Let's Look at the League - July 2025

NASCAR is at the end of its own head-to-head experiment, but in the hypothetical world we have been living in with IndyCar for the better part of a decade now, we are approaching the end. Another season is almost over. The playoffs are right around the corner. 

Laguna Seca would set the eight drivers competing for a championship. A few spots are already locked up, but the final spots would come down to the final week. It would also set the which teams will be in the relegation playoff, which teams would be relegated from League One, and who would be still be alive in the promotion playoff.

How do we look heading into the final weekend of July?

League One

Each conference would be heading into this weekend with multiple playoff spots still on the line. The top of each conference would still be in play. Not that it matters for more than seeding, but pride is at stake as well. It would technically be the final weekend for the relegation battle, but those spots were wrapped up before we could get to the final weekend of the regular season.

Results

	Conference One	Conference Two
Week 10 (Mid-Ohio)	#10 CGR def. #60 MSR (2-6)	#26 Andretti def. #45 RLLR (4-14)
	#7 McLaren def. #12 Penske (5-21)	#14 Foyt def. #3 Penske  (16-23)
	#5 McLaren def. #15 RLLR (5-24)	#9 CGR def. #6 McLaren (1-11)
	#28 Andretti def. #2 Penske (12-27)	#27 Andretti def. #21 ECR (8-25)
Week 11 (Iowa)	#10 CGR def. #7 McLaren (5-21)	#14 Foyt def. #26 Andretti (8-13)
	#12 Penske def. #60 MSR (3-17)	#3 Penske def. #45 RLLR (4-14)
	#5 McLaren def. #28 Andretti (1-15)	#21 ECR def. #9 CGR (6-10)
	#2 Penske def. #15 RLLR (2-11)	#6 McLaren def. #27 Andretti (24-26)
Week 12 (Iowa)	#10 CGR def. #2 Penske (1-10)	#26 Andretti vs. #27 Andretti
	#5 McLaren def. #12 Penske (5-24)	#9 CGR def. #3 Penske (2-26)
	#7 McLaren def. #15 RLLR (6-19)	#14 Foyt def. #6 McLaren (15-27)
	#60 MSR def. #28 Andretti (7-22)	#21 ECR def. #45 RLLR (8-14)
Week 13 (Toronto)	#5 McLaren def. #10 CGR (1-12)	#26 Andretti def. #9 CGR (4-10)
	#12 Penske def. #2 Penske (11-24)	#27 Andretti def. #3 Penske (6-26)
	#28 Andretti def. #7 McLaren (5-13)	#21 ECR def. #14 Foyt (20-27)
	#15 RLLR def. #60 MSR (7-19)	#6 McLaren def. #45 RLLR (18-21)
Week 14 (Laguna Seca)	#10 CGR vs. #12 Penske	#26 Andretti vs. #3 Penske
	#5 McLaren vs. #2 Penske	#9 CGR vs. #27 Andretti
	#7 McLaren vs. #60 MSR	#14 Foyt vs. #45 RLLR
	#28 Andretti vs. #15 RLLR	#21 ECR vs. #6 McLaren

Conference One Standings

#10 Ganassi 11-2

#5 McLaren 11-2
#12 Penske 7-6

#7 McLaren 6-7
#60 Meyer Shank 6-7

#28 Andretti 6-7
#2 Penske 3-10
#15 RLLR 2-11

Entering the final weekend, we know either the #10 Ganassi entry or the #5 McLaren will be the #1-seed. If the #10 Ganassi wins over the #12 Penske at Laguna Seca, it will be the #1-seed. Thanks to Álex Palou's seven victories, he owns the tiebreaker in the #10 Ganassi. 

It is rather tight for the final two playoff spots. Will Power has the #12 Penske in a good spot, but it could get messy with a loss and a few different results. The #7 McLaren vs. #60 MSR matchup will eliminate one team. The loser will be done and cannot make the playoffs. The #28 Andretti will need to win to remain alive over the #15 RLLR.

Unfortunately, the #15 RLLR entry clinched relegation when it lost the second Iowa race. While the #15 RLLR could finish level with the #2 Penske, the #2 Penske beat the #15 RLLR in both its matchups and owns the tiebreaker.

The #2 Penske though will be guaranteed a spot in the relegation playoff and it will need to win at least once over two weeks in either Portland or Milwaukee.

Conference Two Standings

#27 Andretti 10-3

#26 Andretti 10-3

#9 Ganassi 7-6

#6 McLaren 7-6
#14 Foyt 6-7

#3 Penske 6-7
#21 ECR 4-9
#45 RLLR 2-7

Like Conference One, the top two are tied. One will be the #1-seed and the other will be the #2-seed after this weekend. 

Four teams are competing for two spots. The #9 CGR and the #6 McLaren are currently holding those final two spots. A win in the final week will secure their playoff spots. The #14 Foyt and #3 Penske entries must win and get some help in the final weekend. 

Incredibly, none of those four entries are facing each other in the final weekend. There is a chance all four could end up tied on 7-7. What would that mean? We would take those four teams and rank them by record in their six matchups, which looks like the following. 

#9 CGR 4-2  (1-1 vs. #14 / 2-0 vs. #6 / 1-1 vs. #3)

#14 Foyt 3-3 (1-1 vs #9 / 1-1 vs #3 / 1-1 vs #6)

#6 McLaren 3-3 (2-0 vs. #3 / 0-2 vs. #9 / 1-1 vs. #6)

#3 Penske 2-4 (0-2 vs. #14 / 1-1 vs. #14 / 1-1 vs. #9)

Looking at it, the #9 CGR is sitting pretty. It owns the tiebreaker over everyone. Even in the ties, Scott Dixon owns the tiebreakers because Dixon has a victory and two runner-up finishes while the other three have a combined zero victories and Santino Ferrucci's best finish is second while Scott McLaughlin's best finish is third. 

Ferrucci owns the tiebreaker at the moment over the #6 McLaren and the #3 Penske based on best finish. For either the #6 McLaren and #3 Penske to make the playoffs if tied with the #14 Foyt, they will likely need to win Laguna Seca outright. 

In the last three weeks, the #21 ECR has gone 3-0, and Christian Rasmussen jumped the #45 RLLR, which has lost seven consecutive weeks, and the #45 RLLR entry was relegated with a week to spare.

League Two

Since we last spoke, League Two's regular season has concluded, but we knew those promotion spots were clinched when we last spoke. The #4 Foyt entry and the #66 Meyer Shank Racing entry had secured spots in League One for 2026 before we even got to July 2025! All that was on the line was seeding for the second phase of the League Two season that leads to the promotion playoff. 

Results

Week 10 (Mid-Ohio)	#8 CGR def. #83 Prema (10-21)
	#4 Foyt def. #77 JHR (17-18)
	#66 MSR def. #76 JHR (7-19)
	#90 Prema def. #20 ECR (13-15)
	#18 Coyne def. #30 RLLR (9-20)
Week 11 (Iowa)	#8 CGR def. #90 Prema (18-23)
	#76 JHR def. #77 JHR (7-22)
	#83 Prema def. #20 ECR (20-25)
	#30 RLLR def. #51 Coyne (19-27)
	#4 Foyt def. #18 Coyne (12-16)

League Two Standings

#4 Foyt 10-0

#66 MSR 9-1

#8 Ganassi 7-3

#20 ECR 5-5

#76 JHR 5-5

#18 Coyne 5-5
#83 Prema 5-5

#90 Prema 4-6

#30 RLLR 3-7

#51 Coyne 1-9

#77 JHR 1-9

The #4 Foyt and #66 MSR were already promoted. The next eight teams advanced to phase two, which leads to the promotion playoff for the final spot in League One. The #77 JHR did not qualify as its only loss was to the #51 Coyne entry. 

We snake the remaining eight teams into two groups for the round robin. Here are the standings through two of the three matches in the group stage.

Group A

#18 Coyne 1-1

#8 Ganassi 1-1

#83 Prema 1-1

#51 Coyne 1-1

Iowa #2

#51 Coyne def. #8 CGR (11-13)

#83 Prema def. #18 Coyne (9-12)

Toronto

#8 CGR def. #83 Prema (3-16)

#18 Coyne def. #51 Coyne (2-23)

Laguna Seca

#8 CGR vs. #18 Coyne

#83 Prema vs. #51 Coyne

Group B

#76 JHR 2-0

#20 ECR 1-1

#90 Prema 1-1

#30 RLLR 0-2

Iowa #2

#20 ECR def. #30 RLLR (17-25)

#76 JHR def. #90 Prema (16-21)

Toronto

#90 Prema def #20 ECR (8-25)

#76 JHR def. #30 RLLR (15-22)

Laguna Seca

#20 ECR vs. #76 JHR

#90 Prema vs. #30 RLLR

Group A is easy. The two winners at Laguna Seca advance to the promotion playoffs.

Group B has a few scenarios. If the #20 ECR wins and the #90 Prema wins at Laguna Seca, we will have three teams at 2-1 after the all beat up the #30 RLLR and they each defeated each other once. The #76 JHR has the best finish at sixth while the #20 ECR and #90 Prema each have the same best finish of eighth, but the #20's next best result is ninth while the #90's next best is 13th.

If the #76 JHR wins and the #30 RLLR wins at Laguna Seca, we will have three teams at 1-2 after the #76 JHR beat every other team and the other three all defeated each other once. We know the #20 ECR holds the tiebreaker as the #30 RLLR's best finish is 11th.

Each group winner and group runner-up will advance to the semifinals at Portland. The promotion finale will be at Milwaukee.

