Second Impressions: Markham 2026

1. On second viewing, Marcus Ericsson's victory in Markham was outstanding. In a messy race, an unusual strategy that bucked preconceived notions of paths to success did not appear to be the best way to the top, but with almost everyone else needing to save at least a little fuel, Ericsson's team's choice to run as long as he could to shortened the final stint was brilliant strategy. It allowed Ericsson to push toward the end of his middle stint while everyone was still running conservative, some more than others, and it allowed Ericsson to emerge from the pit lane in sixth position instead of being much further down the order. The lap before Ericsson's in-lap was his fastest of the race.

Ericsson's final stint was set-up to be a 22-lap sprint against drivers whose final stints were 38 laps in length (Romain Grosjean), 31 laps in length (Will Power) and 36 laps in length (Álex Palou, Scott McLaughlin, Rinus VeeKay and David Malukas). McLaughlin and VeeKay each fell out of the running on pace. Malukas had to watch his pace and smacked the barrier for good measure when he had already lost ground. Ericsson still had work to do. With 15 laps remaining, it looked settled to be Grosjean vs. Palou as Ericsson was still in fifth-place and over eight seconds behind the leader. This strategy paid off in the closing laps. 

Palou struggled with tire wear at the end and could not even mount a challenge on Grosjean. Grosjean had to run a specific pace to make it on fuel. Power was the only other racy driver in the lead group, but even the nine-lap difference proved to be too much for Power to hold off. Ericsson laid a hip check on Power to pass in the hairpin, but the Swede was destined to get that position even without needing to be that aggressive. 

All that was left was Grosjean in Ericsson's sights and it took him no time to take the lead. Grosjean wa defenseless. Once he got to the lead, Ericsson's advantage was on full display. He won by over 7.5 seconds and he only took the lead with five laps remaining. What appeared to be a foolish strategy that was going to cost the team glory turned into a emphatic victory.

2. We touched upon Romain Grosjean yesterday, but he pulled off a rather staggering strategy to finish second. He had to run 36 laps in the middle stint and then 38 laps in the final stint. Now, the middle stint saw 16 of the 36 laps run under caution. That helped him get that far. Grosjean's final pit stop happened simultaneously as Kyle Kirkwood hitting the barrier and bringing out a caution, which could not have worked out better for Grosjean. He was going to need a handful of caution laps to get him to the finish. He got four immediately and then another three after that when Josef Newgarden was spun in the hairpin. 

If Ericsson was not the lone driver to remain out after what turned into the final caution of the race, Grosjean probably wins this race. Maybe Power or even Ericsson would have been able to apply pressure and run Grosjean out of fuel or been able to pass him had Ericsson also stopped on lap 60, but Grosjean was three seconds up the road from Power for second. One team bucking all conventional wisdom is frankly what kept Grosjean from victory as Grosjean and Dale Coyne Racing also bucked conventional wisdom with their strategy. 

Just when you think you do enough being completely crazy, someone just happens to be crazier than you.

3. Will Power was third. He drove an incredible race to finish third. He was active early. The team had the strategy worked out, and it was probably the right choice for Andretti Global to split the strategy and not have both cars stop with 31 laps remaining. It was probably the difference between the team finishing 1-3 and 2-3. Though I am not sure who would have been second if Power and Ericsson had each stopped on the same lap.

4. I hate when a driver makes a mistake and we call him human. We know Álex Palou is human. Did you see how he handled contract negotiations? Qualifying accident aside, the same can go with Palou in this race and Palou not having the pace at the end. It doesn't always work out. It looked promising, and then the tires fell off, but Palou didn't need to finish first or second or third. All his championship rivals shot themselves in the foot. If we were to have given Palou another 19 points for a victory, he would have been 152 points clear and would just need to outscore the competition by ten more points to clinch the championship in Washington, D.C.

That isn't the case, but Palou is going to clinch the title. It could still be claimed in Washington, D.C. with another repeat of Markham, which I am not sure we can rule out, or it will be claimed in Milwaukee, likely on Saturday afternoon. 

5. I am not sure how Patricio O'Ward finished fifth but he looked more competitive in the race than he did all weekend prior. The car found its form. Stopping with 31 laps to go likely got him a handful of more positions as McLaughlin and VeeKay had to save fuel, but O'Ward was pushing for fourth. That car found its sweet spot during the race, and it led to a far more impressive result than was expected at the start of Sunday.

6. I don't think Christian Lundgaard did anything wrong in this race to finish sixth. He surprisingly stopped early and committed to a three-stop strategy, but stopping on lap 16 was the same strategy Grosjean took. The difference is no one knew how many cautions would come. Grosjean's team rode it out and decided to turn this into a two-stopper. Lundgaard made the move to stop under caution at lap 33 to set up a final pit stop within the final fuel window. It shook out for Lundgaard to finish sixth but he didn't really do anything wrong. It is hard to find fault with his strategy either. If everyone knew how the cautions would have fallen they all would have done something different. Ericsson was fortunate the final 29 laps were caution-free. One caution on lap 67 and Ericsson is finished ninth or tenth at best.

7. Rinus VeeKay looked to be the first benefactor when he stopped just before Mick Schumacher's caution. Then VeeKay lost spots on the restarts and sustained front wing damage, and he still would up on a top five position, but needed to save fuel and dropped to seventh. Some races work out that way. I think every driver flip-flopped from being screwed by a caution and benefitting from a caution each time the yellow came out. It ended up somewhat benefitting VeeKay even if seventh doesn't feel like a great result. 

8. This was a pretty good race for Scott McLaughlin and the need to save fuel in the final stint is what cost him, but did it ever feel like McLaughlin was a threat? Even when McLaughlin was second to Louis Foster and then second to Grosjean, it never felt like McLaughlin was going to pounce. In the early stages, it felt like Ericsson was the bigger threat behind McLaughlin in third, and then Palou was the bigger threat in the final stint while running behind McLaughlin. 

That has been the story of McLaughlin's season. It has been good, but outside of St. Petersburg and maybe Nashville, have we really felt McLaughlin is a true contender and someone everyone will need to beat for victory? 

9. Graham Rahal took ninth. Rahal spent a fair amount of the race in the top ten, but he never was pushing for more. He could hold his spot but we never really saw Rahal on the offensive, and yet ninth feels right for this team.

10. To paint how messy this race was, Santino Ferrucci took tenth and Ferrucci never looked competitive this weekend. Someone had to finish tenth. Ferrucci mostly kept his nose clean and it got him a far better result than his performance this weekend would have suggested.

11. Next case in point for how messy this race was, Sting Ray Robb was 11th and Nolan Siegel was 12th. Siegel did leap some laps and ran a fair amount in the top five because of his pit strategy, but Siegel was shuffled back. Robb didn't even run that well. He had a few wide runs into corners, and Robb is essentially the reason Marcus Armstrong spun, as Robb ran Armstrong wide and Armstrong spun partially as an evasive move to miss the barrier but also because Armstrong was run into the marbles off line on the exit of the hairpin. 

12. Speaking of Siegel, he received an avoidable contact penalty for spinning Josef Newgarden, and Newgarden ended up a position behind Siegel in 13th. Newgarden started 20th and didn't really factor in this one. The most time he spent in the top ten was right before Siegel hit him. Maybe Newgarden would have been seventh or eighth without that contact but that is the best his race would have been. 

13. Kyffin Simpson was the final car on the leap lap in 14th, and Simpson nearly spoiled the party with a spin in the hairpin with five laps remaining. The officials let Simpson clear himself, which has not been the officials M.O. of late. We didn't need a late restart to help this race. Thankful, Simpson was given the time to point his car in the right direction. 

14. It was never explained what happened to Dennis Hauger because he was 11th at the start of the final lap and then did not complete it, and he was placed 15th. It was a strange race for Hauger. He was fuel saving early or at least didn't have the pace and after the first restart was shuffled from the top five to 20th in a blink. He kind of recovered and was running in the top ten before losing spots late in the race. Something wasn't quite right for Hauger in this one. 

15. Let's breeze through the rest of the field...

Marcus Armstrong was a lap down after the spin with Robb's assistance. Armstrong took a stop-and-hold penalty for ignoring a safety working trying to hold him because Armstrong was trying to spin back around before the pace car pull through, only for Armstrong to unsuccessfully flick his car in the right direction and proceeding to block the track. 

I understand why Armstrong attempted it. I don't understand why the safety workers don't point the car in the right direction so a driver can restart pointing the right direction. They have the jack with the wheels on it to spin the car around. There was no need to hold Armstrong while facing oncoming traffic and essentially trap him a lap down if they have the ability to point him in the right direction.

I did agree when McLaughlin and company got their positions back after that because they had to slow for essentially a blocked track because a driver didn't listen to instructions. There was no reason for McLaughlin and others to lose out because of Armstrong neglected orders from the officials. Two wrongs do not make a right folks. Rights make rights. The officials did the right thing.

16. I said I was going to breeze through the field and then had to take a detour on the Armstrong incident, which was another bad result form Armstrong and another miserable weekend for him, but I digress...

