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| Winner of the 2025 Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto Pato O'Ward celebrates (Photo Credit: Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment) |
IndyCar’s only visit outside of the states, the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto has been a classic attraction where some of the greatest open wheel racers tested their talents on a tricky, tight temporary street course nestled within Exhibition Place. The 2025 edition of the event headlined by the NTT IndyCar Series drew a consistently large crowd of Canadian race fans throughout the weekend who were rewarded with plenty of off-track and on-track excitement.
By virtue of a magnificent defence of pole position for a third consecutive year, Colton Herta and his Gainbridge #26 Andretti Global team earned the honours of leading the field to the green flag for Sunday’s main event. Whether or not he would be able to defend his 2024 victory would depend on the outcome of 90 laps on the 11-turn, 2.874-kilometer (1.786-miles) race track. Following time trials, other favourites to win the 2025 Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto aside from Herta included Alex Palou starting on the front row. Palou’s seven wins in 12 races in this season’s NTT IndyCar Series behind the wheel of the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing-owned machine has been an act of dominance. Palou’s DHL-sponsored car started alongside Colton Herta on the front row. Marcus Armstrong, Will Power and Graham Rahal rounded out the top five starters in what would be a 26-car start. An intended 27-car starting grid was reduced by the withdraw of the Santino Ferrucci’s #14 A.J. Foyt Racing race car after a morning warmup crash and the crew being unable to repair their machine in time for the start.
As the green flag was thrown, the field of Honda and Chevrolet engines roared towards the Prince’s Gate with Herta maintaining his initial pole position advantage over Alex Palou. In fact, the #10 car would fall to fourth place in the opening lap of the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto as Marcus Armstrong and Kyle Kirkwood (who started sixth but was fast throughout practice for the weekend including posting the top time on Friday afternoon).
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| From the pole for the 2025 race, Colton Herta make a valiant attempt to defend his 2024 victory. (Photo Credit:Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment) |
From the first early laps, pit and tire strategy became a major factor race strategists feverishly computed. Eager to relief themselves of alternate compound Firestone tires they started on, Arrow McLaren team cars of Pato O’Ward and Nolan Siegel as well as the #3 Team Penske car of Scott McLaughlin pitted at the end of lap 2. Although this strategy call would ultimately be significant to the final outcome of the race for one driver, it was an action that immediately led to the event’s first caution. Scott McLaughlin’s race came to an end when an improperly attached left rear tire detached from the Gallagher Insurance-sponsored vehicle coming of turn 2 on Lake Shore Boulevard on lap 3. Under the full course caution, several more drivers dashed to pit road including the top three runners at the early part of the race.
With Colton Herta surrendering the lead, Alex Palou took the top spot followed by Rinus VeeKay in the #18 Dale Coyne Racing race and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Louis Foster’s #45 car. As the race transpired, the Palou’s #10 car as well as teammate Scott Dixon (four-time Toronto Indy winner who started 17th in his #9 car with the addition of a six-place penalty for unapproved engine change at the previous round at Iowa Speedway) would not make a first pit stop prior to lap 40. This late pitting gamble proved detrimental to the two cars becoming a non-factor for the later stage of the race.
The 2025 Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto was slowed by a several early yellow flags with the Ed Carpenter Racing machines being the result of two in separate incidents. A turn 5 incident by Christian Rasmussen #21 car brought out a full course caution on lap 15 when he was spun after attack from the #12 car of Will Power. The #20 driven Alexander Rossi unfortunate tagging of the frontstretch’s wall on lap 30 resulted in a right rear damage that sprayed a considerable amount of debris on the race track. Rasmussen continued to run and finished the race 8 laps down in 20th place but Rossi retired immediately after his accident.
