Category: Auto Racing

Quick Thoughts- Honda Indy Toronto

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Note- A more ddetailed story about Christian Lundgaard and RLL will be up tomorrow morning, followed by a complete wrap up. Just wanted to egt some thoughts out there now.

Congratulations to Christian Lundgaard on his first career victory in Indycar. He has been the most solid driver on the team this year, but is starting to put it together. Lundgaard won the pole at GMR Grand Prix at IMS in May. At Mid Ohio he started fifth and finished fourth.

It is always nice to see a first time winner in the series. the genuine emotion and joy shown by Lundgaard and the entire RLL organization was a joy to watch.

The entire Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team deserves credit for thier incredible turnaround since May. This team struggled to get two of their three cars into the Indianpolis 500.

It was a richly deserved win with great stategy calls and a couple of great passes.

Maybe Palou Isn’t Human?

Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden had Alex palou right where they wanted him. He started 15th, his worst satrting spot of the year. Dixon and Newgarden were both ahead of him. With the race on a tight street course where passing is difficult, I’m sure visions of points gains danced in their heads.

So, Palou finishes second, nursing a front wing that could have fallen off at any moment, and adds seven points to his cahampionship lead.

Maybe he is bullet proof.

Toronto- Where the Streaks Have No Name

Four streaks ended this weekend. Alex Palou’s three race winning streak, Colton Herta’s two weekend pole streak, Will Power not being in the Fast Six, and Herta’s non podium streak.

It is hard for me to believe that Herta had not been on the poium in 2023 until today.

As for Palou, he could start another one and run to the end of the season.

I had questioned power’s competitiveness early in the year, but he has been strong since the 500.

Notes

Lundgaard joins Kyle Kirkwood as first time career winners in 2023. Their wins have something in common. Both drivers won a street race from the pole.

Romain Grosjean’s Indycar future may be hanging by a thread. Another crash today makrks his fourth finishn of 22nd or worse since May. His last top ten finish was at Barber.

How did the crews of Will Power and Marcus Ericsson get the fuel calculations so wrong?

Congratulations to Marcus Srmstrong on his seventh place finish.

Agustin canapino finsihed 12th, tying his career best set at St. Pete, but he started this weekend from 18th, his career best start. A great weekend for the Indycar rookie.

Does trouble always find Kyle Kirkwood, or does he always find trouble? He puzzles me.

Thanks for following along this weekend. A more in depth story on RLL’s journey to Victory Lane will be up tomorrow.

Dixon Tops Morning WarmUp

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Scott Dixon had the ffaststestt lap in this morning’s pre race warmuup for this afternoon’s Honda Indy Toronto. his time of 1:01.3208 was sisix hundredths quicker than Kyle Kirrkwood and nearly three tenths better than Josef Newgarden.

The 390 minute sessionn ran free of toppagees, and was highlighted by a racing duel between Scott McLaughlin and Felix Rosenqvist.

Pole sitter Christian Lundgaard finished sixth fastest and points leader Alex palou was fifth.

barring a win by Dixon tghis afternoon, which i think is a posibility, Palou’s lead should remain in triple digits.

My possible winners include Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Will Power, or Colton Herta.

The top 10:

Lundgaard Wins Wet, Wild Pole at Toronto

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Photo from Penske Entertainment

Christian Lundgaard won his second pole of the season, turning his fast lap as time expired in the Fast Six. The pole is a culmination of the improvements Rahal Letterman lLanigan Racing has made the last two races. It was an entertaining qualifying, with weatherr scrambling the Fast Six.

Rain neutralized the Andretti team advantage as the team did not put a car in the Fast Six. Round 1 group1 went according to plan for the team, with Kyle Kirkwood and Romain Grosjean advancing. Colton Herta did not make it out of his group as the rain during group 2 caused him to spin, losing his best 2 laps to that point. He could never get another good lap in. Herta had won poles at the last two races.

Round 1 did not go to plan for points leader Alex Palou, who will start 15th. It is Palou’s worst starting spot of the season. His three race winning strak is in jeopardy tomorrow.