David Malukas smacked the barrier late and it cost him a top ten finish. It wasn't the greatest day for Malukas, and he was set to lose points anyway in the championship. I don't think he was driving over his head. I think he clipped the barrier late trying to save fuel.

Scott Dixon spun after contact with Dennis Hauger and Dixon collected Christian Rasmussen in the process. This was an incident that happens on a street course. Dixon came down on Hauger. Hauger had nowhere to go. I don't think Dixon didn't anything wrong. He just wasn't clear at that point. Racing incidents still exist in this world. Rasmussen cannot catch a break on a street course. Dixon was able to continue after repairing his suspension, but lost many laps in the process. Rasmussen's day was over before halfway. 

Caio Collet had suspension damage early and essentially ran a 67-lap test session. It does feel like Collet is driving with pressure on him, which is a little nuts, but he is driving for A.J. Foyt Racing. If we find out in a week or two the team has told Collet results must improve or he will be dropped it would surprise no one, but it is also A.J. Foyt Racing. They will replace Collet, have the same results and then be looking for another new driver in 2028 as well. 

Alexander Rossi had a tire puncture, which we are pinning on Álex Palou for contact in the hairpin. If we are going to penalize all contact these races are going to become stale. Incidentally contact must exist. Sometimes it will bite you. Two cars side-by-side bumping on exit of a 30 mph hairpin and unfortunately resulting in a cut tire should not be a penalty. It almost doesn't matter because Rossi suffered a gearbox failure and that ended his race. 

Another mechanical issue for Ed Carpenter Racing. Interesting. 

17. Kyle Kirkwood was 21st. Louis Foster was 22nd. Both cars clipped the barrier on the inside of turn three. We covered it yesterday, but for Foster this is a harsh result because he felt like possibly the driver to beat in this race. It is hard to pin this on the driver. We see drivers clip the inside of turns before. Scott Dixon did it at Belle Isle not long ago. It is a risk on a street course. Kirkwood could have been in the top five without this incident. Kirkwood's accident is what really secured Palou the title.

18. Two more retirements: Felix Rosenqvist was done after 18 laps with fuel pressure issues. Rosenqvist never really got to participate in this race. It would have been fun to see what kind of strategy Meyer Shank Racing would have run for him.

Mick Schumacher was the first victim of an inside barrier. Schumacher clipped the inside of turn four on lap 15 while running in the top ten. Two Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing cars were outside the top twenty, which makes it hard to say the team should be positive about this weekend, but it should be. All three cars made the second round of qualifying. Schumacher looked comfortable. Foster was one of the fastest cars in this race. Rahal spent a lot of time in the top ten. 

We have seen enough of these races from RLLR to know the team will likely still be spotty, but it should be pleased it went to a new course and all three cars were at the front even if the results didn't go their way. 

18. It is late, this is a second impressions, and we haven't spoken about the issues from Markham, notably the delays to circuit construction that led to a lost practice day on Friday. We will come back around to those. 

19. I do want to end on this... Marcus Ericsson's 63 starts between victories, is the fifth-longest drought in IndyCar history. The only longer droughts are Graham Rahal (124), Johnny Rutherford (97), Marco Andretti (77) and Mario Andretti (73). It doesn't feel like it has been that long since Ericsson won a race. Three-and-a-half years is not nothing, but it doesn't feel like Ericsson has been down for that long. It is not necessarily the history you want, but it does mean you did something well for a drought to end. 

Musings From the Weekend: What Will $35 Million Get You?

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...

Rain in Iowa allowed Kyle Larson to finish sixth in the NASCAR Cup race from Richmond and still make the Knoxville Nationals’ A-Main, where Larson won from pole position, his fourth Knoxville Nationals victory in six years. The Formula E season ended, and two mainstays from the very first race each said goodbye to the series. Marcus Ericsson won for the first time in over three years in IndyCar’s inaugural Markham race. The race didn’t quite make up for the construction delays on Friday. Though we talk about IndyCar street courses and series investment today, we will not tough upon this weekend and Markham, but we will likely discuss that shortly. However, what I write today I have been thinking about for maybe a month or more. This is the right time to share. 

What Will $35 Million Get You?

This was supposed to be an IndyCar off-weekend. We started 2026 with this as an off-weekend, but a few weeks into the calendar year an announcement wade that IndyCar woulds m run a race in Washington, D.C. in part of the celebration for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It was not the common IndyCar move.

IndyCar has not been the series to add races months after the initial calendar has been announced. It is the series that does not add races, period. For essentially a decade the series has been containing itself to 17 races for the sake of team budgets and not spending the competitors into oblivion. New races sometimes take years of vetting and a year or more from the introductory press conference to the actual inaugural running. This bucks all those norms. 

This race was announced four months after the calendar has been released, increased the schedule by one more race, creating a five-week stretch to close the season, and this track will go from theory to reality in eight month’s time. The desire to have an event strictly tied to the celebrations in the United States proved too strong to pass up, and IndyCar will hold a race in the nation's capital, a place previously thought to be unfathomable for hosting a race. 

It does come at a cost. Ever since it was announced, many logistics have been pondered, most notably how could this race be funded. Due to federal laws, there are no title sponsors nor any sponsors of the event. General admission tickets were free and obtained through a lottery. The money is coming out of IndyCar's pockets. Roger Penske approved the $35 million expenditure. This splurge is a bit stunning from anyone who has followed IndyCar for an extended period of time.

The money is never there until it is there.

It is not uncommon for financials to get in the way of IndyCar doing something, whether it is expanding the calendar, increasing marketing, developing a new chassis and engine. There are realistic limits to everything in life, including a motorsports series. Never before did it seem practical IndyCar would spend $35 million on anything, and yet, now it is. 

It is frustrating to see. 

Money has long been a reason for IndyCar's shortcomings and its lack of ambition. The money has been there all along. For the better part of the last decade IndyCar has had a lengthy gap somewhere in its calendar where another race could be added and it would not cause significant strain on the teams, but it is not filled and three-week gaps after the first race of the season existed with a two-week gap following the second race at times. Momentum would never build at the start of a season. 

Ever since the 2020s began, IndyCar has been notably absent from the Northeast, the most highly populated area in the United States. There are a few venues that could host IndyCar, but the series couldn't work out a deal with the tracks or take the initiative to run its own event mainly due to cost. Guess what it is doing now? Running its own event at a significantly greater cost than running at any of the existing permanent venues.

IndyCar has been more involved with its events. Roger Penske was already overseeing the Detroit event well before he purchased the series. IndyCar runs the Milwaukee race, which has been a success. It has a heavy hand in the Nashville race, which has done well. Arlington is partially series-run with the Dallas Cowboys. IndyCar bought Long Beach in an effort to preserve the long-standing race on its calendar. Add in the two Indianapolis races and this race in Washington D.C., and IndyCar is promoting nearly half the schedule. 

We have also seen the limits IndyCar will hit. The series promoted the Iowa race from 2022 through 2025. The first three years drew large crowds thanks in part to support from Hy-Vee, which also brought in notable musical acts for each day of the doubleheader weekend. When Hy-Vee pulled out ahead of the 2025 event, the crowd diminished considerably. IndyCar didn't have to bring in the same kind of musical acts, but it could have done more in terms of marketing the event around the local area to keep a crowd. Iowa had long been a respectable race in terms of attendance. With less resources and less promotion poured into the event, it shriveled up. As we can see with Washington, D.C., the money was available to get the word out. 

Frustration stems from the glaring shortcomings that the series has chosen not to address. It is clear they could have been. 

For $35 million, the series could have invested in a five-year or eight-year plan of developing a race or two at a facility or facilities whether that be Pocono, Loudon, Watkins Glen or Richmond. It could have put roots in the ground and made an effort to grow in a community and become a yearly event the locals look forward to and supporting. Washington, D.C. will grab some attention, but it is clear this is a one-year thing. After this year, there will be nothing on the East Coast between Markham and St. Petersburg, and the closest to the west will be Mid-Ohio. It has been that way far too long.

The series is not becoming anymore accessible with this race, but the money could have been committed to expanding IndyCar's reach, which the series needs in the long-term. 

We already know the same problems plaguing the series will continue to exist next year. IndyCar announced its first phase of the 2027 calendar, and as we expected last month, there will be no race between Long Beach on April 18 and the Grand Prix of Indianapolis on May 15. That will be three consecutive weekends without a race. The Indianapolis 500 open test will be held on Tuesday May 4 and Wednesday May 5, but no one is causally going to tune into a test. People pay to see races, not practice laps.

We know IndyCar will spend the money to create an event, but it has decided the three-week gap is not enough of a reason to develop a race in a new market and expand its reach. It would rather have three weeks with nothing significant leading into the month of May and Indianapolis 500 festivities than hold a race that will generate attention and increase interest before its biggest month of the year. 

It didn't even need to be a new race to fill that opening in the spring. Nashville could have gotten out of the heat of the summer and turned into a nice spring date while providing another oval before Indianapolis. The middle of July could have opened up for more suitable conditions in a Northeast race. 

