Colton Herta gave Andretti Global all the credit for delivering another fast racecar at Exhibition Place, but let’s be honest: The second-generation NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver is wicked quick on this 11-turn, 1.786-mile street circuit.
Herta won the NTT P1 Award for the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto for the second consecutive year and the third time in four years. Only Dario Franchitti (five) and Sebastien Bourdais (four) have won more poles for this event.
SEE: Qualifying Results
Herta figures to deliver a strong performance in Sunday’s race, too, as he has finished second, third and first in the past three outings. The 90-lap contest is set for noon ET (FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).
“We have a great car here, it’s plain and simple as you see,” Herta said of the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda of Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian that turned the only Firestone Fast Six lap under 1 minute (59.8320 seconds). “I’d like to think (the team’s drivers are) better than everybody else, but the cars are really just that good.
“I think (the cars) make us look really good.”
Herta won his second pole of the season, the other also coming on a street circuit (in last month’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear). He pushed his career pole total to 16, breaking a tie with Tony Kanaan and Juan Pablo Montoya on the all-time list. Herta’s total ranks 21st in history with Emerson Fittipaldi next on the list with 17.
Herta’s goal now is to win his first race of the season. He won two races last year, including this one.
The surprise of this qualifying session was that Kyle Kirkwood didn’t join Herta on the front row. The teammates had the dominant cars of practice, and they finished 1-2 in last year’s race. But the rear of Kirkwood’s No. 27 Silver Gold Bull Honda slipped out from under him on his final qualifying lap, and he quickly aborted with the hope he’d get another lap. There wasn’t time.
“We just gave away a pole, without a doubt,” a disappointed Kirkwood said. “I started the lap and the first time all weekend I got a huge snap. (The car) has been understeering and the one time I go through (Turn 2) when it matters for pole it bottoms (out) and I have the huge snap. It’s unfortunate.
“It feels like I’m throwing away poles left and right on street courses.”
Kirkwood was in a similar mood in Detroit after he qualified third. However, he recovered to win that race, the second of his street circuit victories this season. He also won the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in April. He has three race wins this year.
Series leader Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing qualified second in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. He holds a 129-point lead over the field with five races remaining as he bids for his third consecutive season championship and fourth in five years. Palou finished fourth in this event last year, and this is one of the circuits where he has not won a race.
Rounding out the top six qualifiers were Marcus Armstrong (No. 66 SiriusXM/Root Insurance Honda of Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian), Team Penske’s Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet), Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal (No. 15 United Rentals Honda) and Kirkwood.
Palou’s teammate, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda), leads active drivers with four victories at Exhibition Place. Power has three race wins here while teammate Josef Newgarden (No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet) has two.
Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard (2023) and Herta (2024) are the other previous Toronto race winners in this 27-car field. The winner at Exhibition Place has come from the pole each of the past two years and three times in the past four years.
This is the fourth and final street race of the season. The last events on the calendar will be held on a pair of road courses (WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Portland International Raceway) followed by two oval tracks (The Milwaukee Mile and Nashville Superspeedway).