Car FYI

In addition to the headline NTT IndyCar Series, the 2025 Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto on-track activities include a range of other types of racing. The CASC Miata Cup Canada cars were part of this year's festivities for the first time. Pictured above is the Operation Motorsport-supported 1999 Mazda Miata of Huw Leahy. (Photo Credit: Chris Nagy/Car FYI Canada)     Summer in Canada goes by so quickly but we certainly know how to make the most of the longer daylight and warm weather. A steady summer ritual for me in July involves a visit to Toronto’s Exhibition Place where the sound of engines is like a siren song. Getting closer, sights are delighted by shapes and colours in motion being handled by a handful of speed warriors. Of course, I’m talking about the 2025 edition of the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto that took place from July 18th to the 20th delighting with a weekend of racing activities.  To go back to what I had written about this season moving ...

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, ...

Photo Credit: Pattie Petty/NASCAR When it comes to stock car racing or even auto racing in general, the name Richard Petty ranks alongside the legendary stars of any major sport. The son of early stock car racing icon Lee Petty, Richard’s accolades behind the wheel are marks drivers today struggle to beat. Amassing 200 victories in the NASCAR Grand National/Cup Series including seven championships, Petty would retire from driving in 1992 with the lofty nickname of “The King”. Although his on-track feats would be enough to earn the moniker, professionalism and business sense reflected by a long-term partnership with automotive additive company STP combined with a fan-friendly personality has made Richard Petty a figure that continues to resonate among the motorsport community. Before all the victories and championships, a 1/3-mile oval on Toronto’s Exhibition Place was the site where everything started.  Richard Petty was born the son of Lee Petty who achieved three championships ...

The temptation of speed can be such a captivating sensation. This immense feeling resides as passion within the hearts of many who make the choice to get involved with auto racing. One’s desire to experience the full world of speed in any form is something so great it would be disgraceful to believe it should be held by just one group of people. Thanks to affordable, entry-level tiers of auto racing, we’re enjoying a brilliant unity through on-track competition. Competing in her first full season in the Radical Cup Canada series, Alana Carter desire for a fast on-track life has taken her from a dirt track in Alberta to road courses overseas. For the young racer from Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, her first exposure to motorsports was made possible by her father. Progressing as a fan to a driver took place early for Alana Carter first driving go-karts and would quickly advance to oval track racing. At 14 years old, she secured the Future Stock Season Champion at Edmonton International Race...

Photo Credit: Chris Nagy/Car FYI Canada Theme of the Show: Beyond Expectations For an event that featured the Canadian debut and/or exhibition of several high-performance vehicles, the opening ceremonies were a particularly high-octane affair. The late Sergio Marchionne, than-CEO of Fiat Group and later Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), took to the stage for the company’s press conference followed by a Q&A in an act that could be viewed as brave or foolish. Just ahead of the auto show, his automaker had been reportedly asking for $700 million in government assistance to upgrade their Canadian manufacturing short of five years after the company accepted nearly $3 billion in loans from the Ontario provincial and Canadian federal governments in order to restructure Chrysler Group. Despite the allegations there was some serious hardball being played by the auto company, Marchionne’s speech and tone attempted to divert any hostilities drawing heavily on his personal Canadian conne...

Photo Credit: Chris Nagy/Car FYI Canada untitled As February passed this year Toronto’s auto show, a mainstay of the winter entertainment calendar, was one of many events forced into cancellation as we deal with our fight to conquer COVID-19. Missing out on occasions and interactions we have almost taken for granted has hopefully presented the thoughts to us all realizing just how precious those moments are. Reflecting on the past of the Canadian International AutoShow drove me to the event’s deepest origin. Though the current iteration of the exhibition dates back to 1974, the show that first acquainted Canada with the automobile in a large scale occurred 115 years ago.   In 1906, Toronto was growing rapidly on numerous fronts. The population in the direct city area exploded from 208,000 in 1901 to 376,500 by 1911. In addition to newcomers calling Toronto home in that first decade of the 20 th century, city limits expanded through several annexations ...