We will recap the final four weeks once it is all over in September.

Musings From the Weekend: Tweaking the Weekend

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

Patricio O'Ward won a messy race from Toronto. Some think one bad race a championship reignites. A championship was claimed at Exhibition Place. Tire pressure rules nearly caused a stir in the Czech Republic. MotoGP will head into its summer break with at least cooler heads. Four was the magic number in Dover. Fourteen laps are also worth an hour-plus rain delay. It was a good weekend for BMW. There was a popular winner at home. A second-generation driver pulled out a stunner. This has actually been on my mind for a few weeks, and changes are already being discussed for 2026. An IndyCar weekend may look a little different next year. It should consider a few more tweaks.

Tweaking the Weekend

Off Track with James Hinchcliffe and Alexander Rossi is probably the best insider view of the IndyCar world we have out there in moment. It is honest and informative about what is going on not only inside the race car and during the races, but behind the scenes. There is always a thread to learn.

A few weeks ago, Rossi expressed some displeasure with the weekend scheduling and how practice did not begin until around 3:00 p.m. on Friday, feeling most of the day is spent sitting around. Saturday is then packaged with a practice session and qualifying session. Rossi was saying how he believes there should be another practice session on Friday. 

The biggest problem is cost. Adding another practice session isn't as easy as just snapping your fingers. Another 45 minutes or an hour on track means more tires, more fuel, more parts and pieces. IndyCar isn't going to add another session for the sake of adding a session, but I think Rossi has a point. 

There is something convenient about practice not starting until 3:00 p.m. on Friday. It is easier for people to attend. Some people could take a half-day from work and head to the racetrack. It is friendlier to attendees. However, it is not much to take up your Friday afternoon. It is only 90 minutes. You can show up for the junior series, but those will only be practice sessions and qualifying sessions. There is no reason to show up too early. Not much is happening on Friday morning or early Friday afternoon for the fans at the circuit. If you are going to 3:00 p.m. practice, you are likely arriving at least an hour early and maybe staying for an hour after, but less than four hours at the track really isn't worth it. 

From attending IndyCar events on ovals, road courses and street courses, it does feel like something is lacking between Friday and Saturday. You should always leave them wanting more, but if they are always wanting they will never be satisfied. If they are never satisfied, they will leave looking for satisfaction. 

A Friday of an IndyCar weekend is... extra? It doesn't quite feel like something you must experience or it is worth seeing, but it is nice to have. IndyCar needs it. On road and street courses, it needs Friday for at least one session, but it isn't a full day. If you miss it, fine. There will be plenty on Saturday and Sunday. There is a reason why many Fridays of race weekends are free. 

I do think IndyCar should have two practice sessions on Friday. Waiting to start until 3:00 p.m. to get started isn't saving anyone money. All the teams are ready and on-site Thursday night. No one is landing for a race weekend at 11:00 a.m. and driving to the racetrack for practice at 3:00 p.m. They all have to be there first thing in the morning anyway. No one is saving a night on hotels. If that is the case, get started early.

There are people at the track. Give them something to watch early and maybe give others a reason to come and spend a full day out. 

Looking at IndyCar's practice time, its Friday session is 75 minutes total, but it is a 45-minute part for all cars before the field being split in half for two ten-minute sessions. On Saturday morning, there is a one-hour session and then there is the 25-minute warm-up on Sundays. Between Friday and Saturday alone, each team will have at least an hour and 55 minutes allotted for practice. 

If IndyCar doesn't want teams spending more time on track, it can take that hour and 55 minutes, make it two hours and then have three 40-minute practice sessions. The one on Friday mid-afternoon and Saturday morning can stay. An early Friday afternoon practice can be created. The weekend schedule can be a 40-minute practice at noon on Friday, a 40-minute session at 3:00 p.m. or 4:00 p.m., and Saturday practice can be at 10:00 a.m. for 40 minutes. 

It wouldn't cost the teams anymore money. It wouldn't be less total time on track. It would be one more television window to squeeze in, but let's not act like it would hurt IndyCar to be on television more. It clearly needs the exposure. 

This is an easy way to spread around the sessions and make Friday worth a little more without taking much of anything away from the other two days in the race weekend. 

There are two problems to this. The first is it doesn't matter if IndyCar splits practice into three 40-minute sessions if the teams are still going to spend 20 minutes sitting still because they do not believe they have enough tires during a race weekend. 

This one does come down to money. You could say just give the teams two extra tires every weekend. Someone has to pay for those, and tires are not cheap. Teams get ten sets of tires for each race weekend and at least three, if not four, are being used in the race. At least two of those will be new. That leaves eight sets for the remainder of the sessions. In qualifying, every team is using two in the first round. A third and maybe a fourth are being used in the second round. By the final round, everyone is on scuffs. That means there are four sets of tires remaining for practice. 

You would think two sets of tires per two practice sessions, four sets for nearly two hours of practice time, would be enough. It isn't. 

The schedule can change and the weekend can be spread out better for the sake of the teams and Mr. Rossi, but it doesn't matter if the teams are still going to sit around for half a practice session. 

However, after Mid-Ohio weekend, Rossi revealed it has been discussed, and likely happen, that next year practice will be split into groups due to the lack of space on the racetrack when all 27 cars are competing. It was not clear if this would be at every venue. A place like Road America you would think is large enough that it would not be warranted. Either way, that changes the makeup of the weekend. 

I doubt there is a way IndyCar can give every car its 55 minutes of Friday practice if the field is split into groups. That is 110 minutes of total time, not including the few minutes in-between groups running. Friday practice is already only allotted for 90 minutes. This would make the session last at least two hours. 

My guess is we would see the 90-minute session split, and each group would get a pair of 20-minute sessions with ten minutes for clearing the circuit between groups. That does not lend into an extra session on Friday. IndyCar isn't going to have two 90-minute sessions on Friday. 

How can we find a balance and split practices into groups to ensure cars have enough space on track while also adding an early session to Friday? 

IndyCar could keep the 90-minute window in the middle of the afternoon and then add an hour to Friday. That one-hour session could see each team get two 15-minute segments on track. Each car would get 30 minutes early, 40 minutes late, and on Saturday, that session could be an hour with each car getting another 30 minutes of practice time. It would actually be less practice time for the teams. It would be 70 minutes total compared to the 105 minutes now, but they already aren't using the full 105 minutes. Hopefully, less would be more as fewer cars on track would mean more space for cars to run and less of a reason to wait meaning teams are on track for a greater percentage of the practice time given. 

It is a minor tweak, but it could do wonders for everyone. The teams and drivers get a little more breathing room to practice, and instead of fighting with 26 other cars for space, they would fighting for at most 13 or 14 other cars. There would be more to see on Friday and possibly draw more people out on the afternoon. Hopefully, the extra track space means less time sitting around, and though each car would have less total time on track, they would use a greater percentage of what would be given. 

Tweaks are already being considered, but let's hope they go a step further. 

As for oval weekends, I will need another weekend to ponder those.

Champion From the Weekend

Max Garcia clinched the USF Pro 2000 championship with finishes of first and ninth in Toronto. Alessandro de Tulio won the second race of the weekend.

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Patricio O'Ward, but did you know...

Marc Márquez won MotoGP's Czech Grand Prix, his eighth victory of the season and fifth consecutive. Márquez also won the sprint race. American Joe Roberts won the Moto2 race. José Antonio Rueda won in Moto3, his seventh victory of the season.

Denny Hamlin won the NASCAR Cup race from Dover, his fourth victory of the season. Connor Zilisch won the Grand National Series race, his second consecutive victory and fourth of the season.

Sho Tsuboi and Kakunoshin Ohta split the Super Formula races from Fuji.

The #18 RS1 Porsche of Jan Heylen and Alex Sedgwick swept the GT World Challenge America races from Virginia International Raceway. The #97 CrowdStrike Racing by Random Vandals BMW of Kevin Boehm and Kenton Koch swept the GT4 America races. Justin Rothberg swept the GT America races.

The #46 Team WRT BMW of Valentino Rossi and Raffaele Marciello and the #59 Garage 59 McLaren of Benjamin Goethe and Marvin Kirchhöfer split the GT World Challenge Europe races from Misano

Oliver Solberg won Rally Estonia, his first career World Rally Championship victory.

Jack Jeffers swept the U.S. F2000 races from Toronto.

Coming Up This Weekend

IndyCar ends it busy July at Laguna Seca.

Formula E closes its season with a doubleheader in London.

Formula One returns from a brief break to contest the Belgian Grand Prix. 

World Superbike makes its first trip to Balaton Park in Hungary.

NASCAR has the Brickyard 400 to close its in-season tournament.

First Impressions: Toronto 2025

1. Not every race will be pretty, and sometimes a victory comes from an early break. For Patricio O'Ward, stopping after two laps to remove the alternate tire paid dividends, as Scott McLaughlin had an accident after an unsecured tire came loose with McLaughlin attempting the same strategy. Instead of running at the back of the top ten, O'Ward lifted himself up to a better spot with three sets of fresh primary tires at his use.

The other cautions fell in O'Ward's favor as many teams were caught out on strategy. This put O'Ward in a spot to pounce and take a race victory. On the final pit stop, O'Ward crew nailed it and leaped ahead of Rinus VeeKay. From there, O'Ward ran away, untouched, and the late caution for Nolan Siegel and Felix Rosenqvist coming together in the final set of corners sealed the Mexican driver his second victory of the season. 

