By: Spencer Neff
July 16,2023

2023 Honda Indy Toronto Results

Despite a turbulent season for he and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Christian Lundgaard continued fulfilling on the promise he has shown early in his career. On Saturday, he claimed his second career NTT P1 Award in tricky weather.

In his 29th career start, the Heddenstead, Denmark native became the first Dane to score an NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory, winning the Honda Indy Toronto on Sunday. The driver of the No. 45 led 54 of 85 laps en route to joining Kyle Kirkwood (Long Beach) as first-time winners in the first 10 races this year.

Prior to this weekend, Lundgaard’s best finish was second in the July 30 Gallagher Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His best effort this season before Sunday’s victory was a fourth (IMS Road Course and Mid-Ohio).

It is RLLR’s first win at the 1.785-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place circuit. 37 years after Co-Owner Bobby Rahal won the inaugural street race in Canada, the team earns their first win on the circuit.

This is their first win since the 2020 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge (Takuma Sato). Lundgaard joins Adrian Fernandez (1996) and Justin Wilson (2005) as drivers to earn their first win at this venue.

After earning his second career NTT P1 Award in qualifying on Saturday, the driver of the No. 45 won by 11.7893 seconds. Despite falling short of a fourth consecutive victory, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou earned a runner-up finish to extend hi points lead to 128 after qualifying 15th.

Earning his first podium of 2023, Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta finished third after starting 14th. Defending race winner Scott Dixon finished fourth and is second in the points behind his teammate. Josef Newgarden of Team Penske led the Chevrolet portion of the field in fifth after Honda’s 1-2-3-4 finish.

Notching a seventh-place effort, CGR’s Marcus Armstrong continued an impressive rookie campaign and leads Junco’s Hollinger Racing’s Agustin Canapino by 43 for top rookie honors.

Featuring seven lead changes among four drivers, three caution flags spanning 16 laps slowed the average speed of the race to 89.361 mph.

Race Recap

On the opening lap, five cars toward the back of the field piled up between Turns 1 and 2. Jack Harvey, Tom Blomqvist, Santino Ferrucci, Alexander Rossi, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Benjamin Pedersen collided.

Despite making contact with Pedersen, Graham Rahal was able to retire under his own power and continue on. Sting Ray Robb also sustained minor damage as Hunter-Reay, Pedersen, Harvey and Blomqvist were knocked out of the race.

Utilizing the primary Firestone tires allowed McLaughlin, Ericsson and Dixon to make their way to the lead as Lundgaard pitted on Lap 18 to switch from the alternate tires.

Nearing the midway point of the race, Andretti Autosport’s Romain Grosjean crashed in Turn 10, prompting the second caution of the afternoon. It is the third crash-related DNF in his last five races and fourth of 2023.

On the Lap 46 restart, Helio Castroneves spun in Turn 11. While the AMR INDYCAR Safety Team attended to the Meyer Shank Racing driver, the caution flag was displayed for a third time.

Following the Lap 52 restart, Kirkwood was penalized by Race Control for avoidable contact with Castroneves. The Andretti Autosport driver was forced to serve his stop and go penalty for the infraction.

With 24 laps to go, Lundgaard found himself back in the lead after McLaughlin and Dixon pitted. Power and Ericsson were forced to pit after running out of fuel on the last lap while Lundgaard sailed to victory.

Up Next

A busy summer continues for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. This weekend, the .894-mile bullring Iowa Speedway plays host to the Hy-Vee Doubleheader Weekend.

Practice for the event will run from 4:30-6:00 p.m. EDT on Friday, July 21. Qualifying will be held on Saturday, July 22 at 9:30 a.m.

The first 250-lap event, the Hy-Vee Hoemfront 250 is set for 3:00 p.m. on Saturday with the Hy-vee One Step 250 at 2:00 on Sunday, July 23. Stay with IndyCar1909 for the latest on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.

Header Image By Chris Owens/INDYCAR