These are the decisions IndyCar fails to make year after year when it should have already been addressed. It is one thing to have an off-year and need to do some rearranging for the future, but IndyCar doesn't do that. It doesn't address the problem. It allows it to linger. The energy is not thrown into growing and finding a place in another part of the country to put its roots. Instead, we have another year of the series shrugging its shoulders and essentially saying, "It is what it is." It doesn't have to be, and it should be unacceptable to the series. It should make a statement and put itself out there with another race. We know it is possible for the series. The upcoming race formed out of thin air eight months ago. 

Washington, D.C. is happening because it is a seismic event and the opportunity may never come up again. Maybe it has always been Roger Penske's dream to see IndyCar race around the Capitol Building and the National Mall with the Washington Monument in the background. Penske has the money to make it happen. More power to him. It would also be nice if he had the same enthusiasm about expanding IndyCar across the country where more Americans had a race they could count on attending on a yearly basis. 

The money has always been there for it. Apparently it is not worth it to the series.

Champion From the Weekend

Pascal Wehrlein clinched the Formula E Drivers' Championship with finishes of first and 14th in the London ePrix. It is Wehrlein’s second Formula E title. 

Jaguar clinched the Formula E Teams' Championship.

However, Porsche clinched the Formula E Manufacturers’ Championship.

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Pascal Wehrlein, Kyle Larson and Marcus Ericsson, but did you know...

Taylor Barnard won the second race at the London ePrix, and Barnard became the youngest Formula E race winner at 22 years, two months and 15 days old. 

Joey Logano won the NASCAR Cup race from Richmond, his second victory of the season. Kaden Honeycutt won the Truck race, his second victory of the season.

Jack Jeffers and Andrés Cardenas split the USF Pro 2000 races from Toronto. Sebastìán Garzón and Brad Majman split the U.S. F2000 races.

Matteo Cairoli and Marco Wittmann split the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters races from the Nürburgring.

Coming Up This Weekend

IndyCar goes to Washington, D.C.

NASCAR heads to Loudon.

Formula One is back from its summer break with a sprint weekend at Zandvoort, and the final Dutch Grand Prix for the near-future.

IMSA will not be far from IndyCar with a GT-only round from Virginia International Raceway.

European Le Mans Series runs the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. 

Super GT will be at Suzuka. 

Supercars are at Queensland Raceway for the final round of the Sprint Cup.

First Impressions: Markham 2026

1. This will be a very causal first impressions due to travel, and it will be looking just at the main points from IndyCar’s inaugural race from Markham, Ontario. We will have a deeper dive in a second impressions later after a chance to sit-down and thoroughly watch the race back.

2.  At its very best, Markham showed the beauty of an IndyCar street race, one where drivers can run different strategies and have them all come together at the end. Track position would be a clear advantage and cancel out fresher tires. There is room for moves and passes to be made. 

We saw Marcus Ericsson go on a tear stopping with 21 laps to go while cautions allowed Romain Grosjean to stretch his fuel, last stopping with 37 laps remaining. Grosjean was going to need an error from Ericsson to hold on for the victory. The tire advantage and the fuel advantage was going to be in Ericcson’s favor. The final lead change came with five laps to go and Ericsson flew out to a 7.5305-second victory.

3. With how disjointed the middle of this race was, it felt like the cautions were going to go against Ericsson, but the cautions went for and against every driver at some point. From lap 31 to lap 61, 31 total laps, there were only nine laps of green flag racing. If you were bit by one caution, one soon went against you. Five of the six cautions came in that period. It set up Ericsson to run an aggressive strategy. It was worth it. Saving fuel can help get track position, but the final 29 laps running green allowed cars to go ten-tenths, and it worked out for Ericsson.

4. This has been a refreshing season for Ericsson, and the year he needed. Ericsson made it tough on Andretti Global from the start of the season to replace him. Three top ten finishes in the first four races with a pole position mixed in was far greater than anything he did in 2025. Since then he has been a regular contender for top ten finishes. He hasn’t been spotless. 

Ericsson has been in IndyCar for seven seasons. We have never seen him dominate a race. Even in 2022 when he led the championship for a fair portion of the season, that was mostly down to his Indianapolis 500 victory being double points the final year the race paid double points. At Chip Ganassi Racing, Ericsson could tick off top ten finishes, but they were not an abundance of podium finishes and races where he led many laps. It has been respectable, but not stunning.

On his best day, Ericsson can do this, drive through the field when the circumstances allow for it, and pull out a victory. Ericsson looked like one of the best cars early. It feels fitting he won even for how chaotic this event turned out to be. It was a true driver’s victory, cutting his way through traffic and fresh off an extension to remain with Andretti Global, Ericsson showed the correct choice was to keep him in the team.

5. We have been saying this championship has been wrapped up for a few races. Álex Palou was fourth and everyone else had trouble. Kyle Kirkwood clipped a barrier while looking poised for a podium finish. David Malukas slapped the barrier when he was already behind and losing points to Palou. Christian Lundgaard really didn’t do anything wrong and ended up behind Palou. Palou gained points on everyone, and big chunks of points at that. 

Prior to this weekend, I was wondering what it would take to convince me Palou could clinch the title in Washington, D.C. with three races to spare. His points lead was 110 points over Kirkwood after Portland. To even conceive Palou taking the title in the capital, I thought he had to leave Markham up 130 points. He is up 133 points. To clinch, he needs to leave Washington, D.C. up 162 points. Gaining 29 points is difficult, but Palou accidentally stumbled into a 20-point gain today. Even if he doesn’t leave up 162 points, there is a good chance all he will need in the final Milwaukee race is a finish of 15th or better, and even then he will essentially head to that weekend just needing to start each Milwaukee race to claim the title.

It is over. The question is how soon can Palou make this official.

6. We must acknowledge Romain Grosjean for doing all he could to finish second. It was hard not to pull for him while he was leading. Grosjean had had plenty of runs worthy of a race victory, but they didn’t go his way. This was a classic Dale Coyne Racing race where it rolled the dice on a strategy no one else would attempt and it netted them a far better result than running the status quo. That group was happy with second, as they should be, but we would have been ecstatic to see them pull this one out.

7. Will Power rounded out the podium. Power took on a new engine and a grid penalty. He was starting at the back anyway. Power was craving his way forward early. For a moment, it looked like he could have taken this race, but Ericsson had the better strategy and stopping nine laps later gave Ericsson the clear advantage. There was some contact between teammates, Power was not pleased with it, but he seemed to cool down post-race. It is hard to be mad at a teammate when they go on and win the race. You almost give the, credit for the bold move.

8. The only other main character from this race to pay off is Louis Foster, because Foster led the first 32 laps, was shuffled back during the cautions and needing to pit, and Foster was passing cars with ease afterward. It looked like it would be his day. One aggressive move somewhat cost him, but the barriers not being rounded on the inside of turn three is hard to pin on Foster as a fault. Clipping it did end his race in a massive shunt on lap 43.

Without the accident, I think there is a good chance Foster wins this race. He stopped three laps after Ericsson. He was passing Ericsson when he clipped the barrier. We will look back as a race that got away from Foster even if it isn’t 100% his fault.

9. We will need to speak about Markham in a broader discussion. Multiple things can be true.

This was a pretty good layout.

It was a shame Friday was lost due to track construction delays. 

For as good as the race was, some of the shortcomings were glaring, notably the barriers in turn three jutting out enough it could end Foster and Kirkwood’s days. With how hard Foster hit out the outside of that corner, I cannot wonder why there was not a tire barrier on corner exit. The tire barrier on the outside of turn four didn’t look sufficient enough for a 90° corner. The hairpin never got properly finished. It worked but it was a greater trouble spot than originally designed.

The course was good but there are a number of issues that must be addressed for next year. The promoters, Green Savoree Racing Promotions, and IndyCar know this. IndyCar made it clear it was not pleased with the promoter after Friday. Things will be addressed and all the positives do not cancel the negatives.

10. We will go deeper on this race shortly. There is not a lot of time before Washington, D.C., but we will fit it a more complete review. 

Morning Warm-Up: Markham 2026

Louis Foster took pole position for the inaugural Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Markham with a lap at 73.2383 seconds in the final round of qualifying. It is Foster’s second career pole position. He started first for last year’s Road America race. Foster has not started in the top five this season. His previous best grid position was sixth for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Foster has gone five consecutive races without a top ten finish. His most recent top ten finish was seventh at Detroit, Foster's first top ten finish on a street course. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s most recent victory came in 2023 at Toronto with Christian Lundgaard. Lundgaard started on pole position, the second of his career, and it was his first career victory. It has been 12 years and 27 days since a British driver won in IndyCar. That was Mike Conway at Toronto. 

Funny enough, Christian Lundgaard takes second on the grid after qualifying 0.3969 seconds off Foster. This is only the fourth time Lundgaard has started inside the top five this season. He had started 24th and 25th in the last two races. This is his seventh front row start of his career. He has finished in the top five every time he has started on the front row. With his ninth place finish at Portland, Lundgaard has 41 top ten finishes in 82 career starts.