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| As with every other year, the street course of Toronto proved to be a challenging venue for even the most seasoned IndyCar drivers. (Photo Credit: Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment) |
The restart following the caution for Alexander Rossi’s incident led to a major multi-car incident in the first turn. As cars battled for position, Louis Foster and Jacob Abel took the corner side-by-side. Exiting the turn, Abel’s #51 Dale Coyne Racing car slightly crowded by Foster’s #45 machine. Losing momentum, the #51 car was impacted by following #2 Team Penske vehicle driven by Josef Newgarden. The contact resulted in the Abel’s car being lifted and settling on top of Newgarden’s machine. Nolan Siegel and Callum Ilott were also caught involved in the incident. Unfortunately, a final participant in the accident involved the sole Canadian entrant of the 2025 Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto. In the calamity of the impact between Jacob Abel and Josef Newgarden, Devlin DeFrancesco was among several cars that checked up. His #30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing car tapped the rear of Siegel’s #6 car before being spun from it light shove from Illott. DeFrancesco made it back to the pits but his crew was unable to return him to competition.
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| Aftermath from the most significant incident in the 90-lap event. Jacob Abel's #51 car (being carried away in the picture here) had to be removed from being on top of the #2 Team Penske machine of Josef Newgarden. ( Photo Credit: Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment) |
Rinus VeeKay led the IndyCar field through the middle stage of the event with Pato O’Ward in close pursuit. Under green flag pit stops, VeeKay pitted at lap 56 while O’Ward came to the attention of his Arrow McLaren crew one lap later. As a result of a stellar performance by the pit crew, the #5 car of O’Ward stormed out of pit lane ahead of #18 car of VeeKay. When Colton Herta pitted after leading lap 59 to lap 61, Pato O’Ward grabbed the top position.
While O’Ward’s #5 car enjoyed a steady advantage between 1.5 and 2.5 seconds over VeeKay’s #18 car, a number of battles for position transpired throughout the field in the late laps of the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto. The fight for the top 10 saw some fierce competition involving Will Power, Scott Dixon, Alex Palou and Christian Lundgaard. David Malukas, who had been running closer to the front of the field but lost ground during a pit stop, also made things interesting charging by the group on fresher Firestone tires.
With a hand of laps remaining, it appeared third place running Kyffin Simpson was going to face an attack from Colton Herta. Herta’s #26 car proceeded to narrow the gap on the #8 Chip Ganassi Racing vehicle with three laps remaining until the race’s final caution. The #60 car of Felix Rosenqvist (who struggling through much of the race running with a damaged front wing after contact with Will Power) slowed in turn 10 with the following car of Nolan Siegel making contact.
The chequered flag flew under caution as the 2025 Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto victory was claimed by Pato O’Ward and his #5 Arrow McLaren with Chevrolet power. The win for the Mexican driver was his second in three events and the ninth in his IndyCar career.
Almost equally as elated with the result of the race on the street of Toronto was Rinus VeeKay and his Dale Coyne Racing crew. For VeeKay, the runner-up finish is his best IndyCar racing result since the 2021 Detroit Grand Prix weekend. Claiming the final podium spot, driver the #8 Chip Ganassi Racing machine Kyffin Simpson celebrated his best result in two seasons in the NTT IndyCar Series. Simpson was the highest finishing Chip Ganassi Racing driver for this year’s race on the Toronto street course as Scott Dixon crossed the line in 10th while Alex Palou had an underwhelming result of 12th for the day.
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| The podium finishers for the 2025 Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto. (Photo Credit: Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment) |
Andretti Global once again demonstrated speed on the Toronto track but fell short of podium glory but still obtained solid finishes together. 2024 race winner Colton Herta finished fourth followed by Marcus Ericsson and Kyle Kirkwood. Graham Rahal took seventh place ahead of Callum Ilott and David Malukas.
With four races remaining in the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season, the win by Pato O’Ward and the mediocre result for Alex Palou has put a dent in the former’s lead. Making up 30 points on Palou, O’Ward is the closest competition for the drivers’ title but is still 99 points behind heading into the next round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca next weekend.
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