The Fast Six was run in drying conditions. Pato O’Ward startedd on the altrnates and sett several fast laps. The others- Will Power, Scott McLaughlin, Marcus Ericsson, Felix Rosenqvist, and Lundgaard, turned a lap on the rain tire then came in for alternates. O’Ward did not pit for new tires, he didn’t have enough at the end.

Thge final seconds ticked off as every driver too the lead as they crossed the line. Lundgaard secured the pole as the last car to finish.

Notes

Will Power made the Fast Six for the first time in 2023. The all time career leader still seeks his forst pole of the year.

Impressive job by Tom Blomqvist to qualify 20th in just his third session in an Indycar. He did it in rainy conditions as well.

Agustin CCanapino matched his best start at 18th, also in the rain.

There is a slight chance of rain during the race tomorrow.

The grid for tomorrow’s race has a lot of fast cars mid pack and toward the rear. Starting tire choices will be interesting The jumbled lineup should make for a fun race.

I will have the staring liineup tomorrow m\orning and a race preview.

Herta Leads Practice 2; Goes for 3 Straight Poles

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Colton Herta lowered the best lap of the weekend to 1:00.5657 to lead the morning practice before qualifying. Herta edged Andretti teammate Kyle Kirkwood by0.0315 seconds. Kirkwood led Friday’s practice as Andretti continues to assert itsel=f on street courses.

When qualifying begibns at 2:50 eastern time this afternoon, Herta will attempt to win his third consecutive pole position.

Felix Rosenqvist brought out the first red flag of the weekend when hit the wall in turn 5 with just a little more than seven minutes to go.

Cars returned to the track to run out the time, but no one got in a clean lap.

Tom Blomqvist improved one second from yesterday.

Qualifying Groups will be up in a bit.

The top 6:

  1. Herta 1:00.5657
  1. Kirkwood 1:00.5972-sec
  2. Ericsson 1:00.6350-sec
  3. Palou 1:00.6802-sec
  4. O’Ward 1:00.7954-sec
  5. Lundgaard 1:00.7366-sec

Honda Indy Toronto Race Preview

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Today’ schedule All times eastern

3 pm-4:15 pm Indycar practice

Indycar takes to the streets of Exhibition Place in Toronoto this weekend, startingmwith a 75 minute practice this afternoon. There are some unusual aspects toi the weekend, one of which is the entire weekend, including the race, is exclusively on Peacock.

The 1.7 ile track has had to adjust to a growing area. The pits have shifted to a new spot after a hotel supplanted their original location. The paddock is inside the convention center.

Sunday’s race will be the 37th running of the event at Exhibition Place. Other events have run for more years, but the Canadian race is fast approaching the 40 race mark, which Mid Ohio just achieved and Long Beach has moved past eight years ago.

The Palou Express

Alex Palou has won three straight races. Is the weekend he is finally stopped? Plaou has not finished outside the top five since the opener at St. Pete, and has qualified in the top for everywhere since Long Beach.

Palou has won the last two street races, and the championship is his to lose. I don’t see a dropoff in hismperformance this weekend, but I don’t think he will be on the top of the podium.

He will still have a strong finish, and at least one of his two closest rivals, Scott Dixon or Josef Newgarden, will fall further behind in points.

RLL Momentum

Can Rahal letterman Lanigan Racing continuie its momentum from Mid Ohio? All three drivers,-Graham Rahal, Christiian Lundgaard, and Jack Harvey qualified well, with Rahal on the front row. Lundgaard finished fourth, while Rahal finsihed seventh after some issues in the pits.

I hope Mid Ohio was the springboard for a good second half of the season for this team.

Blomqvist Debut

Tom Blomqvist makes his Indycar debut, replacing Simon Pagenaud, who has not been cleared by Indycar to drive after his incident at Mid Ohio. Blomqvist drives full time for MSR in IMSA. Runor has it that he will replace Helio Castronveve full time i 2024, and Castroneves will move intom his seat in sportscars.