Despite clipping the barrier in the final round of qualifying, Scott McLaughlin starts third, running 0.4421 seconds slower than Foster in qualifying. McLaughlin has finished in the top ten in the 14th race of the season in five consecutive seasons. The only time he did not finish in the top ten in the 14th race of the season was 2020, when he made his IndyCar debut at St. Petersburg.

Marcus Ericsson was exactly 0.6000 seconds off Foster, and Ericsson takes fourth on the grid. This is the fifth consecutive top ten start for Ericsson. With three top ten finishes in four street course races this season, Ericsson has 92 points from street course races, the seventh-most. That is actually two points fewer than he had last season over the four street races. 

Dennis Hauger made the final round of qualifying for the first time since the St. Petersburg season opener, and Hauger will start fifth at Markham. This is his second consecutive top ten start. He started ninth last week at Portland, his only other top ten start besides St. Petersburg. Hauger has finished in the top fifteen in three of four street course races this season. 

Rinus VeeKay starts sixth, his fourth consecutive race starting in the top ten, and the third time in four races VeeKay starts in the top six. While VeeKay has alternated fourth-place finishes over the last five races, the Dutchman has not had consecutive top ten finishes since a three-race stretch last season over Gateway, Road America and Mid-Ohio. He has never had consecutive top five finishes in his IndyCar career. 

David Malukas missed out on the final round of qualifying by 0.0770 seconds, and it places Malukas seventh. This will be the 75th start of Malukas' IndyCar career. Ten drivers have taken at least 75 starts to score their first career victory. The most recent driver to have their first career victory come after their 75th start was Ed Carpenter at Kentucky in 2011. It was Carpenter's 113th start.

Scott Dixon moves up to eighth starting position due to grid penalties for others, and Dixon was only 0.0901 seconds from the final round. This is Dixon’s sixth top ten start of the season. He has finished outside the top ten the last two times he started in the top ten. Markham is the 14th race of the season. Dixon has finished in the top five in the 14th race of the season in seven of the last eight years with two victories and six podium finishes.

Graham Rahal is starting sixth for the inaugural Markham race, his second consecutive top ten start. An accident at Portland cost Rahal a potential top ten finish. In his other four races starting in the top ten, Rahal has finished in the top ten. Rahal has five consecutive top ten finishes at Toronto. He had only four top ten finishes in his first 13 Toronto starts. 

Mick Schumacher has his second top ten start of the season, and Schumacher rounds out an all-Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing row five. Schumacher hadn’t started in the top fifteen since starting fourth at Phoenix in March. After having only three lead lap finishes in the first nine races, Schumacher has finished on the lead lap in four consecutive races.

Álex Palou caused a red flag in the second round of qualifying, and Palou will start 11th after that penalty. Palou is attempting to win three consecutive races for the third time in his career. Palou is responsible for the last two three-race winning streaks, last doing it in 2025 over Barber Motorsports Park, the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and the Indianapolis 500. Fifty-eight times in IndyCar history has there been a three-race winning streak. 

Kyffin Simpson overcame an accident in the opening practice session to start 12th. Simpson was 0.0434 seconds from advancing from the first qualifying group. Simpson has finished in the top ten in the lsat two races, and he has three top ten finishes in the last four races. He is going for three consecutive top ten finishes for the first time in his career.

Romain Grosjean was 0.1420 seconds off making it out of group two in the first qualifying round. Grosjean slots into 13th on the grid. The Frenchman has finished 20th or worse in three of four street races this season. He was eighth at St. Petersburg, Grosjean’s best finish this season. It has been six years and 30 days since the most recent IndyCar race with a French winner. That was Simon Pagenaud in the first race of the 2020 Iowa doubleheader. 

Alexander Rossi takes a six-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change, and Rossi drops from eighth to 14th. Rossi has finished outside the top fifteen in three consecutive races and in eight of 13 races this season. His best street course finish was ninth at Arlington. Rossi has finished worse than his starting position in the last three races and in seven of 13 races this season.

Kyle Kirkwood missed the second round of qualifying for only the third time this season on a road or street course, and Kirkwood will take 15th starting position. Kirkwood has a chance to match his longest top ten finish streak. He has six consecutive top ten finishes entering Markham. His only other seven-race top ten finish streak began last season at Nashville and stretched over the first six races of this season. (Update 9:18 a.m. ET: Kirkwood will serve a six-spot grid penalty for unapproved engine change).

Sting Ray Robb has his best starting position of the season for a road or street course race in 16th. It is the second-best starting position of Robb’s career. His best came earlier this season at Phoenix when Robb started 12th. After opening the season with five consecutive results outside the top twenty, Robb has finished inside the top twenty in five of the last eight races.

Felix Rosenqvist starts 17th for the second time in three races. For only the third time in his IndyCar career, Rosenqvist has consecutive top five finishes. He has finished fifth and second over the last two races. His other consecutive top five finishes were second and fifth at Portland and Laguna Seca to close the 2019 season, and last year he was fifth at Thermal Club and fourth at Long Beach.

Nolan Siegel will be on the outside of row nine. This is the fourth time in five street races Siegel is starting outside the top fifteen. In four street course races this season, Siegel's best finish was 12th at Long Beach, and his average finish on street courses is 17.75. Siegel did finish 18th last week at Portland. He was also 18th at Toronto last season.

Patricio O'Ward is a spot behind his Arrow McLaren teammate Siegel in 19th. This is O’Ward’s third consecutive start outside the top ten. O'Ward has finished in the top five in all four street course races this season, one of three drivers to have perfect attendance in the top five this season on street courses. O'Ward has six consecutive top ten finishes on street courses dating back to last season. (Update 9:18 a.m. ET: O’Ward will serve a six-spot grid penalty for unapproved engine change).

Santino Ferrucci rounds out the top twenty, his sixth time this season starting 20th or worse. Ferrucci has unable to start last year's race at Toronto after an accident in the morning warm-up, leaving the team unable to repair the car in time. After finishing 11th in 2019 at Toronto, he was 17th in 2023 and 20th in 2024.

Christian Rasmussen drops to 21st on the grid after a six-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change. In 12 career street course starts, Rasmussen's average finish is 22.1667. At Long Beach, he matched his career best street course finish with a 15th-place result. He was also 15th at St. Petersburg in 2025.

Caio Collet brought out a red flag when he ran out of fuel in the first qualifying group in round one. Collet had a mechanical issue that nearly prevented him from making the track for qualifying, and he also hit the barrier in the final practice session. Collet has finished on the lead lap in all four street course races this season. His best street course finish was 12th at Arlington. 

Will Power caused a red flag in the second qualifying group in round one, and Power will start 23rd. Power's third-place finish at Portland was his 33rd career third-place finish, tied for third all-time with Mario Andretti. Power is one behind Scott Dixon for second-most third-place finishes. Tony Kanaan holds the record with 41 third-place finishes in his career. (Update 9:18 a.m. ET: Power will serve a six-spot grid penalty for unapproved engine change).

Josef Newgarden brought out a red flag of his own in the second qualifying group in round one, and Newgarden will start 24th, his worst grid position of the season. In 75 career street course starts, Newgarden has 23 top five finishes, 30.667% of his street course starts. However, he has not had a top five finish on a street course since he was third at the 2025 St. Petersburg season opener.

With three engine failures in the last four races, Marcus Armstrong is in the midst of the worst slump of his IndyCar career, and to make it worse he starts last after a six-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change. It is the third time in four races Armstrong has started 20th or worse. Four races without a top ten result is his longest drought. 

Fox's coverage of the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Markham begins at noon E.T. with green flag scheduled for 12:22 p.m. The race is scheduled for 90 laps.

Track Walk: Markham 2026

The 14th race of the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series season sees IndyCar visit a new location, and for the second time this season, IndyCar is running an inaugural event. Markham, Ontario, Canada plays host to Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham. This race takes the place of the Toronto race, which had hosted 39 races between 1986 and 2025. Only five races remain in the 2026 season, and we are running out of championship-eligible drivers in a hurry. Eleven drivers were mathematically eliminated from championship contention after Portland. Only 12 drivers remain alive for the Astor Cup heading to Canada. 

Coverage

Time: Coverage begins at 12:00 p.m. ET on Sunday August 16 with green flag scheduled for 12:22 p.m. ET.
Channel: Fox
Announcers: Will Buxton, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be in the booth. Kevin Lee, Georgia Henneberry and Jack Harvey will work pit lane.

IndyCar Weekend Schedule

Friday:

First Practice: 3:05 p.m. ET (75 minutes)

Saturday:

Second Practice: 10:05 a.m. ET (75 minutes)
Qualifying: 2:25 p.m. ET 
Sunday:
Warm-up: 8:40 a.m. ET (30 minutes)
Race: 12:22 p.m. ET (90 laps)

A New Canadian Home

Located about 19 miles northeast of Toronto, Markham is home to just over 338,000 people, the 16th-largest city in Canada, and the seventh-largest in Ontario. It now becomes home to IndyCar's only international race, and the event has a contact for five seasons. 

