Marcus Armstrong continued his strong run of form by qualifying third in the No. 66 SiriusXM/Root Insurance Honda for Sunday’s Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto.
“It was a good day in the office,” Armstrong said. “The lap felt pretty average if I’m brutally honest.”
The result ties Armstrong’s best career NTT INDYCAR SERIES start in his 42nd attempt. His best finish is third, most recently achieved last Sunday at Iowa Speedway.
Armstrong has surged from 16th to seventh in points, powered by seven top-nine finishes in his last eight starts.
“We’re on a bit of a roll right now, so (Sunday) could be a good one,” he said.
Together with Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian teammates Felix Rosenqvist and Helio Castroneves (Indianapolis 500-only starter), MSR has tallied a team-record 17 top-10s in a single season, led laps in eight of 12 races and earned multiple podiums for the first time in team history.
Armstrong finished fifth in Toronto last year, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing. MSR’s best Toronto finish came last year with a sixth from David Malukas.
“Love the circuit from the first laps I drove around here in 2023,” Armstrong said. “It’s a track that I enjoy going to and a city that I really love and even go to in the offseason. Cool place and cool fans. Had some decent results here the last two years.”
Sunday’s race coverage begins at noon ET on FOX, FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio Network.
Palou Makes Fast Six for First Time in Toronto
Alex Palou earned his best career start at Toronto by qualifying second in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing.
In his previous three Toronto starts, Palou was eliminated in the opening round of qualifying, starting 22nd, 15th and 18th, respectively.
“We’ve normally been struggling quite a lot here in Toronto,” Palou said. “Honestly, our target was to try and start up front. It’s a surprise that we’re starting on the front row, honestly.”
This marks Palou’s sixth front-row start of the season. He said the car improved with each run on track this weekend, including qualifying, a promising sign for him but scary for the 26 other drivers who battle him in Sunday’s 90-lap race.
The three-time series champion has shown an ability to charge through the field in Toronto, finishing sixth, second and fourth in previous starts. With just one spot left to gain, he’ll look to earn his eighth win of the season on Sunday.
“Super proud of everybody’s work,” Palou said. “Happy to be starting on the front row.”
Kirkwood Believes He Threw Away a Pole
Back on May 31 in Detroit, Kirkwood believed he had a car capable of winning the NTT P1 Award but made a mistake and settled for third on the grid for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear. He ultimately rebounded to win the race.
On Saturday in Toronto, a similar story played out. Kirkwood made another mistake during the Firestone Fast Six round. The No. 27 Silver Gold Bull Honda for Andretti Global was on a one-lap strategy to go for pole, but a near-crash just before crossing the timing line spoiled the effort, leaving him sixth on the starting grid.
“Definitely just gave away a pole, without a doubt,” Kirkwood said. “Just started the lap — the first time all weekend that happened to me — got a huge snap, a bit of understeer. The one time I go through there when it matters for a pole, it bottoms out and I get a huge snap.
“Unfortunately, it just feels like I’m throwing away poles left and right on street courses. That one didn’t feel very good, if I’m being honest. Very, very disappointed with that performance. I tried to come into pit lane because I knew the lap was already shot and wanted to get fuel to try another run, but they said no. In hindsight, that probably cost us a few positions because I didn’t even complete a lap, So yeah, a lot of dumb things.”
Despite the disappointment, Kirkwood has proven he can bounce back. He leads the series with a 2.33 average finish on street courses and finished second in Toronto last year, just behind teammate Colton Herta. He was quickest in Friday’s practice session and second on Saturday morning.
Herta Sweeps Street Course Qualifying Front Rows
Herta earned NTT P1 Award honors at Toronto, completing a clean sweep of front row starts on street circuits this season.
Along with his pole in Detroit, Herta also qualified second at both the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding and the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
“I think it just shows what this team is capable of on street courses,” Herta said. “We continue to be, I feel, a dominant force in the league when it comes to that style of racing.”
Though winless so far this season, Herta won last year’s Toronto race from pole and has claimed three of his nine career victories on street circuits. He’s also been consistently strong in Toronto, finishing second, third, and first in his last three starts.
“They keep impressing me every time we come here,” Herta said. “The car’s still that much faster than everybody else.”
Changes To Turn 3
The city of Toronto laid new asphalt in the braking zone at Turn 3 on Friday night, following requests from drivers who noted a newly developed bump since the series last visited in July 2024. Harsh Canadian winters had worsened the surface, making cars unstable under heavy braking and potentially compromising overtaking opportunities in what is considered the best passing zone on the circuit.
“I think they need to grind it,” Will Power said after Friday’s practice. “It will hurt the racing. I’m very apprehensive about going up the inside. There’s a massive new bump at the end of the straight, right in the braking zone.”
Herta believed that spot was much better on Saturday.
“It was pretty brutal yesterday,” he said. “I didn’t really mind it because I think it adds character and whatnot. But it was on a limit. It was very aggressive. I think you saw quite a few guys have mistakes because of it.
“It’s a very difficult part of the track to be standing on the brakes like that and have the bump there.
“I thought INDYCAR did a good job. I think there are no problems at all with it.”
Odds And Ends
· Arrow McLaren confirmed that both Pato O’Ward and Christian Lundgaard will have new Chevrolet engines installed for Sunday’s race. According to team principal Tony Kanaan, the change was prompted by Chevrolet after detecting a potential issue. As this will be the fourth engine of the season for each driver – within the limit — no grid penalties will be applied. O’Ward rolls off 10th. Lundgaard starts 19th. The 2023 race winner started 16th and climbed to seventh last year.
· Scott McLaughlin admitted to making a driver error by missing the Turn 5 apex during his qualifying run and will start 15th in the No. 3 Gallagher Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet. He was second and fourth, respectively, in practice this weekend and had averaged a fifth-place starting position in three previous street course starts this season. This marks the first-time in four Toronto appearances that McLaughlin was eliminated in the opening round of qualifying, having previously started sixth, second and fourth, respectively.
· Callum Ilott had 20.5 average starting spot through the opening eight races of the season. Ilott starts 12th in the No. 90 PREMA Racing Chevrolet and improved to 15th the last five races.
· Kyffin Simpson will start 14th in the No. 8 Journie Rewards Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, marking his best street course start this season. He previously climbed from 17th to finish 10th at Long Beach and surged from 19th to finish fifth in Detroit.
· Will Power will start fourth in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, the fourth time he has qualified in that position at Toronto. He previously won the race from fourth in 2016.
· By qualifying fifth, Graham Rahal (No. 15 United Rentals Honda) earned his first Toronto top-five start since qualifying second in 2017. He finished ninth that year. Rahal also qualified fifth in Detroit but suffered a six-spot grid penalty for an engine change.
· Honda has won 11 of the 12 races this season and 12 of the last 13 on street circuit events dating back to Toronto in 2022. The manufacturer also secured eight of the top nine starting positions for Sunday’s race.
· Andretti Global and Chip Ganassi Racing drivers combined for nine of the last 12 top-three finishes at Exhibition Place, including a podium sweep last year. Their drivers share the front row and have three of the top six starters.
· Green Flag for Sunday’s 90-lap race is 12:22 p.m. ET on FOX, FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio Network.