I’m not sure either current MSR driver will be back next season. This team has to get younger quickly. The year has not gone well for them.

Putting It All Together

Like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football, Colton Herta and Pato O’Ward are still looking for their first complete race weekend of 2023. Herta has won two consecutive poles, but hasn’t been able to win. O’Ward has qualified well occasionally, and has had difficult races.

I give Herta the edge this weekedn. Andretti asutopsort has benn verty strong on street courses this year with two poles and a victory.

I’ll b back late this aftyernoon with a practice wrap up story.

Honda Indy Toronto Fast Facts

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From Indycar:

Race weekend: Friday, July 14-Sunday, July 16
Track: Streets of Toronto’s Exhibition Place, an 11-turn, 1.786-mile temporary street course
Race distance: 85 laps / 151.81 miles
Push-to-pass parameters: 200 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 20 seconds per activation.
Firestone tire allotment: Six sets primary, four sets alternate to be used during the event weekend. Teams fielding a rookie driver may use one additional set of primary tires. Teams must use one set of primary and one set of new (sticker) alternate tires for at least two laps in the race.
Twitter: @HondaIndy, @IndyCar, #IndyTO, #IndyCarInstagram: @HondaIndy, @INDYCAR, #IndyTO, #INDYCARFacebook: @HondaIndyToronto, @INDYCAR, #INDYCARTikTok: @INDYCAR, #INDYCARYouTube: @INDYCAREvent website: www.HondaIndy.comINDYCAR website: www.INDYCAR.com
2022 race winner: Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)2022
NTT P1 Award winner: Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda), 59.2698 seconds, 108.480 mph
Qualifying record: Gil de Ferran, 57.143 seconds, 110.565 mph, July 17, 1999 (Note: Josef Newgarden set a qualifying mark of 58.4129 seconds, 110.072 mph, for the current layout in 2019.)

Race telecast: Honda Indy Toronto 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday, July 16, TSN (Canada)/Peacock (USA) (live). Leigh Diffey is the play-by-play announcer for Peacock’s coverage of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, alongside analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Kevin Lee and Dillon Welch are the pit reporters.

Peacock Live Streaming: All NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice sessions and qualifying will stream live on Peacock, NBC’s direct-to-consumer livestreaming product in the United States, and TSN+ in Canada. The race telecast of the Honda Indy Toronto will be streamed exclusively on Peacock in the United States.

INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the anchor alongside analyst Davey Hamilton. Jake Query, Nick Yeoman and Michael Young are the turn announcers. Joel Sebastianelli, Alex Wolff and Georgia Henneberry are the pit reporters. The Honda Indy Toronto race (1:30 p.m. ET Sunday), NTT P1 Award Qualifying (2:50 p.m. ET Saturday) and all NTT INDYCAR SERIES practices air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM 160, racecontrol.indycar.com and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA

.At-track schedule (all times local):

Friday, July 14
3-4:15 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 1, Peacock/TSN+

Saturday, July 151
0:35-11:35 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 2 (45 minutes green flag or 60 minutes), Peacock/TSN+

2:50-4:20 p.m. – Qualifying for NTT P1 Award (Three rounds of knockout qualifying), Peacock/TSN+

Sunday, July 16

10:15-10:45 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Final Practice, Peacock/TSN+

1:30 p.m. – Peacock/TSN on air

1:53 p.m. – Honda Indy Toronto “Drivers, start your engines”

2 p.m. – Honda Indy Toronto (85 laps, 151.81 miles), Peacock/TSN (Live).

