which have shared dates. The date for Barber was new information as were the test dates.

IndyCar starts 2027 with he same three races which began 2026- St. Pete March 7; Phoenix March 14; and Arlington March 21. Beginning the season with three straight races is a great early momentum builder, but I don’t like the March 21 conflict with the Sebring 12 hour weekend. As much as I love IndyCar, Sebring is my first choice that weekend, and it has that weekend longer. IndyCar should leave that weekend blank and go to Arlington the following week.

I am happy to see Barber return to April, although later in the month would be better when the landscaping begins to bloom.

After Long Beach comes am nearly four week gap between races. That might be a great spot for Gateway. It won’t be too hot at that time of year, and it’s close enough to IMS for teams to move into the track for May.

Ironically, my favorite part of the new schedule is not any of the races, but the May 4-5 open oval test days. Two more days of cars on track in Ma-, early May as well- extends the month which goes to its proper and rightful date of May 30. 2027 will be the best month of May in years.

Without a World Cup or Olympics to schedule around, the rest of the summer schedule should be more evenly distributed between July and August without huge gaps of idleness. It would be nice to have two races in September, too.

I realize scheduling is difficult, and I’m anxious to see what bthe rest ofn2027 will look like. Overall, the start of next season looks promising.

The schedule, including tewt dates:

Feb. 23-24: Phoenix Test
March 5-7: St. Pete
March 12-13: Phoenix
March 19-21: Arlington
Apr. 2-4: Barber
April 16-18: Long Beach
May 4-5: Indy 500 Test
May 14-15: Sonsio GP
May 30: Indy 500
June 4-6: Detroit