O'Ward ran to how the race played out. He didn't have to drive from tenth to first on the track. He had to make a few passes, but he found a way to the front and was able to make the most of how all the cautions fell. The team still had to nail its pit stop to get O'Ward to the front, and the pit stand didn't overthink it. They caught a break and didn't waste it.  

2. Rinus VeeKay took a stunning second place finish thanks to the cautions, but also to the strategy. VeeKay started on the alternate tire but ran until lap 13 instead of stopping under the McLaughlin caution. Then VeeKay did 44 laps on his middle stint to get into the window for the final round of pit stops while leading. Unfortunately, VeeKay's stop wasn't blisteringly quick. O'Ward ran a lap longer while having a better pit stop. This put O'Ward into the lead and VeeKay was fighting from behind, but never got close again to first.

It is still wonderful for VeeKay and Dale Coyne Racing. It has been a refreshing season for both parties. Dale Coyne Racing couldn't dream of a top ten finish last season let alone a podium. VeeKay did all he could and ended 2024 on a high, but time had run its course at Ed Carpenter Racing. However, VeeKay was not a hot commodity. The last driver hired for the 2025 season, VeeKay has reminded everyone how he was once seen as an emerging start. He won at 19 years old in 2021. He is still only 24, younger than O'Ward, Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood and Álex Palou. He has finished on the podium at least once in four of six IndyCar seasons and he has one driven for Ed Carpenter and Dale Coyne. 

I don't know how long Coyne can keep VeeKay, but top teams should be considering the Dutchman for next season.

3. Kyffin Simpson also benefitted from the cautions, but strangely, Simpson was the only Ganassi driver to start on the alternate tire. He went to lap 16 and then ran 42 laps on his middle stint. This put Simpson into a podium position, and he was little fortunate the final caution happened because Colton Herta was closing on Simpson. 

In his sophomore season, Simpson has podium, two top five finishes and five top ten results, but his best two results have been down to timely cautions in street races. He has raced well. He did well at Mid-Ohio, but I think the results have been a little flattering. It has been a strong year, but let's remember the context.

4. I don't know how Colton Herta could have been more caught out behind the eight-ball today. Starting on the alternate tire, Herta was always going to stop early. The McLaughlin caution sent Herta back into traffic, but he still in a spot where he could climb up the order. Herta made a lot of passes, but he always had work to do. Herta likely had the best car today, but sometimes it doesn't matter if you have the best car if your strategy is slightly off. 

5. Marcus Ericsson was also one of the few to stop before the McLaughlin caution, and it was a wonderful turn for the Swede. Ericsson was able to hang in the top ten for nearly the entire race. He was able to get a top five out of this and end his slump. Ericsson needed a day where nothing went against him. That was pretty much the case today. 

6. It is remarkable Kyle Kirkwood was able to recover after he was spun entering the pit lane under caution. That first pit box has its advantages. The disadvantage is an eager driver behind you can ruin your day. Marcus Armstrong got into the back of Kirkwood, and it looked like it was day over, but Kirkwood was a man on a mission. He likely was second-best to his teammate Herta today. Seeing as how things played out, that Armstrong spin likely only cost Kirkwood one spot in the final order. Perhaps he would have gotten ahead of Herta at some point. It could have been worse.

7. Graham Rahal had a quiet day and finished seventh, and I do not think Rahal minds that. We have seen plenty of races where there are incidents all over the place and Rahal is caught in something not of his doing. Today, Rahal steered clear of the chaos. The cautions didn't even cost him on strategy. He kept running in the top ten. That is a positive thing for him and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

8. Callum Ilott scores Prema's best finish one week after the team scored its best finish. Eighth is a good showing, and Ilott didn't do anything. He ended up making four stops as he made a stop on lap 38 for fuel-only, but that was after he caught a piece of the Jacob Abel-Josef Newgarden incident. The car was able to continue. Like Rahal, this is the kind of race where we usually see Ilott swept into something. Ilott nearly was, but it worked out where he was able to slip through. Ilott deserved this day.

9. David Malukas was nearly screwed. The McLaughlin caution really threw off everyone starting on the primary tire. Malukas took his alternate tire on lap 34, and he ran 15 laps, but that was about five laps too soon to make it to the finish. Malukas had to stop from third on track on lap 74, but Malukas had fresh tires and flew from about 17th to ninth in the final 26 laps. It looked like Malukas wasn't going to finish in the top 15. It turned into a top ten. He did make a little error on that final pit stop as the right rear tire was not secure. The team caught it in time though. 

10. Considering Scott Dixon was starting 17th, I understand why he started on the primary tire. Dixon had to do something different, but the flurry of cautions early kind of forced him to stay out as long as he could. He went 41 laps to open the race. The alternate tire was not going to last that long. Dixon ran 14 laps, which got him into the window for a two-stop race, but he was outside the top ten. Dixon did have better tires down the stretch and made up a few spots. It ends in a top ten, which is good, and maybe the most this team could have done with the strategy chosen and how the cautions fell.

11. I don't know where to start on Team Penske, but Will Power was its best finisher in 11th, Power seemed to be bumping into everyone despite having started fourth. He went backward quickly in this race Nothing went his way today, but he didn't look that racy out there either. Eleventh is a kind day to Power.

12. With Álex Palou finishing 12th, the championship gap to O'Ward is down to 99 points with four races remaining. I don't understand why Palou started on the primary tire, especially from second on the grid. 

Without the early cautions, everyone on the alternate compound stops within the first ten laps, which opens the door for those starting on the primary to run a 10-12 lap stint in the middle of the race. It would be a three-stopper for everyone. All I can think is Palou felt confident that he would get to the lead by lap 12 or 15 as all the primary starters would be in pit lane and he could go to lap 25 or lap 30 and then stop for the alternate tire. 

In that case, it sets up to where everyone is making their second stop at the same time. Everyone who stopped early to get rid of the alternate tire are stopping again between laps 35-40, maybe they can run to lap 45. If Palou needs a 10-15 lap stint, he is stopping between laps 35-45. It shakes out to where everyone will be together at the halfway point, but with the cautions, Palou had nowhere to go on strategy. 

Palou didn't have the greatest start, likely due to the tires, but his 12th-place result today was down to strategy, not because Chip Ganassi Racing did something wrong and the car wasn't in the ballpark. 

13. I think we need to cool it on acting like the championship is in play.

No. 

O'Ward needs to basically outscore Palou by 25 points over four consecutive races. If O'Ward wins all four, he needs Palou to finish eighth or worse in every race. If O'Ward is second in all four, he needs Palou to finish 15th or worse in every race. If O'Ward is third in all four, he needs Palou to finish 20th or worse in every race.

O'Ward isn't going to be on the podium in all four races. Palou isn't going to finish eighth or worse in all four. Two of Palou's best tracks are still ahead of him. Let's cool it. 

Mathematically, it is still alive. That doesn't mean we should suspend reason. More must be done than this one race. Is there any reason to believe that will be the case? Let's see where we are after Laguna Seca. 

14. Let's run through the field: This was an off weekend for Christian Lundgaard, and it doesn't help that his teammate won. Lundgaard struggled late as well. He nearly ended up in the barrier after contact with Conor Daly. This was a little surprising as Lundgaard has done well in street races.

Nolan Siegel was caught with nowhere to go when Felix Rosenqvist spun, but Siegel was still running about 15th when that happened. It wasn't going to be a brilliant day anyway for Siegel.

15. This was nearly a good day for Meyer Shank Racing. Both cars were in the top ten. Marcus Armstrong spun Kirkwood entering pit lane, earning Armstrong a penalty. Felix Rosenqvist blew turn three while running in the top ten, and then he spun on his own after battling front wing damage for most of the race, but which really got worse in the final stint. 

This is MSR's first truly bad day of the season. It sucks, but it also hasn't been the norm for this group. I expect MSR to bounce back at Laguna Seca.

16. Conor Daly was in a top ten spot until his tires were gone in the final stint. Daly dropped to 15th. Sting Ray Ray was a lap down in 17th, benefitting from the amount of attrition. That sounds about right for Juncos Hollinger Racing.

17. What a terrible day for Ed Carpenter Racing. Christian Rasmussen spun into the barrier after contact with Will Power in turn five. Alexander Rossi clipped the barrier exiting the final corner. Rossi's day was done. Rasmussen was able to continue but finish seven laps down. Woof!

The incident with Power was a racing incident. They were side-by-side in the corner. If we call that a penalty, no one will ever attempt a pass on a street course again.

18. I must have missed what happened to Louis Foster because his race was over after 67 laps. Devlin DeFrancesco was caught in the Abel-Newgarden incident, and DeFrancesco retired after 57 laps. At least Graham Rahal had a good day for RLLR.

19. I don't know where to begin on Team Penske. This feels surreal.

The McLaughlin accident after an unsecured tire does not happen to Team Penske. That happens to every other team. It was two laps into the race. I understand the strategy, but let's nail the first pit stop, why don't we? Take a breather. That strategy is not entirely dependent on the in-lap and out-lap. It is all about the following stint and then taking advantage of those on the primary tire on the next stint. 

Josef Newgarden had no where to go when Jacob Abel ran wide in the first corner. Of all the drivers to get caught in that incident in 2025, it is going to be Newgarden. 

I don't know how you can watch this Penske season and not be speechless. 

20. For the second consecutive Sunday, we were down a car. Santino Ferrucci had an accident in the morning warm-up, and A.J. Foyt Racing was unable to make the repairs or roll out a back-up car in time for the race. The circuit was damp, but drying, during the warm-up. 

