During IndyCar’s yearly visit north of the border in Canada, the series put on an eventful race on the streets of Toronto.
A few early caution periods led to varying pit strategies as drivers and teams schemed to get rid of the softer compound tires as soon as possible.
The race sorted itself out with a long stretch of green flag runs in the second half of the event, which helped Pato O’Ward put the optimal strategy to good use.
READ MORE: IndyCar Toronto – Full Race Results
A few exciting passes aided O’Ward’s cause, and then a final perfect pit stop allowed him to jump right into the lead.
The popular Mexican driver easily held off the competition for the remainder of the laps, and earned his maiden Toronto victory in the process.
Rinus VeeKay crossed the line in second, with a slightly different pit strategy also paying off for the Dutch driver.
The result was VeeKay’s first podium finish in over three years and renews Dale Coyne Racing’s confidence heading towards the final portion of the season.
Kyffin Simpson, once again punching above his weight on a street course, motored his way to his first ever IndyCar podium with a third place result.
Next in line were a trio of Andretti Global drivers, who earned strong results despite not fighting at the sharp end of the field as they had hoped.
Colton Herta started on pole and finished fourth, while Marcus Ericsson and Kyle Kirkwood finished fifth and sixth respectively.
Kirkwood had to overcome a scary moment in the pits when he was punted while slowing for his pit box. He was spun around backwards and his crew had to manhandle the car to get it pointing the right way again, but he still salvaged a good finish.
Championship implications
Championship leader Alex Palou’s race fell apart when he gambled on pit strategy at the midpoint in the race.
His Chip Ganassi Racing crew kept him out a long time on his first tires, which put him in the lead for a while. But the yellows fell at the wrong time and he was forced to take a long stint on the worse-performing soft tires.
The result was that he dropped all the way back to 12th, and his team-mate Scott Dixon suffered the same fate and ended the day in 10th.
With O’Ward taking victory and a few bonus points in the process, the gap at the head of the championship standings shrinks to under 100 points.
Palou still holds a sizeable lead with only four more events in the 2025 season, however, with 99 points in the bank.
Damaging crashes early on
Scott McLaughlin’s day was over very early into the event, as an early pit stop led to his left rear wheel coming loose after he rejoined the track.
One third of way into the race, Alexander Rossi was forced to retire after an unfortunate incident with the concrete barriers.
It was not clear if the wheel nut was not properly tightened or if it failed, but the result was the same once the #3 Team Penske entry slammed into the wall with only three wheels attached.
Rossi lightly brushed against the wall coming out of Turn 11, but there was a mismatch between the barriers hidden behind a vinyl sign, which caught the tire and ripped his wheel off.
On the ensuing restart, a dramatic situation unfolded when Jacob Abel misjudged the first corner and hit the wall. As his car rebounded of the ground slightly, Josef Newgarden was coming past.
Newgarden’s nose stuck underneath Abel’s diffuser, and drove completely underneath the car. The two came to a rest with Abel balancing on top of Newgarden’s machine.
A lengthy clean up followed, which helped those that were looking to save fuel in the middle portion off the race.
There were only 26 cars that took part in Sunday’s event, as Santino Ferrucci did not take part.
He crashed in the morning’s warmup session, which did enough damage to his #14 AJ Foyt Racing Honda that the team was not able to get it fixed in time for the green flag.
A late mistake by Felix Rosenqvist also sent him into barriers with two laps remaining, and Nolan Siegel was collected as well, further hurting both drivers’ already disappointing day.
Drivers and teams now travel over 2,700 miles to the West Coast for an event at the historic Laguna Seca.