The course is located in the Markham Centre, the developing downtown area of the city. This track features 12 corners and is 2.19 miles in length, the second-longest street course on the IndyCar calendar.

The main straightaway and paddock area is located next to the Unionville train station. The first pair of corners will lead to a left-hand turn onto University Boulevard before another left to Enterprise Boulevard. The circuit will run to a right-hand hairpin at turn five and bring the cars onto the other side of Enterprise Boulevard and the longest straightaway on the circuit. Turn six will be a right-hand corner onto Kennedy Road before another right onto a service road and a flowing left-hand turn eight Turn nine is another big arching right-handed corner. Turns ten and 11 will be a tight left-right complex before a right-hand turn back onto the main straightaway. 

This will be the third circuit on the calendar to feature a double-sided pit lane joining Detroit and Arlington, which also debuted earlier this season. 

This race will be the 82nd Canadian race in IndyCar history, and Ontario has hosted over half of them. Toronto hosted 39 races while Mosport was the home for the first IndyCar races in Canada over 59 years ago. The permanent circuit in Bowmanville, Ontario hosted a pair of doubleheaders in 1967 and 1968. IndyCar returned in 1977 and 1978 for a total of six races. 

British Columbia is the next most-visited Canadian province as Vancouver hosted 15 races from 1990 to 2004. Three different circuit configurations were used around Pacific Place over Vancouver's tenure on the schedule. 

Quebec has held 13 races on three different circuits. Like Mosport, Circuit Mont-Tremblant hosted a pair of doubleheaders in 1967 and 1968. Champ Car returned to the circuit for one race in 2007. Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal later hosted five CART/Champ Car races from 2002 to 2006. Sanair Super Speedway, a 0.826-mile oval in St. Pie, Quebec, held three races form 1984 to 1986. 

Alberta is the only other province to host IndyCar, and Edmonton's City Centre Airport held eight races from 2005 to 2012. Two different configurations were used, the original 1.973-mile circuit lasting from 2005 to 2010 before a 2.224-mile circuit held the final two races. 

Thirty-seven drivers have won a race in Canada.

Michael Andretti has the most Canadian victories having won ten times "North of the Border." Andretti won seven times in Toronto and three times in Vancouver. Al Unser, Jr., Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon are each tied with six Canadian victories. Paul Tracy, Sébastien Bourdais and Will Power each won five times in Canada. Bourdais is the only driver to win on three different Canadian circuits, having won at Toronto, Edmonton and Montreal. Mario Andretti swept both doubleheaders at Mont-Tremblant. No other drivers have won more than twice in Canada. 

Six drivers have had their first career victory come in Canada. The first driver to do it was Adrián Fernández in the 1996 Toronto race. Maurício Gugelmin's only career victory came the following year in Vancouver. Both Canadian races in 2005 saw first time winners. First was Justin Wilson in Toronto. Next was Oriol Servià in Montreal. Like Gugelmin, it was Servià's only career victory. In 2007, Robert Doornbos' first career victory came at Mont-Tremblant. The most recent first-time winner in Canada was Christian Lundgaard at Toronto in 2023.

Paul Tracy is the only Canadian to win in Canada. Tracy's last victory in Canada was the final Vancouver race on July 25, 2004.

Who Hopes the Magic Remains in Ontario

This will be a new location for IndyCar, but plenty of drivers will be hoping the magic follows them north from Exhibition Place. 

Case in point, Scott Dixon. Arguably, no driver was better in Toronto than Scott Dixon. Dixon has four victories, second-most behind only Michael Andretti's seven, Dixon had 12 top five finishes and 17 top ten finishes in 19 Toronto starts. That is the same number of top five finishes as Andretti, but Andretti never finished between sixth and tenth at Exhibition Place in 16 Toronto starts. 

Dixon had 13 consecutive top ten finishes in Toronto, and he had five top five finishes in the final six Toronto races. He surely is hoping he can continue the magic in Markham because Dixon is in the middle of his worst slump in over 20 years. He hasn't had a top ten finish since he was sixth in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. His only top five finish remains his third at Long Beach. He has not led since Gateway and St. Petersburg remains the only road/street race he has led this season.

Dixon was one of four different winners in the last four Toronto races. One of those other winners was Christian Lundgaard, who scored his first career victory at Exhibition Place in 2023 from pole position. Lundgaard had three top ten finishes in his first three trips to Toronto. Last year, he was 13th in his first year competing with Arrow McLaren after starting 19th. He was on the lead lap in all four of his Toronto starts. Lundgaard is also coming off an impressive drive in Portland going from 25th to ninth. 

Patricio O'Ward won the final Grand Prix of Toronto, a little bit of a surprising victory as O'Ward won from tenth. Timely cautions played into O'Ward's favor and he jumped into the lead through pit cycle. Though a race winner, his Toronto results were a little mixed. In his other three starts, he was 11th, eighth and 17th after an accident in 2024. While O'Ward won at Mid-Ohio at the start of July, that is his only top five finish in the last five races with three results outside the top ten, including 11th last week at Portland. 

Rinus VeeKay left Toronto on a high note. In 2025, VeeKay led 16 laps and he was the driver O'Ward jumped ahead during the final pit cycle. VeeKay did manage to finish second in the race driving for Dale Coyne Racing. It was another year where his Toronto finishing position did not slip. After finishing 13th in his first two trips to Ontario, he was eighth in 2024 before being runner-up last year. VeeKay has finished fourth in three of the last five races. 

Like Scott Dixon, another driver in need for some magic making its way up to Markham is fellow New Zealander Marcus Armstrong. Armstrong has suffered three engine failures in the last four races, and he has not had a top ten finish since he was ninth at Gateway. He was ranked ninth in the championship after Gateway, and he has since dropped to 15th. In three Toronto starts, Armstrong was seventh, fifth and 14th. He picked up a penalty when he spun Kyle Kirkwood entering the pit lane. Armstrong had started third in that race. 

Palou vs. Kirkwood

Álex Palou has the championship under control. With 510 points, Palou is 110 points ahead of Kyle Kirkwood in second. Palou's championship lead through the first 13 races of this season is 11 points greater than his championship lead through the first 13 races of last season. Palou has four consecutive top five finishes while Kirkwood has only three top five finishes over the last eight races. The one place where these two drivers have been close are on street courses. 

Through the first four street course races of the season, these two drivers have combined to win all four. Palou holds the edge having won three of four street course races. Kirkwood won the inaugural Arlington race in March. Twice have these two drivers finished 1-2 this season on street courses. Palou was second to Kirkwood at Arlington, and Kirkwood took second to Palou in Detroit. While Palou won at St. Petersburg and Long Beach, Kirkwood was fourth in both races. 

When it comes to street course points this season, Palou leads the way with 199. Kirkwood is second with 158. 

Dating back to last season, Palou has six podium finishes in the last eight street course races. Kirkwood has four podium finishes in the same span, but he has seven top five finishes, one more than Palou. Kirkwood has 13 consecutive top ten finishes on street courses. His streak dates back to his 2023 victory on the streets of Nashville. Kirkwood's early results this year have come despite poor qualifying runs. He went from 15th to fourth at St. Petersburg, and he won from seventh at Arlington. In the last two street races, Kirkwood did start fourth and sixth. 

Meanwhile, Palou has not started worse than fourth this season on a street course. He has yet to start outside the top ten this season, and he has started on one of the first two rows in 11 of 13 races in 2026. 

Though he never won at Exhibition Place, and it will likely go down as one of the few tracks Palou never won at, Palou was one of the best in Toronto. He had an average finish of sixth in four starts. Ironically, Palou started 15th or worse in his first three Toronto starts, and in all three races he finished in the top six. Last year, Palou started second and led 37 laps before being shuffled back due to tire strategy and how the cautions fell.

Kirkwood had better results in his final two Toronto starts than his first two. In his first trip to Canada, Kirkwood's race ended with an accident with Jimmie Johnson, and he was placed 22nd. Kirkwood spun Hélio Castroneves in 2023 and that penalty dropped him to 15th after possibly having a shot for victory. In 2024, Kirkwood spent the entire race essentially on Colton Herta's gearbox as Kirkwood was second in an Andretti Autosport 1-2 finish. Despite being spun entering the pit lane for his first pit stop last year, Kirkwood recovered to finish sixth, exactly where he started.

Team Penske Street Woes

Street courses have not been Team Penske's bread and butter for a number of years now. It has been 19 street course races since Team Penske took a victory. 

The most recent one was the last Belle Isle race in 2022. Will Power took victory while Andretti Autosport's Alexander Rossi was second. Scott Dixon was third. It was the seventh race of David Malukas' career, and he finished 11th. Scott McLaughlin had one career victory to his name at that time. This race saw Santino Ferrucci competing with Juncos Hollinger Racing, Jimmie Johnson competing with Chip Ganassi Racing, and Dalton Kellett was the top A.J. Foyt Racing finisher, better than Tatiana Calderón and Kyle Kirkwood. 