I have long felt the warm-up session should not exist on Sundays for reasons like this. It is a negative for fans. It puts the crews in a position where they could have to thrash to re-build a car, and once done, the reward is to now do pit stops for a two-hour race. 

We saw one fewer car because there was an accident too soon to the start of the race. I also think it wasn't worth the risk to participate on a damp track when everyone knows it will be dry for the race. 

If the teams need to do a systems check, have an installation lap session at the start of the day like they have on ovals, and have the teams go out and run at 60% or 70%.  

Break the field up into four groups. Run the final four rows for five minutes. Once they are in, the next four rows go out. After that, split the final six rows into two groups of three and let them go out. 

You can still call it a warm-up. You can still have it be a broadcasted session. Turn into a race preview. Usher drivers to-and-from the Fox patio setup and have an abundance of interviews, but with the drivers. Have it be a time where the drivers can interact with fans on race morning. It can still be a session, but I don't think there is any benefit into making it a full session. Give the teams more practice time on Friday and Saturday where they can run in anger. 

21. These races happen, but they don't feel entirely satisfying. I do think it is time IndyCar increases the minimum lap amount on each tire compound to five or ten laps, and make it green flag laps. 

Does anyone understand why the limit is so low and is only two laps? That can be achieved in a caution period, and we saw that happen at St. Petersburg. There was a lot of action in this race, but something was taken away because you have a portion of the field that have to run 10-15 laps on one compound and the rest got away with doing two laps on it because of a timely yellow. That is part of the strategy but we can acknowledge the rules are flawed and could be improved. 

Either that or Toronto should have been a race where IndyCar mandated each team used both compounds twice. 

I don't understand how IndyCar ran that experiment once at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, a race that is already guaranteed to be a three-stop race, but did not try it at a street race where it would be more beneficial. Even with five additional laps, we went into this weekend thinking a two-stop strategy was still on the board. The cautions made that possible. 

I am ok with IndyCar trying things, especially things that aren't going to cost anything extra. It was willing to experiment once earlier this season, and since then it has been scared off from trying again. I hope IndyCar is open minded for 2026 because I don't think either would hurt this race and a few others.

22. The end is in sight with Laguna Seca a week away, and then a much deserved week off.

23. If forgot Robert Shwartzman! Shwartzman was 16th. I honestly don't know what he did today. There. All bases covered.

Morning Warm-Up: Toronto 2025

Colton Herta won pole position for the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto after running a lap at 59.832 seconds in the final round of qualifying. It is the second consecutive year Herta has started on pole position for this race, and the third time he has started first at Exhibition Place. Last year, he won from pole position while leading 81 of 85 laps. Herta seeks to become the first driver to win consecutive Toronto races since Scott Dixon swept the 2013 doubleheader. The most recent driver to win in consecutive years at Toronto was Michael Andretti in 2000 and 2001. He has won from pole position five times in his first 15 pole positions, but he has also finished outside the top ten in five races when starting first.

Álex Palou was 0.2758 seconds off Herta's top time and Palou will start second. This is Palou's six front row start of the season and he has started no worse than ninth this season. Five consecutive Toronto races have been won from the front row. With his victory at Iowa last week, Palou is now tied with Ryan Hunter-Reay for 24th all-time in victories, each has 18. Iowa was the 11th different circuit Palou has won at. Four of Palou's seven victories this season have come from the front row.

Marcus Armstrong has his best starting position of the season in third. Armstrong enters this weekend with six consecutive top ten finishes, and he scored his second career podium finish when he was third at Iowa last Sunday. His eight top ten finishes this season are Armstrong's most in a single season. This will be Armstrong's 42nd career start, and he is looking for his first career victory. Only once has a driver had a first career victory in a 42nd career start. That was Bobby Unser on July 4, 1966 in the Pike Peak International Hill Climb.

Will Power takes fourth on the grid. This is only the third time Power has started in the top five this season. Power has one street course victory in the last nine seasons. That would be the final Belle Isle race in 2022, a season which ended in Power's second championship. Through 12 races, Power has led only four laps this season. He has not finished in the top ten of the last six Toronto races with an average finish of 16.333 over that time.

Graham Rahal will start fifth, his best start in a street race since Rahal started fifth for the 2018 Long Beach race. Rahal has four consecutive top ten finishes at Toronto. He enters this weekend having not finished in the top five of his last 32 starts when he was second at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in August 2023. It has been 136 starts since Rahal's most recent IndyCar victory. Today's race falls on the 39th anniversary of Graham's father Bobby winning the inaugural Toronto race.

Kyle Kirkwood was unable to get a proper flying lap completed in the final round of qualifying, and this puts Kirkwood sixth on the grid. Kirkwood has five consecutive top five finishes in street races and eight consecutive top ten finishes in street races. The sixth-place starter has not won on a road or street course since Scott Dixon won the second race of the 2019 Belle Isle doubleheader. Three times has the sixth-place starter won at Toronto, most recently with Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2012 in the #28 Andretti Autosport entry.

Louis Foster missed out on the final round of qualifying by 0.1697 seconds, and Foster will start seventh. It is his fifth time starting in the top ten this season. However, his average finish when starting in the top ten is 15th. His average finish in the eight races starting outside the top ten is 19.625. Foster has finished on the lead lap in four consecutive races after having only three lead lap finishes in his first eight starts. He has finished 14th in the last three races.

Marcus Ericsson has his best starting position since Long Beach in April as Ericsson will start eighth. The Swede was 0.2703 seconds from making it to the final round of qualifying. Ericsson enters this weekend with 11 consecutive results outside the top ten. He has finished outside the top ten in three of his four Toronto starts. In 2022, Ericsson started ninth and finished fifth.

Rinus VeeKay starts in the top ten for the third time this season as the Dutchman will take ninth on the grid. Prior to this weekend VeeKay has started four consecutive races outside the top twenty, and five consecutive races outside the top fifteen. In his prior two top ten starts, VeeKay went from fifth to fourth at Barber Motorsports Park, but in Detroit, he retired after six laps due to an engine issue after starting sixth.

Patricio O'Ward rounds out the top ten. In four street course races this season, O'Ward never qualified better than ninth, and his last street race with a starting spot better than ninth was third in the 2024 St. Petersburg season opener. O'Ward's best finish in three Toronto starts is eighth. He has finished outside the top ten in six consecutive steet races since his St. Petersburg's victory to open the 2023 season.

Callum Ilott made it out of the first round of qualifying for the second time this season, and he will start 11th, moving up a position as Scott Dixon was 11th in round two, but Dixon has a six-spot grid penalty for taking on his sixth engine this season. Ilott did not finish either race at Iowa. It was the first time Ilott has failed to finish consecutive races in his IndyCar career. 

Nolan Siegel was 0.0340 seconds from advancing from the first qualifying group, but he will slide up to 12th. Siegel had qualified in the top ten in the last three races, though he was unable to start last Sunday's race from Iowa. In five street course starts, Siegel's best finish is 19th, and he has only finished on the lead lap in one street course start. He completed all the laps on his way to finishing 20th at Long Beach this past April.

Kyffin Simpson missed out on the second round of qualifying by 0.0288 seconds, and Simpson takes 13th starting position. Last year, Simpson's average finish in street races was 19.25. Through three street races this season, his average is 11th. No matter what, the worst Simpson's average finish in street races in 2025 will be 15th. Simpson has finished better than his starting spot in five of the last six races.

Scott McLaughlin will start outside the top ten for the fourth consecutive race, as the New Zealander was 0.07 seconds from advancing in round one. Starting 16th, this will be the first time McLaughlin has failed to start in the top ten in at least four consecutive races since the final 11 races of his rookie season in 2021. McLaughlin has finished outside the top twenty in five of 12 races this season. Prior to this season, he had eight total results outside the top twenty in his first 68 starts.

David Malukas fell 0.0694 seconds from making the second round. Instead, Malukas will occupy the inside of row eight. He had started in the top ten in the last two street course races. Malukas' only career top ten finish on a street course came last year at Toronto. He started and finished sixth. His career average finish in street races is 17.1428.

Felix Rosenqvist has his worst starting position of the season in 16th. It is Rosenqvist's worst start in 16 races when he started 18th at Portland last year. Rosenqvist has finished worse than his starting position in three of four Toronto starts. The only time he has finished better was when he started outside the top five. He went from eighth to third in 2022.

Scott Dixon drops to 17th after his grid penalty. Dixon was second at Iowa last Sunday. It was the 53rd time he has finished second in his IndyCar career. Dixon is second all-time in runner-up finishes, three behind Mario Andretti's record. The last time Dixon won a race after finishing second was in 2019. He finished second at Iowa, the 12th race of the season, and then won at Mid-Ohio. Last Sunday's Iowa race was the 12th race of the season.

Josef Newgarden failed to make it out of the first round of qualifying for the third consecutive street course race, and Newgarden will start 18th. He was 0.1273 seconds off advancing. After finishing second and tenth at Iowa last week, Newgarden is looking for his first three-race top ten streak since 2023 when he had a four-race top five streak that started at Toronto with a fifth, and included a sweep of the Iowa doubleheader before capping off with a fourth in his hometown Nashville.

Christian Lundgaard is starting outside the top ten for a third consecutive race with Lundgaard slotting into 19th on the grid. This is also the Dane's worst start at Toronto. Lundgaard has not finished worse than eighth in his last four street course starts. He went from 12th to third at Long Beach in April, and a timely caution allowed him to go from 22nd to sixth in the second Iowa race last week.