Race notes:The Honda Indy Toronto will be the 10th race of the 2023 season. There have been five different winners in nine NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this season. Marcus Ericsson (Streets of St. Petersburg), Josef Newgarden (Texas Motor Speedway and Indianapolis 500), Kyle Kirkwood (Streets of Long Beach), Scott McLaughlin (Barber Motorsports Park) and Alex Palou (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course-1, Streets of Detroit, Road America and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course) have all won in 2023. The modern record (1946-present) for most different winners in a season is 11 in 2000, 2001 and 2014.
The Honda Indy Toronto will be the 37th INDYCAR SERIES race held on the streets of Toronto’s Exhibition Place. Scott Dixon earned his fourth Toronto victory in 2022.
Scott Dixon is the winningest active INDYCAR SERIES driver at Toronto with four victories (Dixon won both races in 2013, and in 2018 and 2022). 
Michael Andretti has the most wins at the track with seven. Dixon, three-time Toronto winner Will Power (2007, 2010, 2016), Josef Newgarden (2015, 2017) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (2012) are previous race winners entered this year.
ACTIVE RACE WINNER WINS SEASONS
Scott Dixon 4 2013 Race #1, 2013 Race #2, 2018, 2022

Will Power 3 2007, 2010, 2016

Josef Newgarden 2 2015, 2017

Ryan Hunter-Reay 1 2012

Drivers who have won poles at Toronto entered in this year’s race are Will Power (2011, 2015), Scott Dixon (2013 Race 2, 2016), Helio Castroneves (2000), Josef Newgarden (2018) and Colton Herta (2022). The polesitter has won the race seven times since the first race in 1986, most recently by Simon Pagenaud in 2019.ACTIVE POLE WINNER POLES SEASONS
Will Power 2 2011, 2015

Scott Dixon 2 2013 Race #2, 2016

Helio Castroneves 1 2000 (Note: also started 2014 Race #2 on pole as awarded by points)

Josef Newgarden 1 2018

Colton Herta12022From 2009-2019, the eventual NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion won the Toronto race six times. 

Dario Franchitti won in 2009 and in 2011. Ryan Hunter-Reay won in 2012, Scott Dixon swept both races in 2013 and won the single race in 2018, and Josef Newgarden won in 2017.
Seven other drivers have claimed the INDYCAR SERIES championship in the same season they won at Toronto: Bobby Rahal (1986), Al Unser Jr. (1990), Michael Andretti (1991), Alex Zanardi (1998), Cristiano da Matta (2002), Paul Tracy (2003) and Sebastien Bourdais (2004).
Twenty-three drivers entered in the event have competed in past INDYCAR SERIES races at Exhibition Place. Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon and Will Power (16) have made the most starts at Toronto among the entered drivers.
Eleven entered drivers have led laps at the track (Dixon 240, Power 162, Josef Newgarden 120, Castroneves 101, Ryan Hunter-Reay 36, Graham Rahal 29, Rinus VeeKay 18, Colton Herta 17, Pato O’Ward 3 and Felix Rosenqvist 1).Chip Ganassi Racing has won eight times at Toronto: Michael Andretti (1994), Alex Zanardi (1998), Dario Franchitti (2009, 2011) and Scott Dixon (2013 both races, 2018, 2022).
Team Penske has five wins at the track: Paul Tracy (1993), Will Power (2010, 2016), Josef Newgarden (2017) and Simon Pagenaud (2019). T
eam Penske has 10 pole positions at the track: Danny Sullivan (1988, 1990), Emerson Fittipaldi (1993), Helio Castroneves (2000), Gil de Ferran (2001), Will Power (2011, 2015), Simon Pagenaud (2017), Josef Newgarden (2018) and Simon Pagenaud (2019).
Scott Dixon has finished on the podium in six of his last 12 races at Toronto. He has 10 top-five finishes in 16 starts…Will Power has finished on the podium in five of his 16 Toronto starts…Toronto-area native Devlin DeFrancesco is the lone Canadian driver entered in the race.Milestones: Scott Dixon will attempt to make his 315th consecutive start, the second-longest streak in INDYCAR SERIES histor Tony Kanaan holds the INDYCAR SERIES record with 318 consecutive starts…Sports car racing standout Tom Blomqvist will make his INDYCAR SERIES debut in Toronto, substituting for Meyer Shank Racing driver Simon Pagenaud, who was not cleared to drive after his crash in practice July 1 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.