Results have not been that flowery for Team Penske this season on street courses. 

Scott McLaughlin was second at St. Petersburg to open the season after starting win pole position. That remains Team Penske's only top five finish on a street course this season. The three Team Penske drivers have a combined average finish of 10.667 on street courses this season. At least one Team Penske car has finished outside the top ten in every street course race this season. The last time Team Penske had every car finish in the top ten in street race was Nashville 2023.

McLaughlin has the best average finish on street courses this season at 9.5. He was sixth at Long Beach, but he was 11th in Arlington and 19th in Detroit. McLaughlin has settled in this season with four top ten finishes in the last five races. He had four top ten finishes in the first eight races of the season. McLaughlin is the worst of the three Team Penske drivers in the championship. He is eighth on 321 points. 

David Malukas has been the best Team Penske driver in the championship since Barber Motorsports Park, the fourth round of the season. Malukas dropped to third after Portland. He is 118 points behind Álex Palou in the championship. Portland was the third time this season Malukas did not finish in the top ten. The other two times were on street courses. Malukas was 13th at St. Petersburg and 18th at Detroit. He was sixth at Arlington and seventh at Long Beach, Malukas' best two finishes on street courses. He is still looking for his first top five finish in a street race. 

Top five finishes are not something Josef Newgarden has been accustomed to on street courses lately. Newgarden's most recent top five finish in a street race was third at St. Petersburg last year, seven street races ago. Three of Newgarden's four top five finishes this season have come on ovals. The Tennessean does have the worst average finish among the three Penske drivers on street courses, but it is only a half a position worse than Malukas. Newgarden does head to Markham with three consecutive top ten finishes, the first time he has had three consecutive top ten finishes in a single season since a four-race stretch in 2023 that included Toronto, the Iowa doubleheader and Nashville. 

Canada has not been a friendly place to Team Penske lately. It failed to produce a top ten finisher in the last two visits to Toronto. Team Penske has not had a driver stand on a podium in Canada since Simon Pagenaud won the 2019 Toronto race.

Road to Indy

Only two of the three Road to Indy series will join IndyCar on the trek into Canada. Indy Lights will have the weekend off, but the lower two series will be busy with each running a doubleheader in Markham. 

Leonardo Escorpioni extended his championship lead to 25 points with finishes of eighth and first in Portland, however, Escorpioni will not be able to compete in Markham due to immigration issues for the Brazilian. Jack Jeffers had a 14th and fourth in the Pacific Northwest. Jeffers' winless streak is up to eight races. He had finished behind Escorpioni in four of the last five races. G3 Argyros went first and second in Portland, and Argyros is 43 points off Escorpioni on 233 points.

There is a 40-point gap from Argyros in third and Frankie Mossman in fourth with Andrés Cárdenas a further point back in fifth. Thomas Schrage extended his top ten finish streak to 11 races, and Schrage is sixth in the championship on 177 points, 99 off the championship lead. Michael Costello was not at Portland, and Costello is not entered for Markham either. He has dropped to seventh on 166 points. 

Teddy Musella's top ten finish streak ended at seven races after a pair of 13th-place finishes. Musella has 149 point, two more than Brady Golan. Christian Cameron picked up his first podium finish of the season with a second in the first Portland race. Colin Aitken went second and third in Portland. Cameron remains tenth in the championship on 144 points, nine points ahead of Aitken.

USF Pro 2000 will race at 1:05 p.m. ET on Saturday August 15 and at 10:25 a.m. ET on Sunday August 16.

Markham is the penultimate round of the U.S. F2000 championship, and only 12 drivers remain mathematically alive for the title. 

Sebastián Garzón cancelled out his 14th-place finish in the first Portland race with a runner-up result, increasing his championship points total to 298 and increasing his championship lead to 29 points over Brad Majman. Majman went sixth and 13th in Portland, losing a third-place finish in the second race due to a 30-second penalty for avoidable contact. Eddie Beswick was 16th and fifth and he has fallen to 68 points behind Garzón. 

João Vergara had a pair of fourths in Portland, and Vergara is ow fourth in the championship on 207 points, four ahead of Evan Cooley, who was third in the second race of the Portland weekend, ended a streak of four races without finishing better than tenth. Oliver Wheldon swept the weekend in Portland, the first two victories of his U.S. F2000 career, and despite missing the opening round, Wheldon is sixth on 197 points. 

It will be a home race weekend for Canadian Anthony Martella. Though he was 21st in the second Portland race, Martella has three podium finishes in the last six races, and he was second to Wheldon in the first race of the Portland weekend. Martella is seventh in the championship on 193 points, ten ahead of Ryan Giannetta. 

Only a point separate the Cahan brothers. Ayrton Cahan is on 151 points with Gabriel on 150. Wesley Gundler is 11th on 143 points. Wian Boshoff is the final driver mathematically alive for the championship, 160 points behind Garzón with 165 points left on the table.

U.S. F2000 hits the track with race one at 8:50 a.m. ET on Saturday August 15. Race two will be at 9:25 a.m. ET on Sunday August 16.

Fast Facts

This will be the sixth IndyCar race held on August 16, and the first since 1998 when Dario Franchitti won the CART race at Road America and Kenny Bräck won the Indy Racing League race at Pikes Peak. It was Franchitti's first career victory and Bräck's second career victory. Bräck had scored his first career victory in the previous race, three weeks earlier in Charlotte.

This will be the 12th Canadian IndyCar race to take place during the month of August. All five races at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and the first four Mont-Tremblant races were held in August. The 1992 and 1997 Vancouver races were also held in August. 

All three races held at Sanair were held in the month of September. 

The pole-sitter has won only three of the last 11 street course races (Colton Herta at Toronto in 2024, Kyle Kirkwood at Long Beach in 2025, Álex Palou at Detroit in June).

Seventeen consecutive races have been won from a top ten starting position, 12 of those have been from a top five starting position. 

Honda has won 11 of the last 13 street course races, and Patricio O'Ward is responsible for the two Chevrolet victories. One of those was the 2024 St. Petersburg race, where O'Ward inherited the victory after Josef Newgarden was disqualified. The other was last year at Toronto where O'Ward won from tenth.

Dating back to 2023, Honda has won 16 of 18 street course races.

The average number of lead changes in the four street course races this season is 7.25. 

Eleven consecutive street races have had at least five lead changes. The 2024 St. Petersburg race had four lead changes.

There has not been a street race where a driver has led every lap since Scott Dixon won at Belle Isle in 2012. However, that Belle Isle race was shortened to 60 laps from 90 laps after a lengthy delay due to the track surface coming apart of requiring repairs. 

The last time a driver led every lap in a street race that went the scheduled distance was on July 13, 2003. Paul Tracy led all 112 laps at Toronto, Tracy's second of two Toronto victories.

There have been 98 races since the last time a driver led every lap in an IndyCar race. That was Will Power in the second Harvest Grand Prix race from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on October 3, 2020.

Five active drivers have won in Canada. Along with the aforementioned Scott Dixon and Will Power, Josef Newgarden has won twice. Christian Lundgaard and Patricio O'Ward each has one victory.

Through the first four street course races, there has been an average of 2.5 cautions per race for an average of nine caution laps. 

Detroit had five caution periods, tied for the second-most this season with Road America. The Indianapolis 500 had seven caution periods. 

Eighteen times has a driver won a Canadian race and the championship in the same year. The most recent driver to do it was Scott Dixon in 2018.

Dixon and Sébastien Bourdais have each won a Canadian race and the championship in the same year on three occasions. Bourdais did it three consecutive years from 2004 to 2006. Along with 2018, Dixon also won in Canada in his 2008 and 2013 championship seasons.

Predictions

Álex Palou, but if it isn't Álex Palou, Kyle Kirkwood. There will not be any delays for course issues. Markham will race more like Arlington than Detroit. There will not be any cautions for incidents in the turn five hairpin. Christian Lundgaard will not need to make up 16 positions to finish in the top ten. Marcus Armstrong's car is able to go the distance. Will Power's streak of races led ends at three. At least one driver 16th or worse in the championship picks up a top ten finish. Rinus VeeKay continues to alternate between fourth-place finishes and results outside the top ten. Sleeper: Marcus Ericsson.

Musings From the Weekend: Canada's Final Frontier

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...

Álex Palou continues to be the best driver alive with another victory from Portland. A second-generation driver won over the weekend, and everyone needs to calm down over a teenager with a notable last name. It was difficult to get a handle on the tires in Silverstone. Iowa is going to be fully re-paved, just over three years after it was partially re-paved, and IndyCar had two miserable years competing there solely because of the partially re-paved racetrack. Life isn't fair, folks. Remember that. As IndyCar enters its final month of competition, it is about to run on a few new tracks. Both require a discussion, and we will start with the upcoming inaugural event that carries a tremendous amount of weight.

