Instant Recall: Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto
Tire selection in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES can go a long way in deciding the outcome of races, and there is no better example than the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto.
Pato O'Ward and his Arrow McLaren strategists opted, like many of the drivers in Sunday's 90-lap race at Exhibition Place, to begin with a set of the less-preferred alternate Firestone Firehawks, and they switched out of them just as an early caution came.
Meanwhile, series leader Alex Palou and his Chip Ganassi Racing crew, started with a set of the more durable primary compound, and then they were committed to them when that caution came at Lap 3. Palou's camp surely knew that O'Ward was gaining an early advantage.
Ultimately, that moment didn't send O'Ward to victory lane or reduce Palou to finishing 12th, but it certainly set the stage for both eventual scenarios to unfold.
Palou did his best to remain in contention, staying with that first set of primaries until Lap 40, but he was already boxed in. He still needed to use the alternates and O'Ward didn't.
The decisions helped O'Ward slice 30 points off Palou's series lead. Palou still leads the season standings by a staggering 99 points – that's nearly two full races with four events to go – but a third consecutive championship and fourth in five years isn't the Spaniard's lock that it seemed to be a few days ago.
Still, O'Ward will need a lot to break right for him to claim his first series title. Palou has two race wins each at the next two venues – WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Portland International Raceway – while O'Ward won last year's race at The Milwaukee Mile. O'Ward also finished second in last year's race at Nashville Superspeedway – he was nine positions ahead of Palou in the return to that oval track – so he has that to be optimistic about.
Simply put, O'Ward needs to gain similarly on Palou in three of the four remaining races and hold serve in the fourth. That's a big ask, but as O'Ward noted, anything is possible. Palou knows that, too.
As for other takeaways from the street fight in Toronto:
· The competition in this race was fierce and certainly worth the watch, with 226 on-track passes, the most for the event since 2014 and the fourth-most ever. A great majority of those overtakes – 201 – were for position, the most in the event since 2019.
· In another example of making the right strategy call, Dale Coyne did it again, and driver Rinus VeeKay did the rest in a second-place finish. After starting a strong ninth, VeeKay led 16 laps, his first laps led on a street circuit or road course since this event in 2022 -- that was 1,068 days ago. Don't look now, but VeeKay is 11th in the standings and on the charge.
· Kyffin Simpson continues to improve in his second season with Chip Ganassi Racing. This third-place finish was the highest of his career. Yes, strategy contributed to the result, but Simpson was plenty racy.
· Andretti Global got mired in traffic with all the various pit stop strategies in play and couldn't defend its 1-2 finish of a year ago. But the team finished 4-5-6 with Colton Herta, Marcus Ericsson and Kyle Kirkwood, arguably its best group result of the year.
· Kirkwood has to be kicking himself. He might have had a better chance had he qualified better than sixth. In that Firestone Fast Six session, he grazed the wall in Turn 2 but thought he had enough time to pit for additional fuel. But time ran out, and he didn't get to post a competitive lap time. He said that's two potential poles he has thrown away, the other coming in Detroit in June.
· Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Graham Rahal had another strong Toronto run, finishing seventh for his seventh in the top 10 in his last nine races. He has now been top 10 in this event five consecutive years.
· PREMA Racing continues to make gains. Callum Ilott was furious that other drivers kept creating local yellows in qualifying, and he finished that disjointed second round in the 11th position. He had a strong race, finishing eighth, and rookie teammate Robert Shwartzman ran as high as fifth in the middle part of the race.
· There is no rest for the weary. The fifth race of this month is Sunday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. For the truck drivers, it's a 2,733-mile trek from Toronto to the Monterey track, and that doesn't factor in a likely stop at team headquarters to regroup. The first practice for the Java House Grand Prix of Monterey is at 5 p.m. ET Friday (FS2, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). Sunday's 95-lap race is at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.
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