Palou looking for fourth-straight INDYCAR win 

After making it to Victory Lane three times since mid-May, the No. 10 American Legion Honda livery will get a break this weekend. But that doesn’t mean the nation’s largest veterans service organization won’t be a part of this weekend’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES race in Toronto.

Three Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) drivers will feature American Legion branding during this weekend’s Honda Indy Toronto street course race, including INDYCAR SERIES points leader Alex Palou.

Palou enters this weekend on an incredible roll, having won three straight races and four of the past five. He’s built up a 110-point lead over second-place and CGR teammate Scott Dixon and has finished 10th or higher in every race this season. In Toronto he’ll debut a new livery: the blue and yellow No. 10 Journie Rewards Honda. A Palou win this weekend will give INDYCAR its first four-race win streak since 2006. 

"Excited for Toronto this weekend, where we will break in the new Journie Rewards livery,” Palou said via CGR media. “I think it will look great and shiny out there on the track. Obviously, I’m excited to race after a third win in a row at Mid-Ohio. It feels like we have been able to maximize things every race weekend this year in the No. 10 Honda.”

Also featuring American Legion branding will be Marcus Ericsson in the No. 8 Huski Ice Spritz Honda and rookie Marcus Armstrong in the No. 11 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda.

Ericsson currently sits fourth in the INDYCAR SERIES points standings and has recorded eight top-10 finishes. “We're returning to a street course, which I enjoy driving at,” he said. “I love street course racing in general. I think it's a lot of fun and we've had quite a few wins over the past couple years.

“It's always great going to Toronto, as it is a fantastic city and the atmosphere around the track is always great. We've got an exciting weekend ahead and I'm very much looking forward to it." 

Armstrong has delivered strong performances on street courses this season, with a pair of eighth-place finishes and an 11th. He leads the Rookie of the Year chase with 130 points despite not racing on ovals.

"I've never been to Canada before, and it's my first time racing there obviously,” Armstrong said. “The track looks really cool. I've always liked the idea of racing in Toronto since I was a kid. I really enjoyed watching the racing even though it's a different layout now.

“I feel like I've been performing well on street tracks this year. The car feels really good, especially on this type of track, and I feel very confident heading into the weekend despite seeing it for the first time.”

This weekend, INDYCAR drivers can look forward to a tight 11-turn, 1.786-mile Exhibition Place street circuit that offers great views of downtown Toronto and often leads to cars attempting to squeeze past each other in turns. The long frontstretch leading into the Princes' Gate at Turn 1 and the Lakeshore Boulevard straight leading into a hard 90-degree right-hander at Turn 3 are the best places for overtaking.

This weekend’s broadcast schedule (all times ET; all airing on Peacock):

Friday, July 14 – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 1, 3-4:15 p.m.

Saturday, July 15 – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 2, 10:35-11:35 a.m.; qualifications, 2:50-4:20 p.m.

Sunday, July 16 – Warmup, 10:15-10:45 a.m.; Honda Indy Toronto race, 1:30-4 p.m.

Honda Indy Toronto notes (via INDYCAR)

·       The Honda Indy Toronto will be the 10th race of the 2023 season. There have been five different winners in nine NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this season. Marcus Ericsson (Streets of St. Petersburg), Josef Newgarden (Texas Motor Speedway and Indianapolis 500), Kyle Kirkwood (Streets of Long Beach), Scott McLaughlin (Barber Motorsports Park) and Alex Palou (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course-1, Streets of Detroit, Road America and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course) have all won in 2023. The modern record (1946-present) for most different winners in a season is 11 in 2000, 2001 and 2014.

·       The Honda Indy Toronto will be the 37th INDYCAR SERIES race held on the streets of Toronto’s Exhibition Place. Scott Dixon earned his fourth Toronto victory in 2022.

·       Scott Dixon is the winningest active INDYCAR SERIES driver at Toronto with four victories (Dixon won both races in 2013, and in 2018 and 2022). Michael Andretti has the most wins at the track with seven. Dixon, three-time Toronto winner Will Power (2007, 2010, 2016), Josef Newgarden (2015, 2017) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (2012) are previous race winners entered this year. Drivers who have won poles at Toronto entered in this year’s race are Will Power (2011, 2015), Scott Dixon (2013 Race 2, 2016), Helio Castroneves (2000), Josef Newgarden (2018) and Colton Herta (2022). The polesitter has won the race seven times since the first race in 1986, most recently by Simon Pagenaud in 2019. From 2009-2019, the eventual NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion won the Toronto race six times. Dario Franchitti won in 2009 and in 2011. Ryan Hunter-Reay won in 2012, Scott Dixon swept both races in 2013 and won the single race in 2018, and Josef Newgarden won in 2017. Seven other drivers have claimed the INDYCAR SERIES championship in the same season they won at Toronto: Bobby Rahal (1986), Al Unser Jr. (1990), Michael Andretti (1991), Alex Zanardi (1998), Cristiano da Matta (2002), Paul Tracy (2003) and Sebastien Bourdais (2004).

·       Twenty-three drivers entered in the event have competed in past INDYCAR SERIES races at Exhibition Place. Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon and Will Power (16) have made the most starts at Toronto among the entered drivers. Eleven entered drivers have led laps at the track (Dixon 240, Power 162, Josef Newgarden 120, Castroneves 101, Ryan Hunter-Reay 36, Graham Rahal 29, Rinus VeeKay 18, Colton Herta 17, Pato O’Ward 3 and Felix Rosenqvist 1).

·       Chip Ganassi Racing has won eight times at Toronto: Michael Andretti (1994), Alex Zanardi (1998), Dario Franchitti (2009, 2011) and Scott Dixon (2013 both races, 2018, 2022). Team Penske has five wins at the track: Paul Tracy (1993), Will Power (2010, 2016), Josef Newgarden (2017) and Simon Pagenaud (2019). Team Penske has 10 pole positions at the track: Danny Sullivan (1988, 1990), Emerson Fittipaldi (1993), Helio Castroneves (2000), Gil de Ferran (2001), Will Power (2011, 2015), Simon Pagenaud (2017), Josef Newgarden (2018) and Simon Pagenaud (2019).

·       Scott Dixon has finished on the podium in six of his last 12 races at Toronto. He has 10 top-five finishes in 16 starts…Will Power has finished on the podium in five of his 16 Toronto starts…Toronto-area native Devlin DeFrancesco is the lone Canadian driver entered in the race.

·       Milestones: Scott Dixon will attempt to make his 315th consecutive start, the second-longest streak in INDYCAR SERIES histor Tony Kanaan holds the INDYCAR SERIES record with 318 consecutive starts...Sports car racing standout Tom Blomqvist will make his INDYCAR SERIES debut in Toronto, substituting for Meyer Shank Racing driver Simon Pagenaud, who was not cleared to drive after his crash in practice July 1 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.