From last night
Ericsson Rises Above Canadian Chaos
Ericsson Rises Above Canadian Chaos
Some quick thoughts on a spectacular, wild, chaotic race at Markham:
Heartbreak, drama. pit strategy gambles, and a drive for the ages were all on display at the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy today. The race had all the elements of a great race, with timely and untimely cautions, changing pit strategies, passing, collisions, and a charge for the le4ad in the closing laps.
Heartbreak– Louis Foster’ lap 32 crash while dominating the race is the day’s biggest heartbreak. After his first pitstop, I said that that the race was his to lose. Unfortunately, he proved me correct. What a tough break for Foster and the RLL team.
Drama- Marcus Ericsson waited and waited to pit. Romain Grosjean pitted a bit early and tried to hang on. Grosjean nearly succeeded, but Ericsson had the fastest car on track, His seven second margin at the end was astounding.
Like during yesterday’s qualifying, contenders and potential contenders fell out of the race. Power and Kirkwood ran through the field from the back with relative ease and became players mid race.
Pit Strategy– What was the correct strategy? It varied at every point of the afternoon. It turns out two stops were sufficient thanks to the seven caution periods. The top four finishers made stopped twice.
Today’s win was arguably Ericsson’s finest drive in IndyCar. I believe it is the first time he won a race in which no red flags stopped the action. His ability to drive past anyone at will, his move to get by Alex Palou late in the race, and t5he way he ran away from Grosjean after taking the lead was a racing master class.
“We were the fastest car all day, I thought,” he said. “Obviously, there were a lot of (cautions), so we had to stay out (longer on the final sequence). I wanted to show the pace and open a gap, so we gambled on staying out. I had the pace and we were lapping so quick (after coming out of the pits on Lap 69) seventh. It was a lot of work to get through the leaders.”
Will Power also had a lot of speed, and he fought through many adventures on an Odyssean run to the podium.
Andretti cars were the class of the field. At one point the Power, Ericsson and Kirkwood were running second, third, and fourth. Kirkwood’s crash spoiled what could have been a team podium sweep.
Romain Grosjean earned his sixth career second place. Like today, he was in contention for the win.
Markham is the third race of 2026 where Palou did not lead a lap. The points leader appeared to be catching leader Grosjean late in the race, but he bobbled in a turn. Ericsson and Power both got past him.
Rinus VeeKay fought a car with a broken front wing to a seventh-place finish. VeeKay has been a regular member of the Fast Six, and he has backed up his starting spot with consistent Top 10s.
Graham Rahal earned his fourth Top 10 of the season. RLL has shown great improvement in qualifying tin 2026, and I look for a big jump from them next year.
The Hairpin– Turn 5 saw a lot of wild action. I think some modification might take place in 2027, but I hope not too much. Making the corner faster might help, but I really liked the madness that ensued.
All is Forgiven– After Friday’s track build fiasco, the new Mar4kham track produced two days of great IndyCar action, including one of the best street races I have ever seen. I wish we could run there again next weekend.
Results
Markham Starting Tire Selections and Warm Up Results
Warmup Results
More Grid Penalties
From IndyCar Officiating:
| INDYCAR Officiating Announces Streets of Markham Grid Penalties |
| INDIANAPOLIS (Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026) – INDYCAR Officiating has announced six-position starting grid penalties for the entries of No. 5 Arrow McLaren and Nos. 26 and 27 Andretti Global for unapproved engine changes following yesterday’s qualifying on the Streets of Markham. The entries were in violation of: Rule 16.1.2.3.2. A fifth (5th) Engine is eligible to earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Approved Engine Change-Out if a Full Season Entrant has completed the Full Season Entrant Engine Mileage with its first four (4) Engines. Otherwise, a fifth (5th) or more Engine does not earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Unapproved Engine Change-Out. According to Rule 16.1.6.1.2., the penalty is a six-position starting grid penalty on road and street course events and nine positions at oval events and will be served at the series’ next event, which is the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham, today, on the Streets of Markham. |
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
Practice Groups – Markham
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.
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 