IndyCar: Sunday Morning Update from the Honda Indy Toronto (Update)
Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon turned the fastest lap in the 30-minute warm-up session for today’s Honda Indy Toronto NTT IndyCar Series race around Exhibition Place.
Kyle Kirkwood put his #27 Andretti Honda in second just 0.06s behind the veteran Dixon.
Joseph Newgarden (Penske Chevy), Colton Herta (Andretti Honda) and Alex Palou (Ganassi Honda) rounded out the top-5.
Morning Warm Up Times
| Pos | No | Name | Time | Behind | Gap | Speed | Engine | Team |
| 1 | 9 | Scott Dixon | 1:01.3208 | 0.000s | 0.000s | 104.852 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 2 | 27 | Kyle Kirkwood | 1:01.3810 | 0.0602 | 0.0602 | 104.749 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 3 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | 1:01.6161 | 0.2953 | 0.2351 | 104.349 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 4 | 26 | Colton Herta | 1:01.8147 | 0.4939 | 0.1986 | 104.014 | Honda | Andretti Autosport w/Curb Agajanian |
| 5 | 10 | Alex Palou | 1:01.8695 | 0.5487 | 0.0548 | 103.922 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 6 | 45 | Christian Lundgaard | 1:02.1114 | 0.7906 | 0.2419 | 103.517 | Honda | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 7 | 15 | Graham Rahal | 1:02.2829 | 0.9621 | 0.1715 | 103.232 | Honda | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 8 | 29 | Devlin DeFrancesco | 1:02.3288 | 1.0080 | 0.0459 | 103.156 | Honda | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport |
| 9 | 77 | Callum Ilott | 1:02.4107 | 1.0899 | 0.0819 | 103.021 | Chevy | Juncos Hollinger Racing |
| 10 | 8 | Marcus Ericsson | 1:02.4449 | 1.1241 | 0.0342 | 102.964 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 11 | 78 | Agustin Canapino | 1:02.5711 | 1.2503 | 0.1262 | 102.757 | Chevy | Juncos Holling Racing |
| 12 | 11 | Marcus Armstrong | 1:02.6647 | 1.3439 | 0.0936 | 102.603 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 13 | 18 | David Malukas | 1:02.7002 | 1.3794 | 0.0355 | 102.545 | Honda | Dale Coyne Racing with HMD |
| 14 | 06 | Helio Castroneves | 1:02.8236 | 1.5028 | 0.1234 | 102.344 | Honda | Meyer Shank Racing |
| 15 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | 1:02.9486 | 1.6278 | 0.1250 | 102.140 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 16 | 5 | Pato O’Ward | 1:02.9719 | 1.6511 | 0.0233 | 102.103 | Chevy | Arrow McLaren |
| 17 | 28 | Romain Grosjean | 1:03.0694 | 1.7486 | 0.0975 | 101.945 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 18 | 21 | Rinus VeeKay | 1:03.1050 | 1.7842 | 0.0356 | 101.887 | Chevy | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 19 | 60 | Tom Blomqvist | 1:03.1246 | 1.8038 | 0.0196 | 101.856 | Honda | Meyer Shank Racing |
| 20 | 30 | Jack Harvey | 1:03.2249 | 1.9041 | 0.1003 | 101.694 | Honda | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 21 | 14 | Santino Ferrucci | 1:03.2946 | 1.9738 | 0.0697 | 101.582 | Chevy | AJ Foyt Enterprises |
| 22 | 51 | Sting Ray Robb | 1:03.3168 | 1.9960 | 0.0222 | 101.547 | Honda | Dale Coyne Racing w/RWR |
