The latest NTT IndyCar Series round takes place in Canada this weekend with the running of the Honda Indy Toronto, a return to the city after a three-year absence. It’s 85-laps on an 11-turn, 1.786-mile temporary street course in Toronto, last won by Simon Pagenaud.
Scott Dixon will attempt to make his 298th consecutive start, the second-longest streak in INDYCAR SERIES history as racing gets underway on Sunday t 3:30pm local time, 7:30am Monday morning NZ time.
Here are the Fast Facts
There have been six different winners in nine NTT INDYCAR SERIES races in the 2022 season. Scott McLaughlin (Streets of St. Petersburg, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course), Josef Newgarden (Texas Motor Speedway, Streets of Long Beach and Road America), Pato O’Ward (Barber Motorsports Park), Colton Herta (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course-1), Marcus Ericsson (Indianapolis 500) and Will Power (Raceway at Belle Isle Park) have all won in 2022. The record for most different winners in a season is 11 in 2000, 2001 and 2014.
There have been nine different NTT P1 Award winners in 2022. Scott McLaughlin (Streets of St. Petersburg), Felix Rosenqvist (Texas Motor Speedway), Colton Herta (Streets of Long Beach), Rinus VeeKay (Barber Motorsports Park), Will Power (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course-1), Scott Dixon (Indianapolis 500), Josef Newgarden (Raceway at Belle Isle Park), Alexander Rossi (Road America) and Pato O’Ward (Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course) have won pole positions in 2022. The modern-day record for most different pole winners to start a season is 10 set in 1952. The record for most pole winners in a season is 12 set in the 1999 CART season.
The Honda Indy Toronto will be the 36th INDYCAR SERIES race held on the streets of Toronto’s Exhibition Place. The race returns after a three-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Simon Pagenaud won the last time the race was held, in 2019.
Scott Dixon and Will Power are tied as winningest active INDYCAR SERIES drivers at Toronto with three victories apiece (Power won in 2007, 2010 and 2016, and Dixon won both races in 2013 and the 2018 race). Michael Andretti has the most wins at the track with seven. Dixon and Power, along with previous race winners Josef Newgarden (2015 and 2017) and Simon Pagenaud (2019), are entered this year.
Drivers who have won poles at Toronto entered in this year’s race are Will Power (2011 and 2015), Scott Dixon (2013 Race 2 and 2016), Simon Pagenaud (2017 and 2019), Helio Castroneves (2000) and Josef Newgarden (2018). The polesitter has won the race seven times since the first race in 1986, most recently by Pagenaud in 2019.
From 2009-2019, the eventual NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion won the Toronto race six times. Dario Franchitti won in 2009 and again in 2011. Ryan Hunter-Reay won in 2012, Scott Dixon swept both races in 2013 and won the single race in 2018, and Josef Newgarden won in 2017. Seven other drivers have claimed the INDYCAR SERIES championship in the same season they won at Toronto. They are Bobby Rahal (1986), Al Unser Jr. (1990), Michael Andretti (1991), Alex Zanardi (1998), Cristiano da Matta (2002), Paul Tracy (2003) and Sebastien Bourdais (2004).
Twelve drivers entered in the event have competed in past INDYCAR SERIES races at Exhibition Place. Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon and Will Power (15) have made the most starts at Toronto among the entered drivers. Seven entered drivers have led laps at the track (Dixon 200, Power 162, Josef Newgarden 120, Simon Pagenaud 114, Castroneves 101, Graham Rahal 23 and Takuma Sato 1).
Chip Ganassi Racing has won seven times at Toronto: Michael Andretti (1994), Alex Zanardi (1998), Dario Franchitti (2009 and 2011) and Scott Dixon (2013, both races, and 2018). Team Penske has five wins at the track (Paul Tracy 1993, Will Power 2010 and 2016, Josef Newgarden 2017 and Simon Pagenaud 2019). Team Penske has 10 pole positions at the track: Danny Sullivan (1988 and 1990), Emerson Fittipaldi (1993), Helio Castroneves (2000), Gil de Ferran (2001), Will Power (2011 and 2015), Simon Pagenaud (2017), Josef Newgarden (2018) and Simon Pagenaud (2019).
Scott Dixon has finished on the podium in five of his last 11 races at Toronto. He has nine top-five finishes in 15 starts…Will Power has finished on the podium in five of his 15 Toronto starts…Simon Pagenaud has finished in the top five in five of his 11 starts at Toronto…Toronto-area natives Devlin DeFrancesco and Dalton Kellett are among the 13 drivers who will make their first INDYCAR SERIES start in Canada.
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings:
Ericsson 321, Power 301, Newgarden 287, Palou 286, O’Ward 256, Dixon 254, McLaughlin 252, Rossi 229, Pagenaud 217, Herta 212, Rosenqvist 208, VeeKay 193, Daly 188, Grosjean 183, Rahal 177, Castroneves 160, Lundgaard 159, Sato 149, Malukas 145, Harvey 115, Johnson 99, DeFrancesco 99, Kirkwood 98, Ilott 97, Tony Kanaan 78, Santino Ferrucci 71, Kellett 70, Calderon 58, JR Hildebrand 53, Ed Carpenter 49, Juan Pablo Montoya 44, De Silvestro 21, Marco Andretti 17, Sage Karam 14, Stefan Wilson 10
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