Canada's Final Frontier

IndyCar is about to make a trek into Canada, something it has done regularly for the last 40-plus years, and it has been done with significant fan fare. In the past, a weekend in Ontario was one of the most electric of the season. It brought a different energy, but one that was celebrated and it led to more visits around Canada. It seemed like anywhere IndyCar went, it could draw a crowd in the Great White North. Two or three events didn't feel like enough considering the support. 

The last decade strained IndyCar's only trip to Canada. Exhibition Place in Toronto continued to develop, and it became more difficult for a three-day race weekend to take place. A hotel forced the pit lane to be moved, and it always felt like it was in a temporary location, but no better option made it permanently placed in a poor location. The Pan American Games forced a date change though that was only for a year. The pandemic and travel restrictions meant there were two years without a Toronto race. It was still able to return. This year was difficult to sort through the conflicts.

The FIFA World Cup meant the stadium within Exhibition Place, BMO Field, was needed for the entire month of June, and with the festivities surrounding the stadium, it was not possible to build a circuit for a race in July. There was no room to run the race any earlier in the year, and by the time the World Cup had passed, there was not enough room to fit Toronto in the 2026 calendar. One lost year led to the demise of the event. 

There was no effort to find a placeholder for this one year or try something different and push the race to the very end of a calendar. The alternative found was a permanent change, a move to Markham, Ontario about 20 miles north, and a five-year deal that will see IndyCar remain in Canada's most populous province but no longer competing in the fourth-most populous city in North America. 

Markham may be in the neighborhood and not be that different in term of reach than Toronto, but the Toronto race had a 40-year history. IndyCar shut down a part of a major international city. Toronto is larger than Chicago. It feels like that was taken for granted, and Toronto was just seen as another city, but IndyCar had something special. Losing it is a massive blow, and it likely will never return. 

The race had been slowly squeezed out of the city, and the true reach and celebration of the race was nowhere near the levels it was in the 1990s and early 2000s. Losing 2008 due to reunification was a blow to the race. The return in 2009 was significantly slower than what we were accustomed to seeing. It slowly grew again, and remained a highly anticipated race on the IndyCar calendar, but it never reached its highest level. It never really got that close. Toronto's loss does put IndyCar in a corner because once you lose Toronto there are not many other places to go. 

You never hear about people making a weekend getaway to Markham. It doesn't look like a destination, and the surroundings of where IndyCar will race this upcoming weekend back that up. The area is developing, but it is rather vacant. There are some apartments and there is a sporting facility built for the 2015 Pan American Games, but it does not look like a heavily traveled area. It does not look like that is where the locals gather, the heart of a community, and the race is being brought to the people. It certainly will not have the CN Tower towering over the circuit and the Princes' Gate providing a picturesque backdrop on the outside of turn one.

Unless there is a surge in interest, this feels like IndyCar's final stop in Canada. Toronto isn't going to come back. There aren't that many circuits capable of hosting IndyCar. Mosport is not up to the safety standards and improvements to make it conducive to IndyCar are not coming. Mont-Tremblant was sold a few years ago and is no longer in Lawrence Stroll's possession, but the circuit hasn't hosted any major event in close to a decade. 

There is Montreal, but outside of the Canadian Grand Prix, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve hasn't hosted another event since NASCAR raced there in 2012. A NASCAR Cup Series event couldn't be worked out with the Montreal city government a few years ago. I doubt IndyCar would have any better success negotiating a deal.

Vancouver is long gone. Edmonton is long gone. Those rumors of a Calgary race went quiet years ago. Quebec City's rumored race never got off the ground even with Alex Tagliani involved while Tagliani was still driving. There is no interest from Ottawa or Winnipeg.

Options are few, and street races are a tough sell. The next best option would be IndyCar taking over Trois-Rivières, which coincidentally just held its annual grand prix this weekend with the NASCAR Canada Series as the main event. Trois-Rivières has hosted races since 1967. It was once a premier Atlantics Championship race. Indy Lights was the main event a few years. The American Le Mans Series, Grand-Am, Trans-Am and Can-Am all headlined Trois-Rivières at some point. 

Trois-Rivières has stood the test of time and found a way to reinvent itself. It is smaller than your standard IndyCar street course, but IndyCar has cobbled together a rather uninspired street course in Detroit and it is forming a Washington, D.C. street race out of thin air. Trois-Rivières wouldn't be the worst street course IndyCar ever contested, and it would already bring existing support while adding the IndyCar crowd to the event.

However, let's remember that Honda and the Ontario dealers sponsor this event, narrowing where a Canadian IndyCar race can take place. They aren't looking for an event in Nova Scotia or Saskatchewan or Quebec. The second the Ontario Honda dealers decide the event is no longer worth it, IndyCar will be left without a Canadian race. 

That makes Markham imperative to be a success. If it flops, we might not even see out this five-year contract, street courses are known for not seeing out a contract, and IndyCar could lose what was once a great destination for the series. 

Let's not forget where IndyCar and Canada's relationship currently stands. There are no Canadian drivers on the grid. There are no Canadian sponsors on the grid. There are no Canadian drivers in the ladder system. This isn't the age of Paul Tracy, Jacques Villeneuve, Greg Moore, Patrick Carpentier, Alex Tagliani, Scott Goodyear, James Hinchcliffe and Robert Wickens. There is no Player's Ltd. It wasn't long ago it felt like the Canadian television contract was a constant sore spot between the series and the Canadian fan base.

This is the least involved Canada has been with IndyCar since before the inaugural Toronto event. General interest in IndyCar is rather low across the board. I don't know how many Canadians are truly invested in the series especially when the country has one race a year and there is no Canadian driver on the grid nor does there appear there will be one anytime soon. 

IndyCar could lose its Canadian date, and Canada likely will not bat an eye. 

It is unfortunately the cycle IndyCar finds itself in. There have been number of events that felt bulletproof. Iowa was once a surefire great crowd and that disappeared. The same was true for Texas.  Laguna Seca isn't close to what it was 30 years ago. Even great crowds couldn't save Cleveland. Now, we find ourselves with Canada at a crossroads, or perhaps at a dead end.

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Álex Palou, but did you know...

Raúl Fernández won MotoGP's British Grand Prix. Jorge Martín won the sprint race. Filip Salač won in Moto2, his first career grand prix victory. David Almansa won in Moto3, his second victory of the season.

Ty Gibbs won the NASCAR Cup race from Iowa, his second victory of the season. Carson Kvapil won the Grand National Series race, his second consecutive victory. 

Alessandro de Tullio won the Indy Lights race from Portland, his second victory of the season. G3 Argyros and Leonardo Escorpioni split the USF Pro 2000 races. Oliver Wheldon swept the U.S. F2000 races.

Coming Up This Weekend

IndyCar makes its first trip to the streets of Markham, Ontario, Canada.

The Formula E season concludes with a doubleheader in London.

NASCAR has a Saturday night race from Richmond, which means Kyle Larson cannot run the Knoxville Nationals.

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters will be at the Nürburgring.

First Impressions: Portland 2026

1. Pure domination. If you have seen Álex Palou win an IndyCar race before, today's performance was déjà vu. Palou ran a good pace in the opening stint while Felix Rosenqvist led from pole position. Palou remained in touching distance as the first round of pit stops began and, after the pit cycle, Palou was leading and could not be caught. Outside of the first 30% of the race, Palou was in control and took a rather effortless victory in the Grand Prix of Portland. We have known the championship would likely be his back in the season opener. With five races remaining, Palou's championship lead is over 110 points. We are expecting a mid-weekend coronation ceremony in Milwaukee. Could it occur in Washington, D.C.? Maybe we are getting ahead of ourselves. 

There is no reason to talk about the race. We have already covered it. Palou ran better through the first pit cycle and that was curtains. He didn't break a sweat. He didn't have to perform any heroics. Once he was in the lead, it was over. It was a leisurely drive for about an hour and 15 minutes. 

Last year, we were constantly talking about history when it came to Palou. This season it has not been as focused on what he can do in the record book, but perhaps we should turn our focus to the record book over the final month of the season. 

Palou has six victories this season, and today's victory means he joins Mario Andretti and Sébastien Bourdais as the only drivers to win at least six races in consecutive seasons. To match A.J. Foyt's record of ten victories in a single season, Palou would need to win four of the final five races. A reach. Unlikely. Not impossible. If Palou wins out, the record would be his. That is a little much. 

With six victories from 13 races, he is on pace for two more victories before this season is out. That would be eight victories for a second consecutive season. Andretti won eight consecutive races in 1966 and 1967. Palou would form a club with that level of success. It cannot be a club until it has two members. 

This was Palou's 25th career victory, the quarter-century mark and the 18th driver to reach this milestone. Another pair of victories would put him level with Johnny Rutherford for 15th. Another four victories would put him level with Rick Mears. Five victories and he is the 14th driver to reach 30 career victories, and he would end the season one victory behind Paul Tracy, Dario Franchitti and Hélio Castroneves, who are all tied for 11th. 

Palou is thrashing the record book. He is putting legends who took 15 or 20 years to amass their achievements in his rearview mirror in a blink. This is only Palou's seventh full season in IndyCar, and he very well could end this season tied for 15th in victories, not to mention he is about to be third all-time in championships. 