| 23 | 12 | Will Power | 1:03.3545 | 2.0337 | 0.0377 | 101.486 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 24 | 20 | Ryan Hunter Reay | 1:03.7244 | 2.4036 | 0.3699 | 100.897 | Chevy | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 25 | 7 | Alexander Rossi | 1:03.7935 | 2.4727 | 0.0691 | 100.788 | Chevy | Arrow McLaren |
| 26 | 55 | Benjamin Pedersen | 1:03.9161 | 2.5953 | 0.1226 | 100.594 | Chevy | AJ Foyt Enterprises |
| 27 | 6 | Felix Rosenqvist | 1:04.0803 | 2.7595 | 0.1642 | 100.337 | Chevy | Arrow McLaren |
Starting Lineup
|
SP |
Car |
Driver Name |
Engine |
Tire at Start |
|
1 |
45 |
Lundgaard, Christian |
Honda |
Soft Alternate |
|
2 |
3 |
McLaughlin, Scott |
Chevy |
Primary |
|
3 |
5 |
O’Ward, Pato |
Chevy |
Soft Alternate |
|
4 |
8 |
Ericsson, Marcus |
Honda |
Primary |
|
5 |
6 |
Rosenqvist, Felix |
Chevy |
Soft Alternate |
|
6 |
12 |
Power, Will |
Chevy |
Primary |
|
7 |
9 |
Dixon, Scott |
Honda |
Primary |
|
8 |
27 |
Kirkwood, Kyle |
Honda |
Soft Alternate |
|
9 |
28 |
Grosjean, Romain |
Honda |
Primary |
|
10 |
11 |
Armstrong, Marcus (R) |
Honda |
Soft Alternate |
|
11 |
2 |
Newgarden, Josef |
Chevy |
Soft Alternate |
|
12 |
21 |
VeeKay, Rinus |
Chevy |
Primary |
|
13 |
06 |
Castroneves, Helio |
Honda |
Primary |
|
14 |
26 |
Herta, Colton |
Honda |
Primary |
|
15 |
10 |
Palou, Alex |
Honda |
Primary |
|
16 |
77 |
Ilott, Callum |
Chevy |
Primary |
|
17 |
18 |
Malukas, David |
Honda |
Soft Alternate |
|
18 |
78 |
Canapino, Agustin (R) |
Chevy |
Primary |
|
19 |
30 |
Harvey, Jack |
Honda |
Primary |
|
20 |
60 |
Blomqvist, Tom (R) |
Honda |
Soft Alternate |
|
21 |
20 |
Hunter-Reay, Ryan |
Chevy |
Soft Alternate |
|
22 |
29 |
DeFrancesco, Devlin |
Honda |
Primary |
|
23 |
51 |
Robb, Sting Ray (R) |
Honda |
Soft Alternate |
|
24 |
14 |
Ferrucci, Santino |
Chevy |
Primary |
|
25 |
55 |
Pedersen, Benjamin (R) |
Chevy |
Soft Alternate |
|
26 |
7 |
Rossi, Alexander |
Chevy |
Soft Alternate |
|
27 |
15 |
Rahal, Graham |
Honda |
Primary |
(R) Rookie
July 16, 2023
Honda Indy Toronto update: The rain has been removed from today’s forecast, so the race should be dry, with temperatures in the mid-70s.
I am sure all the drivers slept easier last night knowing that the points leader, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing’s No 10 Journie Rewards, will be starting 15th today. The Spaniard is trying to increase his win streak to four in a row with a win today.
Qualifying yesterday was quite challenging, with the first group of thirteen cars going out with no rain until the last couple minutes of their session. Then the second group of fourteen entries went out in the rain. Then the Fast 12 went out in wet conditions and the choice to use wet tires or slicks, made the difference if you advanced or not.
Tom Blomqvist, No 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM, was able to experience all the challenges a rookie could have with learning the tight, bumpy track on Friday, to qualifying with wet tires on Saturday. We are curious to see the results the substitute driver will have in the race this afternoon.
The morning warm up around Exhibition Place is at 10:15 am ET. Race broadcast starts at 1:30 pm on Peacock with the green flag flying at 2 pm.
If all goes well, maybe we will see a clean shaven Christian Lundgaard, today’s polesitter, next week in Iowa for his 22nd birthday.
Lucille Dust reporting live from Toronto, Canada