IndyCar
Pato O’Ward wins in Toronto as strategy burns Ganassi’s Palou and Dixon
TORONTO, ON (July 20, 2025) Patricio O’Ward picked up his second NTT INDYCAR SERIES win in two weeks winning Sunday’s Ontario Honda Dealers Indy on the streets of Toronto,
“I knew I had such a strong car on the preferred tire for the race,” explained O’Ward. “I had a car that I could attack with. I had a car I could really put it where I needed to.”
O’Ward started 10th on the grid and elected to start on the grippier but shorter lasting Firestone alternate tire. O’Ward and his Arrow McLaren team quickly got off those tires just before a caution came out on Lap 3 when Scott McLaughlin, who was using the same strategy as O’Ward, lost his rear wheel when the wheel lug came off sending the No. 3 Gallagher Chevy into the wall.
Palou and Dixon started on the harder, longer-lasting Firestone primary tires and stayed out on those tires during that first caution with Palou taking the lead.
The Chip Ganassi Racing braintrust elected to keep Palou and Dixon out during a caution on Lap 15 and Lap 30, meaning the Ganassi duo were going to have to run the less desirable alternate tire at some point.
Ultimately the strategy didn’t work out because the Ganassi duo was not able to make up ground being mired in traffic.
“Well, I chose the strategy, so that’s what we did wrong today,” said Palou. “I was pushing for that strategy. I thought it was going to give us the best opportunity to win. I wanted to be up front, trying to avoid being trapped in traffic. Honestly, (days like this) happen. We knew it was going to be a risky strategy rather than starting on alternates. It was kind of working. We were able to open up a big gap after that first yellow, but it was not enough today. Not our day.”
The early cautions played right into O’Ward’s strategy.
“The first pit stop, it was freaking awesome,” said O’Ward. “The guys were great. We pushed hard in, we pushed hard out. We undercut everybody that was on the alternate. That was the first step. The second step, we could have just kind of maintained there and waited for the other guys to start peeling off. I didn’t really want to do that. I started picking them off one by one.”
The victory leaves O’Ward with a 99-point deficit to Palou in the Championship with four races remaining.
“We need to make sure that we continue to have days like today, not just one but a few. I think we’re going to keep this conversation going until Nashville. That’s my goal.”
WASHINGTON D.C. (August 22, 2026) – Alex Palou’s blistering lap of 56.8993 seconds in the No. 10 OpenAI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda puts the four-time NTT IndyCar Series Champion on the pole position for Sunday’s Freedom 250 on the streets of Washington D.C.
“Incredible,” said Palou. “My car was on rails. Super-fun lap, super-fun car to drive. Couldn’t be happier. Looking forward to tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be a long day, man, 250 miles.”
Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood lines up second after a lap of 57.4661 in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda.
“P1 both first and second group, and the last one Alex Palou is just a legend and goes faster on his one-lap dash than he did the whole rest of the run, I think,” Kirkwood said. “He made us look silly out there.”
Scott McLaughlin spoiled the Honda party up front, putting the No. 3 PPG Chevrolet third on the grid after a fast lap of 57.4200.
Palou’s CGR teammates Scott Dixon and Kyffin Simpson did not fare as well as their teammate.
Dixon was on a lap that would have allowed him to transfer into the next round of qualifying, when Simpson hit the wall, triggering a red flag which cancelled Dixon’s lap. The No. 9 PNC Bank Honda will start 14th.
Bringing out the red flag penalized Simpson of his two fastest laps so the No. 8 Sunoco Honda will start last in 25th.
Coverage of the Freedom 250 starts at 11:30 a.m. on Fox and IndyCar Radio with the green flag waving in our nation’s capital at 1 p.m.
MARKHAM, ONTARIO (August 15, 2026) – The NTT IndyCar Series is making it’s first visit to a new street circuit in Markham, Ontario but a familiar face topped the speed charts after the first practice.
Four-time Series Champion Alex Palou turned the fastest lap around the 12-turn, 2.19-mile temporary street course, a 1-minute, 14.9915-seconds (100.811 mph) lap in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
A.J. Foyt Racing rookie Caio Collett was second quick with a 1-minute, 15.0454-seconds (100.739) in the No. 4 Chevrolet.
Louis Foster was third quick in the No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda at 1:15.0278 (100.702) followed by Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin 1:15.2981 (100.401). Will Power rounded out the Top 5 at 1:15.3152 (100.378).
Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammates were not as strong. Six-time Series Champion Scott Dixon was 20th at 1:16.4583 (98.877) in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda. Kyffin Simpson was 24th at 1.17.3893 (97.688) in the No. 8 Sunoco Honda. Simpson made contact with the wall at Turn 6, causing damage to the rear suspension. Simpson limped to pits for repair and returned to action later in the session.
Practice 2 is set for 2:30 p.m. as delayed track construction forced officials to cancel Friday’s activities and condense Saturday’s schedule. NTT P1 Pole Qualifying is set for 6:30 p.m. ET
MARKHAM, ONTARIO (August 14, 2026) – Issues with the completion of the temporary street circuit in Markham Ontario has forced the NTT INDYCAR SERIES first practice to be moved to Saturday as all of Friday’s on-track activity had to be scrubbed from the schedule.
“INDYCAR is incredibly disappointed that our promoter was not able to complete the track build on time, despite significant support from our team on site,” INDYCAR President J. Douglas Boles said. “Ontario has always been a magnificent market for our sport and the number of spectators that attended today is a shining example of that. New events can always pose logistical challenges and we join in the frustration of our loyal fans and apologize.”
Green Savoree Promotions also issued a statement.
“Ensuring the safety of the drivers and the completion of the certification process of competing on a brand-new racetrack delayed all on-track activities today. Today’s sessions have been rescheduled to Saturday, August 15, to allow for further track preparations.”
“We greatly appreciate all the fans who made it out to the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham today and chose to spend the day with us. The attendance and support were overwhelming.”
The revamped schedule calls for the first practice to take place at 10:00 a.m. followed by a second practice at 2:30 p.m. and P1 Pole Qualifying at 6:30 p.m.
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