We could go on but that is enough. More history is to come before this season is out. Let's save our breath for when it occurs.

2. Felix Rosenqvist had a great day to finish second. Unfortunately, Rosenqvist races against Álex Palou, and like Long Beach, pole position gave Rosenqvist a great opening stint, but he could not rule the race. It was still a good day. Rosenqvist never put a wheel wrong. What could he have done better? It takes beyond perfection to defeat Palou at the moment. No one is finding that extra gear. Rosenqvist should not feel ashamed he could not ascended to a greater level. No one else is at the moment.

3. Will Power may have spent about 100 of 110 laps in third. Power made a charge for second on new alternate tires, saving those for the final stint. He got close, but once he was within touching distance of Rosenqvist, Power hit a wall and soon his tires wore down and he was unable to make the pass. We haven't seen Power in this position much this season. It was good he could at least hold this ground.

4. Fourth, 18th, four, 12th, fourth. That is the last five-race run for Rinus VeeKay, and VeeKay ran a stellar race for the most part. He was in a top five position the entire race. He didn't have what it took to crack the top three. He had a good battle with Kyle Kirkwood. The final pit cycle gave VeeKay the advantage. The Dutchman deserves all the praise in the world for this season, and raising Juncos Hollinger Racing. 

5. Somehow, Kyle Kirkwood managed a tire puncture for the second half of his penultimate stint. It did cost him a little time and a position as VeeKay leaped frogged him in the final pit cycle, but the fact it didn't derail Kirkwood's race and leave him 19th because he had to make an extra pit stop is stunning. Kirkwood made a push on the alternate tires to gain positions early. It worked other than being slowed behind Sting Ray Robb during a pit cycle. It could have been a spot better but considering how Kirkwood has run at this track in the past, this was a tremendous day.

6. Andretti Global had all three cars in the top six with Marcus Ericsson taking sixth. Ericsson was the first frustrated with Sting Ray Robb, and it cost him a few spots as Ericsson blew the chicane negotiating Robb running on older tires. It was not the end of the world for Ericsson but it did put him behind Kirkwood and VeeKay for good. The opening stint was promising as Ericsson drove up to second until his alternate tires lost pace and he had to stop on lap 24. There are a few things Ericsson would likely want back but overall there is hard to find flaws with this weekend for this organization.

7. Team Penske did pick up ground after all three cars started outside the top ten. Scott McLaughlin led the way and was seventh. This has been the story of McLaughlin's season. He has good days but not great days. McLaughlin was never a factor. He never makes flashy moves, but he finishes in the top ten and runs better than most. It is far from winning a race. It could be worse but there is a lot of work to do.

8. Josef Newgarden was the only driver to stop on lap eight, under the only caution for the race, and turn it into a good result. Newgarden might have finished eighth anyway even if he did not stop under the only caution and make this a four-stop race. It likely helped Newgarden get a few more positions. I think he hoped he would have at least been the top Penske driver with this strategy. He was about 0.6783 seconds short of that. Newgarden did look good even if all three Penske cars were starting behind the eight-ball. 

9. Christian Lundgaard stole the show in the first half of the race. In the first three laps, Lundgaard went from 25th to 15th. He continued to creep forward. Once he got into the top ten, Lundgaard plateaued. It was tougher to make ground. He got ninth. I am not sure he could have done any better. This is a 16-spot improvement. This was a nightmare of a weekend turned around in a blink. Lundgaard made it fun to watch.

10. Kyffin Simpson held on to finish tenth. It is a good result. Simpson kept losing spots over each stint. He wasn't slow. Others were just running a little better and improving. In the final stint, Simpson took on used alternate tires and that is what really cost him ninth to Lundgaard. This was Simpson's sixth top ten finish of the season and he had six top ten finishes over the entire 2025 season. He should be happy with his progress this year. 

11. Let's cover a few drivers in a batch...

Patricio O'Ward wasn't really seen in this race. Eleventh feels generous for his performance. Three sets of alternate tires to close this race helped him, a silver lining to not making it out of the first round of qualifying. 

David Malukas was 12th. He spent the entire race in the middle of the field. It wasn't a terrible day. It wasn't a great day either. Once he was shuffled back due to the grid penalty for the engine change Malukas had extra work to do and he couldn't quite go above and beyond in this one.

Both Dale Coyne Racing cars went backward at the start. Dennis Hauger was just outside the top ten for most of this race. It was a good run. Hauger hasn't had many races like this over his rookie season. 

Scott Dixon's slump is up to seven races without a top ten finish. Dixon started well but he lost time during stints and pit strategy didn't quite go in his favor. It is where he lost spots. He was ahead of O'Ward, Malukas and Hauger for most of this race, only to lose ground in the final pit cycle. This feels like a missed opportunity even if it wasn't a disastrous of the race. Dixon and the team really didn't do anything wrong. It just wasn't this group's day to get off the snide.

12. Louis Foster was the top Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver in 15th, but he lost three spots from the grid. Meanwhile, Mick Schumacher was the second-best RLLR driver in 16th, but he gained six spots from the grid. Foster does this regularly. It is the one thing against him over his two seasons in IndyCar. He has a good start but he does nothing with it. Some of that is the team. 

Schumacher has had a few days like this. It isn't much going from 22nd to 16th. These are at least days where Schumacher is moving forward and not dropping down the order or remaining an anchor at the back of the field.

13. Romain Grosjean was 17th. Grosjean dropped like a rock and was never a factor. 

Nolan Siegel was never a factor and was 18th. Siegel hasn't had many poor races lately. 

Ed Carpenter Racing had another poor day. Alexander Rossi lost a spot to finish 19th. Christian Rasmussen suffered another mechanical issue that inexplicably cost him multiple laps. This is a team that cannot get out of its own way. 

A.J. Foyt Racing was 20th and 21st with Caio Collet and Santino Ferrucci. I am not sure Collet ever got into the top twenty after starting 24th due to a grid penalty. Ferrucci stopped under caution on lap eight. He was hopeful the strategy would work into something positive. It didn't and he cycled off the lead lap.

Sting Ray Robb got a lot of air time for a driving finishing 22nd. We know what Robb is. He was on the lead lap, but he was off-strategy on dozen-lap older tires. 

14. The lone caution was for Graham Rahal going off course in the final corner and bumping the tire barrier. Rahal immediately got going with almost no damage to the car, but the caution was shown. I guess IndyCar is never going to let an incident clear itself. There was no need for a caution. Rahal immediately restarted. It is a shame race control swung this wildly after the Grand Prix of Indianapolis incident with Alexander Rossi. 

It is also a shame IndyCar cannot figure out how to implement a virtual safety car system in the year 2026, over a decade after the FIA first introduced it in Formula One and its junior series, as well as being common in a number of sports car series. Even a local yellow would have been enough. It shouldn't be this hard to slow the cars for a set of corners when another car temporarily needs a moment to get pointed in the right direction. 

15. Marcus Armstrong suffered his third engine failure in four races. I am not sure what Armstrong did to have this much go against him. He was the only driver besides Newgarden who appeared to have used that pit stop under the one caution on lap eight to jump up the order. Armstrong looked set to fight for a top ten finish and his race was over before the race was a third of the way through. The speed was there for Armstrong. He just needs to have the car not fail him.

16. The odd thing about this race is the tire compounds did have a good difference between them. The alternate tire was better for at least half a stint. It wasn't a massive advantage, but it was enough for cars to make passes and move up the order. The tires leveled out though, and there was never a swing in pace. There was no advantage to the primary tire at any point. The alternate tire didn't fall off a cliff once it was pass that advantage. That is what this race needed. It was ok if the alternate tire had a 15-lap advantage, but after that it needed to be a colossal swing where teams were skeptical about if they could do five more laps and have teams rolling the dice to run 20 or 22 laps. Firestone was part of the way there. It just needs to solve that second part where the primary tire gets is prime spot to shine.

It also didn't help that the tire advantage was neutralized once in turbulent air. There is no reason why Kirkwood, Ericsson and VeeKay should have been stuck behind Robb when their tires were a dozen or 15 laps fresher. Power clawed back the gap to Rosenqvist but the wake from the Swede neutralized Power's tire advantage and in a few laps, Power's tires were shot and he dropped back. 

Dirty air is always going to exist. It doesn't matter what you do with the cars and how the body work is developed. Running behind another car will be a disadvantage on a road or street course. That is going to be the case with the new Dallara chassis as well. It might not be as bad. It wasn't that bad with the universal aero kit when it was first introduced, but at some point it will be notable. 

A bigger gap between the tires at least makes it possible to overcome track position being the main advantage. We have seen plenty of times Firestone develop a good split and the compound difference can overcome track position. That has been rare this season, and it is the one thing Firestone cannot consistently nail.

17. This wasn't a race that will be celebrated until the end of time, but we have another one next week and it is a completely new circuit. We are off to Markham, Ontario for IndyCar's lone international race.