Robert Shwartzman will round out the top twenty on the grid. With a ninth-place finish last week at Iowa Speedway, Shwartzman is the only rookie with multiple top ten finishes this season. In street races, Shwartzman's finishing position has approved by two spots in each race. He was 20th at St. Petersburg, 18th at Long Beach, and 16th at Detroit.

Conor Daly will take 21st on the grid. This is the third time in four street races Daly has started outside the top twenty. Daly has not finished better than 17th in his three street course starts this season. His average finish in five Toronto starts is 15.4. This is Daly's first Toronto appearance since 2022 when he went from 25th to 20th.

Christian Rasmussen starts 22nd, his 12th time in 13 races starting outside the top fifteen. The only time he started in the top fifteen was starting tenth at Detroit. He has started outside the top fifteen in 22 of 26 career starts. While Rasmussen has finished in the top ten in all four oval races this season, his best street course result is 15th, and his average finish in street races is 20.667.

Santino Ferrucci rolls off from 23rd position, the 12th time in 13 races Ferrucci is starting outside the top ten. It is the eighth time he has started outside the top fifteen. All four of his top ten finishes this season have come from grid positions of 15th or worse. While Ferrucci was 11th in his first Toronto start in 2019, he has finished 17th and 20th in his other two visits to Exhibition Place. 

Alexander Rossi is directly behind his Ed Carpenter Racing teammate Rasmussen in the 24th grid position. This the eighth consecutive race Rossi has started outside the top ten after opening the season with three top ten starts in the first five races. Rossi missed last year's Toronto race due to a wrist injury. Prior to that, he had finished 23rd and 16th in his last two trips to Toronto.

Sting Ray Robb was the slowest in the first qualifying group, and this places Robb 25th in the starting order. Robb's best two finishes this season have been on street courses. He was ninth at Long Beach and 15th at Detroit. He made up at least ten spots in each of those races, starting 19th and 26th respectively. His best finish in two trips to Toronto is 19th.

Devlin DeFrancesco rolls off from his home race in 26th position. It is his worst starting position since he started 27th at Barber Motorsports Park at the start of May. This is the worst starting spot for a Canadian at Toronto since 1994 when 31 cars started the race, and Claude Bourbonnais started 26th and Ross Bentley started 30th. DeFrancesco's best finish in his home race at Toronto is 18th. Two years ago, he was out after ten laps due to brake issues. 

Jacob Abel was the slowest car in the second qualifying group, and Abel takes 27th on the grid. This is Abel's tenth time starting 25th or worse in 2025. Abel is coming off his career best finish of 11th in the second Iowa race. After failing to finish on the lead lap in his first five starts, Abel has led lap finishes in four of his last six starts.

Fox's coverage of the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto will begin at noon ET with green flag scheduled for 12:22 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 90 laps.

Track Walk: Toronto 2025

The 13th round of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season is the one international trip on the schedule. Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada hosts an IndyCar race from the 39th time and this will be the 81st time IndyCar has raced in Canada. There have been four different winners in the last four Toronto races, and Honda has won three consecutive times. Canada will have one native driver entered in this year's race as we hit 22 years since a Canadian won in Toronto, and this year's race falls five days short of the 21st anniversary of the last Canadian win on Canadian soil. That would be Paul Tracy in the final Vancouver race on July 25, 2004. Only five races remain in the 2025 season, and this will be the final street race of the season.

Coverage

Time: Coverage begins at 12:00 p.m. ET on Sunday July 20 with green flag scheduled for 12:20 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: 3:00 p.m. ET (75 minutes)

Saturday:

Second Practice: 10:30 a.m. ET (60 minutes)
Qualifying: 2:30 p.m. ET 
Sunday:
Warm-up: 8:32 a.m. ET (25 minutes)
Race: 12:20 p.m. ET (90 laps)

FS2 will have coverage of Friday practice session while FS1 will have coverage of Saturday's sessions and the Sunday morning warm-up. Fox will have race coverage.

Five More Laps

Prior to the 2025 season, Toronto was one of six races to see its race distance increased. This year's Toronto race will be 90 laps. Outside of the 2014 doubleheader, every Toronto race since it returned to the schedule in 2009 has been scheduled for 85 laps. This will be the longest Toronto race since 2003, which was scheduled for 112 laps.

This distance change is meant to change pit strategy and discourage fuel saving, making a three-stop strategy more likely than a two-stopper.

At Mid-Ohio earlier this month, the additional ten laps had most teams running a three-stop strategy, however, Scott Dixon was still able to win the race despite making one fewer pit stop. It was the third consecutive time a 90-lap Mid-Ohio race was won with a two-stop strategy. Though Dixon won on a two-stop strategy, the next four finishers made it on three stops. Six of the top ten finishers were three-stoppers, and four made it on two-stop strategies. However, 18 of the 22 lead lap finishers made at least three pit stops.

At 85 laps, Toronto has been a clear two-stop race. Seven consecutive Toronto races have been won with a two-stop strategy. The last Toronto race won with three pit stops was in 2015 when Josef Newgarden, along with the rest of the top fifteen used a three-stop strategy. 

In the last six Toronto races, no one finishing in the top seven made more than two pit stops. In 2022, the top 13 finishers each made it on two stops. 

However, there should be some concerns whether five extra laps will lead to one more pit stop. 

Last year, Kyle Kirkwood won at Toronto after stopping on lap 34 and lap 53, however, Álex Palou ended up finishing fourth after stopping on lap 24 and lap 49. Palou went 36 laps on his final stint. If drivers can make it 30 laps, this will easily be a two-stop race. 

In 2022 and 2023, each winner stopped prior to lap 49. In 2022, Scott Dixon made his final stop on lap 46 and lap 46 was the earliest anyone made their final pit stop. In 2023, Christian Lundgaard stopped on lap 18 and lap 48, but two drivers stopped prior to lap 48 and made it to the finish. Palou and Colton Herta each stopped on lap 43, and made it 42 laps on their final stint. 

Cautions did play a small factor. In 2022, there were two cautions for nine laps after lap 46. However, in 2023, there was only one caution for five laps after lap 43, and that came from lap 46 through lap 50. In last year's race, nine of the final 21 laps were under caution. 

Last year's race saw Rinus VeeKay and Graham Rahal finish in the top ten on three-stop strategies, but they ended up eighth and tenth respectively. There were only 12 cars that finished on the lead lap in last year's race, and 12 cars failed to finish the race. In 2023, Rahal was the only driver in the top ten with more than two pit stops, and Rahal stopped four times on his way to finishing ninth. Rahal stopped under the first caution for an opening lap incident. He then stopped on lap 37 before stopping under caution on lap 43 and then under caution on lap 48 when he was more in the pit window. In 2019, Rahal also finished ninth after making three stops, the only non-two-stopper in the top ten of that race.

The Final Street Race

Toronto is the fourth of four street races on the 2025 schedule, and only two drivers could end up as the king of the road.

With his two victories at Long Beach and Detroit, Kyle Kirkwood has the most street course points this season. Add on 30 from St. Petersburg and Kirkwood has scored 137 points from the first three street course events. The only driver who could pass him is Álex Palou. Palou has 96 points, 41 points behind Kirkwood with 54 points left on the table. 

Kirkwood will clinch best street course driver with a 16th-place finish.

If Kirkwood does not start the Toronto race, Scott Dixon has an outside shot at best street course driver. Dixon has scored 86 points through three street course races, 51 points behind Kirkwood. Along with an absent Kirkwood, Dixon would need to win Toronto with at least two bonus points scored to surpass the American. 

Dixon has more pressure behind and then a chance to jump to the top. Christian Lundgaard has 85 street course points while Scott McLaughlin rounds out the top five on 83 points. Lundgaard's best street course finish was third at Long Beach while McLaughlin's best was fourth at St. Petersburg after starting on pole position and leading the most laps. 

Colton Herta sits on 78 points while Felix Rosenqvist and Will Power are tied on 68 points. Rosenqvist and Power's best street course finish is fourth. Power holds the tiebreaker with his next best being fifth to Rosenqvist's seventh. 

There is a four-way for ninth. Josef Newgarden, Kyffin Simpson, Marcus Ericsson and Patricio O'Ward are all tied on 63 points. In order of tiebreaker, Newgarden is ahead as his best finish was third at St. Petersburg, Simpson was fifth at Detroit, Ericsson was sixth at St. Petersburg, and O'Ward's only top ten finish this year on a street course was seventh at Detroit. 

Alexander Rossi is eight points off the four-way tie for ninth with Marcus Armstrong a further three points behind Rossi. Santino Ferrucci rounds out the top fifteen on 50 points. Though Ferrucci was runner-up at Detroit, he suffered a 26-point penalty after his team was found to have run the incorrect driver equivalency weight. 

Sting Ray Robb has scored 47 points on street courses, one more than David Malukas. Rinus VeeKay has 38 points from street courses with Graham Rahal and Robert Shwartzman each earning 36 points from street races. Rahal holds the tiebreaker over Shwartzman as Rahal's best street cours result was 12th to Shwartzman's 16th. 

Conor Daly has 31 points while Christian Rasmussen has 29, Louis Foster has 28, Nolan Siegel has 26, Callum Ilott has 25, Jacob Abel has 24 and Devlin DeFrancesco has 21 points from three street course starts.

Siegel was not cleared to drive in the second Iowa race last week after his accident in the first race of the weekend. Arrow McLaren has contact Linus Lundqvist to be its reserve driver should the Swede's services be required.

Dating back to last season, Honda has won six consecutive street course races. Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Global have split the races three apiece. Scott Dixon and Kyle Kirkwood have each won twice while Colton Herta and Álex Palou have each won once.

