Takeaways: O’Ward takes chaotic Ontario Honda Dealers Indy with three-pit strategy
- Natasha Pinto
- 8 minutes ago
- 4 min read
By Natasha Pinto
Photos by Natasha Pinto
With a season dominated by Chip Ganassi Racing driver Alex Palou, the NTT IndyCar series made its way North of the border to take on the streets of Toronto on July 20th. However, an exhilarating 10th-to-first win for another driver shortened his lead in the championship standings.
Crashes and other incidents involving both Ed Carpenter drivers, Alexander Rossi and Christian Rasmussen, Penske’s Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden, and several other drivers brought out caution flags throughout the race. These slowdowns played a role—positively and negatively—for the entire grid. Palou in particular, as he was only able to cross the line in 12th, despite having started second and led 37 laps.
Race Start
Colton Herta
Alex Palou
Marcus Armstrong
Will Power
Graham Rahal
Kyle Kirkwood
Louis Foster
Marcus Ericsson
Rinus Veekay
Pato O’Ward
Race Result
Pato O’Ward
Rinus Veekay
Kyffin Simpson
Colton Herta
Marcus Ericsson
Kyle Kirkwood
Graham Rahal
Callum Illot
David Malukas
Scott Dixon
Pato takes the checkered flag
With a series of yellow flags, Arrow McLaren and O’Ward’s strategy with three pit stops paid off for him to take the win on the streets of Toronto. On the final one, an overcut on Dale Coyne Racing’s Rinus Veekay meant O’Ward had just enough time to cycle out in front of his competitor, staying in the lead. McLaren team boss Zak Brown was in attendance for an IndyCar win for the first time.
Team principal, Tony Kannan, mentioned that “It hasn't historically been a good weekend for [Arrow McLaren] here. As a team, we got together last night, and I said, let's change that.”
A weekend earlier in Iowa, O’Ward secured the first win of the season for Chevrolet, adding his name to the list of drivers (Alex Palou and Kyle Kirkwood) to have won more than one race this season.
“We keep making our Sundays so much harder than what they have to be. Qualifying has not been our friend, but Sundays have been, and I feel like the gist of this year, for at least the five side, feels like it's always a recovery Sunday. We just keep fighting our way forward,” O’Ward said.
A difference of 99 points stands between Palou and O’Ward after the battle in Toronto.
Veekay gets a podium finish
Earning his first podium since 2021 and first with Dale Coyne Racing, Veekay brought home the No. 18 as the top Honda car, managing degrading tires, saving fuel, and going on one less pitstop than O’Ward.
“We’ve been moving forward every race in the last six races…[today we] did a bit of a different strategy than others, which, in the crazy race it was today, was the right thing,” Veekay said.
The Dutch driver currently holds 252 points in the championship (11th place).
First for Simpson
Nearing the conclusion of his second season with Chip Ganassi Racing, Kyffin Simpson raced on the same strategy as Veekay, coming home in third place. In addition to collecting the ‘biggest mover’ award, this podium marked the first top-three finish for Simpson, securing it at Journie Rewards—his sponsors’—home race.
“Early on, it was looking like it wasn’t going to be a very good race for us. [That] turned around real quick, and we ended up with a good spot after that. It was the third safety car where from there on I tried not to mess it up,” Simpson said.
Prior to Toronto, Simpson's best finish this season was a fifth-place result in Detroit, another street course on the calendar.
Tough day for Rossi
Completing only 29 laps on race day, Alexander Rossi’s race was cut short after hitting the wall out of the exit of turn 11. The wall, not flush, caused damage to the right rear of Rossi’s car, snapping the suspension and spreading debris down the main straight of the track.
As street courses are not permanent setups, the incident left the driver questioning why and how the concrete barrier was in the position it was, as safety is a top priority for these racers.
Penske's pickle
Toronto ended up being a weekend to forget for the Penske crews, as two of their three drivers had their races cut short. A tough qualifying session saw Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden start 14th and 18th, respectively. McLaughlin brought out the first caution of the race on lap three after crashing into the side wall due to his right rear tire coming loose. His teammate, Newgarden, had his car caught up in turn 1 after a multiple-car crash on the restart and was unable to continue.
No Penske driver currently stands in the top five of the championship so far this season, as Will Power—their lone finisher in Toronto, placing 11th—leads the trio in points with 263 (good for 9th place).
Andretti a foot off the podium
The 2024 winner in the city and this year’s pole position qualifier, Colton Herta, was unable to keep the lead from Palou as he took over first on lap 4. Herta, however, finished the race with the fastest lap of the race at 61.65 seconds.
Kyle Kirkwood, on the other hand, finished the race with the most overtakes on track, with 20 of 226 total on-track passes (the most since 2014 at this race). Yet, being on a three-stop strategy, the Andretti drivers managed to finish 4th, 5th, and 6th.
Kirkwood, the top Andretti driver in the standings, looks to continue to challenge Palou and O’Ward for a chance at capturing this year’s IndyCar title.
Check out Natasha (@_pintonatasha_) and Matthew Joseph's (@mattyjoz) social media coverage of the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy weekend between July 18 and 20 on Instagram, including at @intermissionsportsca.