Will Power stormed to his third IndyCar victory around the streets of Toronto after a call to make an early final stop allowed him to capitalise on a late caution period and deny Scott Dixon a sure-fire win.
Dixon started on pole for Chip Ganassi Racing and led the majority of the race, enjoying an advantage of almost eight seconds over the pack at points.
Helio Castroneves had put up the early fight to Dixon at the front, but dropped back after a puncture, leaving Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud to lead the charge after the first round of pit stops.
As Dixon hit traffic when trying to lap the backmarkers, Pagenaud was able to slice the New Zealander's lead down to just 1.6 seconds before a caution period wiped away his advantage altogether.
A lengthy stoppage due to concerns about the safety of the kerbs at Turn 1 and Turn 5 gave teams the chance to roll the dice on strategy. Chip Ganassi Racing opted to keep Dixon on the original plan, his final stop pencilled in for around lap 60.
Dixon led from Pagenaud, Power and Sebastien Bourdais ahead of the final round of stops, with Castroneves down in sixth after his earlier puncture. Penske opted to bring him in early on lap 56 before following suit with Power one lap later.
Just seconds after Power had entered the pit lane, a caution period was called following a crash for Iowa winner Josef Newgarden at Turn 5. The Ed Carpenter Racing driver looked in some pain after the shunt, still racing with an injured arm and back after his crash at Texas, but was cleared by the medical team in Toronto.
The caution period came at the worst possible time for Dixon. Once he had pitted under yellow flags along with Pagenaud, he found himself down in 13th place. Teammate Tony Kanaan now led, although he had committed to a three-stop strategy early on, meaning Power was the net leader in second place.
The race resumed with 21 laps to go, Kanaan quickly laying down an impressive pace ahead of his final stop. Dixon and Pagenaud began to pick their way through the pack, but struggled behind Jack Hawksworth, allowing the front-runners to eke away.
Kanaan pitted with nine laps remaining, his lead sufficient enough to come back out in fourth place. Power now led from Castroneves and James Hinchcliffe, whose off-piste strategy had lifted him into the battle for the lead. However, he was tight on fuel, as was Takuma Sato in fifth place.
Both drivers had their prayers answered when a final caution was called with three laps remaining. Hawksworth's race came to an end in the wall at Turn 5, allegedly after being hit by Pagenaud, and Montoya joined him seconds later after being pushed to the outside line.
The race returned to green flag running with one lap remaining, but Power had reserved enough of his Push-to-Pass boosts so he could charge on the last lap and ensure Castroneves was unable to pass.
The result marks Power's third victory in Toronto and third win in the last four IndyCar races, bringing him into the thick of the title fight once again despite missing the opening round in St. Petersburg through injury.
Castroneves held on to second place ahead of Hinchcliffe, who picked up a poignant podium finish at his home race. Kanaan was left to settle for fourth ahead of Sato, Mikhail Aleshin and Bourdais.
Dixon was left frustrated down in eighth, knowing that victory would have surely been his without the caution ahead of the final round of stops. Pagenaud was another big loser, crossing the line ninth, while Marco Andretti had a feisty race, battling from P22 on the grid to 10th at the flag.
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