Team Penske is Winless

We have completed 12 races and Team Penske is winless. 

The team did have its best race of the season at Iowa. 

In the Saturday race, Team Penske went 2-3-4 with Josef Newgarden ahead of Will Power and Scott McLaughlin. It was Penske's first time with multiple podium finishers all season. The team had three total podium finishes in the first ten races. The first Iowa race was the first double top five day for the team since the Grand Prix of Indianapolis in May, and it was the team's first double top ten day since Detroit at the start of June.

However, thing reared its ugly head on Sunday. McLaughlin was caught in an opening lap incident when Devlin DeFrancesco spun. Power suffered an engine issue and was done after 21 laps. Newgarden drove a respectable race and led 72 laps, but untimely cautions shuffled the Tennessean back to a tenth-place finish. The second Iowa race was the fourth time this season Penske has had multiple cars finish outside the top twenty. Prior to this season, Team Penske had not had a race where multiple cars failed to finish in the top twenty on the racetrack since 1998 CART season finale at Fontana.

This is the first time Team Penske has failed to win one of the first 12 races in a season since its winless season in 1999. Newgarden enters Toronto on a 16-race winless streak, his longest slump since he went winless in the first 67 starts of his career. Power is on a 15-race winless streak while McLaughlin is on a  13-race winless streak. 

Prior to the two-year quarantine from Toronto due to the global pandemic, Team Penske was ruling the Queen City. Penske had won three of four Toronto races with three different drivers. Penske had a driver on the podium in eight consecutive Toronto races.

In the three Toronto races since its return to the calendar in 2022, Team Penske's best finish is fifth. Last year, Penske failed to have one top ten finisher at Toronto. 

Power has won three times at Toronto, but he has finished outside the top ten in six consecutive races at Exhibition Place. His average finish over those six starts is 16.333. Since winning in 2016, he has led only one lap at Toronto. 

Newgarden is a two-time Toronto winner and prior to finishing 11th last year, he had six consecutive top ten finishes North of the Border. However, he has not led in the last four Toronto races after leading 25 laps from pole position in 2018. 

Last year was McLaughlin's worst Toronto finish after he and Power came together in turn five, putting McLaughlin into the barrier. This left the New Zealander with a 16th-place finish. Prior to that, he finished ninth and sixth in his first two visits. In 2023, he led 28 laps after starting second. McLaughlin has started in the top six in all three of his Toronto starts.

Team Penske has only five Toronto victories. Prior to its three-in-four-year run at the end of the 2010s, Penske won in 1993 with Paul Tracy and Power won there in 2010. 

Engine Picture

As we are nearing the end of the season, engine usage will play a bigger role in starting grid as some teams will exceed the four-engine limit and will start incurring grid penalties. An unapproved engine change and exceeding the four-engine limit leads to a six-spot penalty on a road or street course, and a nine-spot penalty on an oval. 

We have already had a few penalties this season for engine changes. The earliest was at Detroit where Scott Dixon and Graham Rahal each had to serve six-spot grid penalties. Dixon took on his fifth engine at Detroit. Rahal had taken on an unapproved engine change during the Indianapolis 500 festivities, which had to be observed in the Motor City.

The only other grid penalty this season was Christian Rasmussen at Mid-Ohio. Rasmussen had an unapproved engine change after he lost an engine during the Iowa test prior to the Mid-Ohio weekend, which meant the Dane took on his fifth engine of the season. 

Engine count does play a pivotal role in paying out points for the manufacturers' championship. Any team that has exceeded the four-engine limit is ineligible to earn manufacturer points. The top two finishers from each manufacturer score points toward the manufacturers' championship. 

Entering the Iowa weekend, Santino Ferrucci and his #14 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet was the only other Chevrolet on his fourth engine of the season. Every other Chevrolet team was on its third engine. During the Iowa weekend, four more Chevrolet teams took on their fourth engine of the season, the #2 Team Penske of Josef Newgarden, the #6 Arrow McLaren of Nolan Siegel, the #20 Ed Carpenter Racing of Alexander Rossi and the #76 Juncos Hollinger Racing of Conor Daly.

Will Power did lose an engine in the second Iowa race, meaning Power will likely be on his fourth engine starting this weekend at Toronto. 

In the Honda camp, Kyffin Simpson was the only other Honda besides Dixon to be on his fourth engine of the season. Every other Honda team was on its third engine. During the Iowa weekend, Graham Rahal in the #15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda became the third Honda team to take on a fourth engine of the season.

Approved engine changes occur once an engine reaches 2,000 miles. The remaining five races alone have a scheduled 1,138.64 miles remaining before we get to practice and qualifying where mileage will vary.

Over the last five race weekends, starting in Detroit, Dixon has completed 2,066.32 miles through all the races, qualifying sessions and practice sessions. Though Dixon is no longer eligible for manufacturer championship points, and he will have to take a grid penalty regardless, he will be due for taking on his sixth engine in 2025.

Engine count was pivotal in the 2023 manufacturers' championship because though Honda won 12 of 17 races, Chevrolet earned the manufacturers' championship as Scott Dixon and Álex Palou were each ineligible to earn manufacturer championship points in the final three races despite the two Chip Ganassi Racing drivers combining to win the final three races. Chevrolet ended up winning the manufacturers' championship by 12 points that year.

Through 12 races in 2025, Honda has 1,147 points, a 208-point advantage over Chevrolet with five races remaining. Chevrolet has won the last three manufacturers' championships. Prior to that, Honda has won four consecutive years from 2018 to 2021. The average points total for the last four manufacturers' champions is 1,455.75. 

While Honda has won the last three Toronto races, since engine competition returned to IndyCar in 2012, Chevrolet holds the edge at Toronto having won seven of 13 races.

Road to Indy

The bottom two rungs of the Road to Indy join IndyCar on its trip across the border, and we could see a championship claimed this weekend. 

In USF Pro 2000, Max Garcia enters with 384 points as he has won four of the last five races, and through 14 races Garcia has yet to finish worse than fourth. With his run of form this season, Garcia is 97 points clear of Ariel Elkin with 132 points left on the table. Garcia just needs to leave Toronto with a 67-point lead to clinch the championship. He could even clinch the championship halfway through this weekend. 

If after the first Toronto race, Garcia has at least a 100-point lead, meaning he just needs to score at least three points more than Elkin in the opening race, he will clinch the championship. 

There are two other drivers still mathematically alive for the USF Pro 2000 championship. Canadian Mac Clark is on 279 points while Alessandro de Tullio is on 267 points.

Clark has yet to win in his USF Pro 2000 career, and in 2025 he has nine podium finishes but has yet to stand on the top step. De Tullio won three of the first four races, but he has only finish on the podium twice in the last ten races, and he has not been on the podium in the last five races. 

Nineteen cars are entered this weekend, and there is a surprise entry. Liam McNeilly, who won the first five U.S. F2000 races before visa issues prevented him from re-entering the United States after he traveled back to his native United Kingdom in May, is entered in the #6 Jay Howard Driver Development entry for Toronto. Despite having not raced since April, McNeilly is still seventh in the U.S. F2000 championship standings. 

USF Pro 2000 will race at 4:20 p.m. ET on Saturday July 19, and at 10:20 a.m. ET on Sunday July 20. Both races are scheduled for 25 laps or 45 minutes.

It is honors even in U.S. F2000 as Toronto marks the penultimate round of the season before the Portland triple-header to cap off the championship. No matter what, U.S. F2000 will head to Portland with the title undecided.

Jack Jeffers and Thomas Schrage are tied on 288 points after 13 races. Jeffers has won three times while Schrage has won twice. Jeffers has eight podium finishes while Schrage has nine. 

Teddy Musella has one victory this season, and Musella is 32 points off the tie at the top of the championship. G3 Argyros is on 219 points in fourth while Caleb Gafrarar has 212 points in fifth, and Gafrarar scored his first victory of the season when he won the first Mid-Ohio race. Evan Cooley rounds out the top six on 190 points.

Then you have McNeilly on 163 points in seventh before reaching Indianapolis Raceway Park winner Anthony Martella in eighth on 156 points. Lucas Fecury and Sebastián Garzón round out the top ten on 148 points and 147 points respectively.

The first U.S. F2000 race will be on Saturday July 19 at 1:30 p.m. ET. Race two will be at 9:25 a.m. ET on Sunday July 20. Both races are scheduled for 20 laps or 40 minutes.

Fast Facts

This will be the tenth IndyCar race to take place on July 20 and the first since Josef Newgarden won at Iowa in 2019. 

This will be the fifth Toronto race run on July 20. Bobby Rahal won on this date at Toronto in 1996. Mark Blundell did it 1997. Both races of the 2014 Toronto doubleheader were held on July 20 after the Saturday race was rained out. Sébastien Bourdais won the first race, and Mike Conway won the second race.

Since reunification, the Toronto winner has gone on to win the championship six times in 14 seasons. Four of those championships went to Chip Ganassi Racing drivers (Dario Franchitti in 2009 and 2011, Scott Dixon in 2013 and 2018). 

As there have been four different drivers to win the last four Toronto races, there have also been four different teams to win the last four Toronto races.

The last time there were at least five consecutive Toronto races with a different team winning was 2004 through 2010. In the final four Champ Car years, Newman/Haas Racing, RuSport, Forsythe Racing and Walker Racing won while Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske won the first two years post-reunification.

The last time we had five consecutive different drivers win was from 2013 through 2016. Scott Dixon won the second race of the 2013 doubleheader, Sébastien Bourdais and Mike Conway split the 2014 doubleheader, Josef Newgarden won in 2015 and Will Power won in 2016.

