By: Spencer Neff
July 19, 2024
The hybrid system makes its street course debut as the NTT INDYCAR SERIES visits a temporary circuit for the last of four times in 2024.
The Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto on the 1.786-mile, 11-turn circuit at Toronto, Ontario’s Exhibition Place will be INDYCAR’s 38th race on the Canadian venue since 1986.
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Last year, during the series’ lone trip outside the United States, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Christian Lundgaard duplicated Car Owner Bobby Rahal’s victory in the 1986 inaugural running, winning his first race after starting on the pole. This weekend, Lundgaard begins his final half-dozen races with RLLR before moving on to Arrow McLaren in 2025.
Despite a weekend sweep at Iowa Speedway from Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin and Will Power, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou maintained a 35-point lead in the standings.
In last year’s race, Palou weathered the damage of a broken front wing to finish second.
With Jack Harvey still nursing back and neck injuries, Dale Coyne Racing has called upon Hunter McElrea to drive the No. 18 for this weekend.
“It’s a dream come true for me to be making my NTT INDYCAR SERIES debut,” McElrea said.
“I’ve been working toward this for a long time, and I have to thank Dale (Coyne) for the opportunity. I can’t wait to get to Toronto, which is one of the coolest events of the year. I want to thank JR Smart and Courtesy Corporation for making this possible for me.”
McElrea, a Los Angeles-born New Zealander, joins the series after finishing runner-up to Christian Rasmussen in last season’s INDY NXT by Firestone. He also earned a runner-up finish at this year’s 12 Hours of Sebring.
“Hunter impressed the team during our test last week at Mid-Ohio,” Coyne said. “He quickly got up to speed and helped run through our testing plan. I’m excited to see what he can do on the streets of Toronto this weekend.”
McElrea will be joined at DCR by Toby Sowery, who will drive the No. 51 at the BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland next month as well.
Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto Fast Facts
Race weekend: Friday, July 19-Sunday, July 21
Track: Streets of Toronto’s Exhibition Place, an 11-turn, 1.786-mile (2.874-kilometer) temporarystreet course
Race distance: Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto: 85 laps/151.81 miles/244.29 kilometers
Push to Pass parameters: 200 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 20 seconds peractivation.
Hybrid energy deployment parameters: Unlimited activation with a maximum deployment of305 kilojoules (kJ) per lap.
Firestone tire allotment: Six sets primary, four sets alternate to be used during the eventweekend. Teams fielding a rookie driver may use one additional set of primary tires. Teams mustuse one set of primary and one set of new (sticker) alternate tires for at least two laps in therace.
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Event website: http://www.HondaIndy.com
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2023 race winner: Christian Lundgaard (No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda)
2023 NTT P1 Award winner: Christian Lundgaard (No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda), 1 minute, 4.1567 seconds, 100.217 mph
Qualifying record: Gil de Ferran, 57.143 seconds, 110.565 mph, July 17, 1999 (Note: Josef Newgarden set a qualifying mark of 58.4129 seconds, 110.072 mph, for the current layout in2019.)
Race telecast: Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto, 1 p.m. ET Sunday, July 21, TSN4(Canada)/Peacock (USA) (live). Kevin Lee is the play-by-play announcer for Peacock’s coverageof the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, alongside analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. DillonWelch and Charlie Kimball are the pit reporters.
Peacock live streaming: All NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice sessions and qualifying willstream live on Peacock, NBC’s direct-to-consumer livestreaming product in the United States,and TSN+ in Canada. The race telecast of the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto will bestreamed exclusively on Peacock in the United States.
INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the anchor alongside driver analystDavey Hamilton. Jake Query and Alex Wollf are the turn announcers. Joel Sebastianelli, DrakeYork and DJ Clark are the pit reporters. The Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto race (1 p.m. ETSunday), NTT P1 Award Qualifying (2:50 p.m. ET Saturday) and all NTT INDYCAR SERIESpractices air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM 218, racecontrol.indycar.com and the INDYCARApp powered by NTT DATA.
At-track schedule (all times local):
Friday, July 19
3-4:15 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 1 (45 minutes for all cars, followed by two groupsfor 10 minutes each), Peacock/TSN+
Saturday, July 20
10:30-11:30 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 2 (45 minutes of green flag running or 60minutes), Peacock/TSN+
2:45-4:15 p.m. – Qualifying for NTT P1 Award (Three rounds of knockout qualifying),Peacock/TSN+
Sunday, July 21
10-10:30 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Final Practice, Peacock/TSN+
1 p.m. – Peacock/TSN4 on air
1:23 p.m. – Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto “Drivers, start your engines”
1:30 p.m. – Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto (85 laps, 151.81 miles), Peacock/TSN4/TSN+(Live).
Header Image By JoeSkibinski/INDYCAR
IndyCar1909.com 