The average starting position for a Toronto winner is 3.6315 with a median of third. 

Five consecutive Toronto races have been won from the front row. Twenty total Toronto races have been won from the front row.

It has been 37 races since there has been a winner from the fourth starting position. The most recent was Álex Palou at Mid-Ohio in 2023. 

Only once has a Toronto winner started fourth. That was Will Power in 2016.

Nine times has a Toronto winner started outside the top five, most recently was in 2017 when Josef Newgarden won from seventh. 

Three times has a Toronto winner started outside the top ten (Michael Andretti from 13th in 2001, Mike Conway from 11th in the second race in 2014, Josef Newgarden from 11th in 2015).

Only once in the last 29 races has a winner started outside the top ten. Will Power won from 22nd in the second Iowa race last year. In the 29 races prior to that, seven times did the winner start outside the top ten. 

The average number of lead changes in a Toronto race is 4.324 with a median of four.

Six of the last eight Toronto races have had at least five lead changes.

The average number of cautions for a Toronto race is 3.324 with a median of three. The average number of caution laps is 13.594 with a median of 12. 

Thirty consecutive Toronto races have had multiple cautions, and there has never been a caution-free Toronto race.

Predictions

Honda completes the sweep and Colton Herta makes it four street course victories from four street course races in 2025. Álex Palou finishes on the podium while Kyle Kirkwood must settle for a top five result and lose more points to the championship leader. At least four top ten finishes make at least three pit stops, but all of the podium finishers make it on a two-stop strategy. Christian Lundgaard is back as the top Ed Carpenter Racing finisher. Team Penske does not have any cars finish outside the top twenty, and no Penske car makes contact with another. Louis Foster gets his first top ten finish. Sleeper: Marcus Armstrong.

Second Impressions: Iowa 2025

1. Normally when we do a second impressions it is to cover a portion of a race that we did not have enough time for it in the immediate aftermath or it didn't quite fit with the big story afterward. This one is going to be entirely based on the experiencing the Iowa doubleheader weekend, what was going on around the area and the time at the racetrack.

2. Iowa capped off a week-long road trip across the Midwest and Plains that started in South Dakota, went down into Nebraska, looped through Wyoming before taking I-80 entirely through Nebraska and into Iowa, with a side-trip into Minnesota. 

The one thing that crossed my mind as I was driving to Iowa was the Iowa race weekend is the IndyCar event for a good chunk of the country. 

In Lincoln, Nebraska, I stopped in at the Museum of American Speed, which is housing the Unser Racing Museum collection after the Unser family museum closed two years ago. The Museum of American Speed has probably the second-largest IndyCar collection behind the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's museum. There was nothing suggesting IndyCar was in the area, but Iowa is the closest IndyCar race to Lincoln, Nebraska. 

Yes, it is over three hours away, but where else would someone from Lincoln, Nebraska go to an IndyCar race? Gateway is about seven hours away. The closest race to the West is either in California or Oregon. Neither are around the corner. 

Iowa Speedway isn't right down the road either, but Lincoln, and in turn Omaha, Nebraska, are within the Iowa Speedway bubble. Even if you live in southern Minnesota, Iowa Speedway is closer than Road America and Milwaukee. This race isn't only about Iowa. 

That is a large area to promote the race in, and if not enough people are driving from these neighboring states, is it worth the promotion? After this weekend, it couldn't have hurt to promote there too, right? 

There may have been 10,000 people combined over Saturday and Sunday. It could not have hurt promoting in Lincoln and Omaha. Those two places have populations of about 300,000 and 500,000 respectively. Throw in the 200,000 for Des Moines and that that is nearly a million people. Go east to Iowa City and Cedar Rapids and that is another 400,000-plus people. 

That is covering a lot of ground, but Iowa City is an hour away and the Wisconsin venues are over four hours away. If you are anywhere near the University of Iowa and have interest in seeing IndyCar, you are going to Iowa Speedway.

If you take those four markets and get 15,000 people to show up from Des Moines alone with an additional 3,000 from the other three areas plus an additional 2,000 people coming from greater distances, the grandstands at Iowa Speedway would have at least looks respectable. 

3. Outside of some signage on buses, I didn't see much promotion in Des Moines for the races happening less than 45 minutes away. To be fair, there are not as many billboards on I-80 as you would think, and I was in Des Moines for four days. I wasn't watching all the local television and listening to every radio station. For the brief time I was there, the Iowa IndyCar weekend didn't come up. 

To be fair, neither did the NASCAR weekend, which happens in less than a month's time. 

4. With this being an IndyCar-promoted race, the promotion falls on IndyCar. 

With HyVee as the weekend sponsor, it got the word out there. The concerts also likely helped sell tickets, but when you lose such a title sponsor and that was funding the promotional side of the race, you are in big trouble if you cannot match that. 

Sukup stepped up to sponsor the weekend, but that was not announced until mid-April, about three months before the race weekend. I don't know how far in advance you need to buy local air time or put up billboards or print promotional material, but I sense Sukup didn't have the same budget as HyVee nor did Sukup have the same amount of time to get the word out. 

That is a tough bind for the series to be in.

5. I do want to address Iowa Speedway's contributions to the promotion of the IndyCar weekend, which was none at all. 

I understand if this is an IndyCar-promoted event that Iowa Speedway is not paying for local television and radio advertisements and billboards. I understand that. That is fair.

What I do not understand is Iowa Speedway couldn't throw IndyCar a bone and post about the race on social media? That is free. That takes nothing at all to do. One a day during the work days in the few weeks leading up to the event. 

I don't understand how the track didn't at least want its client in IndyCar to at least do the best it could. Simply posting about it gets the word out. Why wouldn't Iowa Speedway, even if it was not getting more money for a larger crowd, not want an event on its grounds to do the best it possibly could?

What bothered me the most was  on Friday, when there was a tornado warning around the racetrack and the Newton, Iowa-area, Iowa Speedway's social media was dead silent. 

There weren't 20,000 people at the track on Friday, but there were still a few hundred people at the track. There could have been more people planning on coming out around 3:00 p.m. It costs nothing at all to post that there is bad weather in the area, those planning on driving to the track should not head to the facility, and those at the facility should find shelter and possibly point them to safer locations. 

I think it is abhorrent Iowa Speedway didn't have the decency to at least warn people when a tornado was in the area, and specifically, about a mile-and-a-half from the track. Regardless if IndyCar is promoting the event or the track is promoting the event, if a tornado came through and took out the racetrack, Iowa Speedway would be on the news. Iowa Speedway wouldn't get off the hook because it wasn't promoting the event taking place when a tornado hit. 

The track couldn't even do the bare-minimum when it came to public safety. That is worse than not doing anything in terms of race promotion.

6. Going back to IndyCar, when you are the promoter, the lack of attendance falls on you. There is no one else to blame. We can point fingers at Iowa Speedway's lack of help all we want, but from the way things look, this race depended too much on HyVee's support, and if you are not getting close to equal of that from the new partner, it is on you to make up the difference. 

What sucks is we know IndyCar can draw at Iowa. It did it for years prior to HyVee's involvement. We know 25,000 to 30,000 people can show up. All those people didn't die in the last five or six years. But despite racing regularly in Iowa since 2007, it is clear the series has not made any roots and developed a nature following in the local area. 

For as much as we blame the lack of promotion, if people had a good time and loved the event, they will make sure they will go again. They will mark on their calendars when the race is returning, note when the email comes into their inbox for ticket sales and actively search out the event if they haven't heard anything. 

Why hasn't that been the case for IndyCar? You can say last year was bad racing, but that is one year. People can still go to an event. The Miami Grand Prix might not be the greatest racing but there are still people who want to go. That shouldn't be any different for Iowa or any IndyCar event. If the event is worth it, people will attend. 

7. If the HyVee budget wasn't there for promotion, IndyCar almost has to treat itself like minor league baseball. 

When I was a kid, I remember the local independent league team would have the pocket schedules or posters out everywhere. Pizzerias, car dealerships, banks, barber shops, you name it! That would be the case in four or five surrounding towns. 

It would not hurt IndyCar to put itself in public places. If you are IndyCar, a pocket schedule doesn't work, but posters do. Go into the market and find pizzerias and local restaurants willing to put a poster up on the bulletin board. Go into coffeeshops, ice cream parlors, arcades, local karting track, bowling alleys, etc.

This is where it is important to connect to the local market. I know Scott McLaughlin went and threw out the first pitch at an Iowa Cubs game, but that is one singular event. You need something that is almost annoying where people turn there head and always see it. "IndyCar. July 12-13. Iowa Speedway." 

It is not some grand promotional push, but it is a small thing that can be done on a limited budget. 

8. To reiterate, I was a traveler passing through Des Moines and didn't see the full extent of the promotional effort on local television, but in the New York-area, when Supercross is coming to the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey, I see at least one commercial a night during Jeopardy for the Supercross race for at least two if not three weeks. 

Is IndyCar doing that? I don't know, but I cannot think of a better spot for a commercial. It doesn't have to be much. One commercial during Jeopardy for ten or 15 days goes a long way. I am not saying that is all IndyCar needs to have 30,000 people at Iowa again, but that is where IndyCar should be targeting. People are going to see it that is for sure.

9. I have been writing for years that we have to stop blaming the IndyCar fans for not supporting IndyCar oval weekends. IndyCar does not have 20,000 affluent people who can attending four-to-six race weekends a season across the country. If IndyCar wants an oval race to succeed, it must find a way to draw from that local market. 

At least 85-90% of the attendance should be locals, i.e. people that live within 90 minutes of the track. With how spread out Iowa is, maybe that is within two hours of the track. The remaining 10-15% should be fly-in fans or extended travel fans, and they should be gravy. If IndyCar events are trying to survive on the reverse, the event will fail, and it is stupid to believe the reverse is a winning strategy. 

The state of Iowa has a population of around 3.25 million people. About 1% of Iowa's population is 32,500 people. IndyCar couldn't draw 1% of the state for its only visit to the Hawkeye State? Hell, half of a percent would have done IndyCar wonders!

That is a bigger relevance issue for IndyCar. It cannot be relying on 10,000 people from Indiana to go to all the races. When Supercross goes to the Meadowlands, it isn't relying on 40,000 flying across the country from California to make the race a success. 

This has been an IndyCar issue almost forever it feels like, but it is pretty basic on what it must do to have healthy events.

10. It doesn't help that oval weekends are rather dead on track. 

The rain on Friday basically saved Saturday because Saturday became practice at 9:00 a.m., Indy Lights race at 11:00 a.m. and IndyCar qualifying at 12:30 p.m. There was still nearly three hours between the end of qualifying and the start of the race. 

It was better than Sunday when cars ran installation laps at 9:15 a.m. and then nothing happened until noon. 

This is an issue as old as time for IndyCar and ovals. For a road course weekend, it can have three or four support series and at most there is 20 minutes of down time on circuit. IndyCar hasn't been able to replicate that on ovals. 

USF Pro 2000 and U.S. F2000 aren't going to any oval races beyond Indianapolis Raceway Park on Carb Day. IndyCar has brought USAC Silver Crowns in and that always seems to be done for one year and then not done again for another six years. IndyCar isn't going to pair with ARCA. It isn't going to create another oval series. 

Iowa's front straightaway has what I believe is an 1/8th-mile oval. I really wish there was a legends cars series that could have filled the time. I don't care if I don't know any of the drivers or they are all 15 years old. It is at least something to be on track and keep people entertained. Bring out some quarter-midgets or karters for all I care.

I don't know what kind of turmoil Stadium Super Trucks is in that it only runs once a year at Long Beach, but Roger Penske has enough money. Buy it and bring it to all the IndyCar oval weekends. It isn't going to be able to fill the entire three-hour gap, but if it can take up 45 minutes that helps. 

It is hard to sell an event when most of it is just people wandering around trying to stave off boredom. There just needs to be more. 

11. The in-house production for IndyCar pre-race does not help the experience. If there was more competition on track, that would solve most of the issues, but without it, the PA system is either silent or playing music, but worst of all it is flat in the build up to the race. 

We have driver introductions and then it is just music playing. Then the video boards will play a five-minute recap of last year's race...  

Then there is another song...

Then the video board is showing Patricio O'Ward in the simulator explaining Iowa Speedway... 

Another song...

A tease video... 

Invocation and national anthem... 

Song...

Order to clear the grid... 

Song... 

Order of drivers to their cars... 

Song... 

Command to start engines...

And then we get the radio broadcast. 

There must be a dedicated in-house pre-race show. Find a personality to host. Get a former driver or two as analysts. That should take up the 90 minutes prior to green flag. That show should be getting additional driver interviews off of introductions. It should be teasing the race we are about to see. What fuel strategy should be. Who was looking good, who was in trouble, etc. 

It must be live and keep the people engaged. You still need to be selling the event to the people at the event. If it is informative, the crowd is at least going to appreciate it if not love it.

It is going to cost money but it goes a long way, and what was provided at Iowa was a disservice to the people attending. I have never been to a Formula One race, but I cannot imagine it is that dull in the full hour before the start of the race. It doesn't have to be the Indianapolis 500 at every race, but it should at least feel like you are building up to the race and keep people on edge. I have been to plenty of baseball, basketball, hockey and football games to know how far IndyCar is from drumming up excitement for its own event. 

Unfortunately, I know not to expect that to change. 

12. Sidebar, why wasn't Indy Lights a doubleheader? 

The Indy Lights race took 28 minutes and five seconds to run on Saturday. 

Money is the answer, but are budgets that tight that Indy Lights couldn't run two 75-lap races at Iowa? That would have helped immensely on Sunday. Even if the races are only a half-hour.

13. This next one is an infrastructure fix for Iowa Speedway. 

The only way into the garage area is through the tunnel in-between turns one and two. Why in 2006 they didn't build a pedestrian tunnel from under the main grandstand into the infield, I haven't a clue, but it is quite the hike from the grandstands to the garages, and you have to walk along the road that goes down hill outside the circuit. 

There were shuttles running between the two areas, but you don't always want to wait for a shuttle. 

However, outside of turn one at Iowa Speedway is the activation area where the merchandising tent and trailers were parked as well as some other displays. At the end of that gravel area is the hill that leads down to the infield tunnel to the garage area, but that was fenced off. 

Iowa should take that hill and turn it into a staircase with a zig-zagging ramp. It would cut the walking time from the garage area to the grandstands in half, it not shorten it much more. 

Again, easier said than done, but I don't know why a racetrack isn't thinking like that. The last thing people want is an inconvenient walk.

14. Speaking of racetracks not thinking, if the biggest gripe against attending a day race at Iowa is the heat, why not construct covering over the grandstand? 

It does baffle me that the United States struggles with building covered grandstands. This is at all sports venues, not just racetracks. 

This weekend wasn't that bad in terms of the heat. Saturday was rather nice with the wind. Sunday was good but the aluminum seats are baking the entire morning prior to the race. Then the race begins and the grandstands are directly in the sunlight for the entire day. The shadows don't start coming over the grandstands until about 5:00 p.m. local time. 

I think about the hillsides at Sepang International Circuit, and I wonder why couldn't Iowa (and most ovals) build awnings over the grandstands?

Iowa is not that big of a grandstand. There is enough space to build it so it can cover the grandstand and some of the concourse level as well.

Again, this is something that will not happen, but it would make the attending experience one million times better. Just spend the money. NASCAR has it! 

15. There was a thought that crossed my mind that there is a good chance Iowa Speedway's lower lane was re-paved only for NASCAR to use the track twice and leave for good, which could coincide with IndyCar leaving for good.

Think about NASCAR's schedule for a second. There have been two big rumors in the last month.

A San Diego street course will replace the Chicago street course... 

And in turn, Chicagoland Speedway will return to the schedule. 

The problem is the math does not add up. If San Diego and Chicago are a straight swap, how does Chicagoland return? 

It would have to come from another track. Chicagoland is a NASCAR-owned track. The Chicago street race is a NASCAR-promoted event. The Speedway Motorsports, Inc. tracks (Texas, Charlotte, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Loudon, etc) aren't going to lose a race. It will have to come from a NASCAR assortment of tracks.

What could be in peril?

Darlington? It has two dates but I don't get the sense it will take a second away.

Daytona is keeping two dates.

Homestead is going back to the finale slot with its only race.

Kansas is maybe the most beloved circuit on the Cup schedule. I don't think it would lose either of its dates. 

If Martinsville lost a race, people would riot. 

Michigan is already down to one race, as is Richmond. 

Phoenix is sticking with two, plus NASCAR needs a race early in the season and Phoenix has the best climate for a March race. 

Talladega isn't losing either of its races, and Watkins Glen isn't going anywhere.

What does that leave?

The runt of the group is Iowa Speedway. Is it 35,000 people at Iowa Speedway or 50,000 people at Chicagoland Speedway?

I think we know the answer. 

How cruel would that be that NASCAR re-paved part of Iowa, when arguable it didn't have to, only for it to be used twice for the NASCAR Cup Series and completely ruin the IndyCar racing held there?

NASCAR didn't do the re-pave to spite IndyCar, but it also didn't really care how IndyCar was doing either. 

Prepare yourself for in the next month or two to find out Iowa is off the NASCAR schedule and think about all the changes that were done for basically nothing if the race only lasted two years. 

16. A lot of this has been criticism. Solutions have been offered. 

I wanted to go to Iowa Speedway because I wanted to go to a different venue and it worked out that it could become a full week to see part of the country I had never visited before. 

I liked Iowa Speedway. There really isn't a bad seat in the house. Even in the lower section you can see the entire racetrack in one of the top few rows. I wish to have attended under better circumstances in terms of the race itself and IndyCar's health at the facility, but even without it, I could tell how cool this little place can be. 

I said it after Sunday, seeing a bad race at the racetrack is still a day at the racetrack. Both of the races might not have been sensational events, but it is still great to see cars fly by in person. There weren't 1,000 passes in each race, but it was fun to watch someone line one up and make a move. We did see Josef Newgarden run down Álex Palou and David Malukas and re-take control of a race after being caught out by a caution. 

The track is different from how it was prior to the re-pave, but it at least got better than last year. Some of that is a year of wear on the surface. Some of it is the adjustments IndyCar made. There are reasons to be hopeful, but there are too many pitfalls to ignore with this event. 

I wish it wasn't this way. I wish the support was strong enough to justify working through the rough times. I wish we didn't go into a race weekend already frustrated with how it was going to work out. 

If IndyCar leaves Iowa, it did all it could on the racing side, but the series clearly has its shortcomings when it comes to promoting events. That is something that will need to be addressed because I don't think IndyCar-promoted oval races are going anywhere. It already does the Indianapolis 500 and Milwaukee, and racetracks aren't lining up to host IndyCar. 

If there is any silver-lining from this weekend for the series it is I hope it can be a learning experience for the future.