By: Spencer Neff
August 13, 2026
This weekend, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES heads north of the border for its second of three inaugural street course races in 2026.
After 39 races in 40 years on the downtown streets of Exhibition Place, INDYCAR heads less than 20 miles northeast to the suburb of Markham. Markham signed a multiyear deal in 2026 with iNDYCAR to host the series’ lone race outside the United States.
The brand-new Markham street course is a 2.19-mile, 12-turn temporary circuit (layout shown below) that will host a 90-lap race on Sunday. Like Arlington and Detroit, this course features a double-sided pit lane. Before on-track activity begins in Canada, here’s a look at the stories to watch.
Headlines
After his second consecutive victory and sixth of 2026, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou further solidified his grasp on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship last weekend in Portland. Palou leads Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood by 110 points with five races to go.
Palou and Kirkwood have been the class of the field when it comes to street courses in particular. Palou opened the season by repeating his St. Petersburg victory in March, with Kirkwood taking the win at the series’ inaugural race in Arlington, Texas two weeks later.
Palou followed that up with a victory at Long Beach in April and Detroit to close out May. Neither driver had ever won or started on pole at Toronto.
Going back to 2024, Honda’s biggest teams in Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Global have won all but a pair of street course races. The winner of those races was Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward (2025 Toronto and 2024 St. Petersburg win after disqualification of Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin),
Meyer Shank Racing is looking for their second pole on a street course in 2026, with Portland runner-up and pole winner Felix Rosenqvist earning the organization’s first pole outside his 2024 and 2026 poles at Long Beach to go along with earning MSR’s second Indianapolis 500 in May.
After engine issues left him out of the race in Portland, Rosenqvist’s teammate Marcus Armstrong is still in search of his first INDYCAR win, as is Team Penske’s David Malukas, who has finished runner-up three times in his first season with Penske. Malukas has never finished in the Top Five a
Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham Fast Facts
Race weekend: Friday, Aug. 14-Sunday, Aug. 16
Track: Streets of Markham, a 12-turn, 2.19-mile (3.52-kilometer) temporary street course
Race distance: Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham: 90 laps/197.1 miles/317.2 kilometers
Push-to-pass parameters: 150 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 15 seconds per
activation.
Hybrid energy deployment parameters: Unlimited activation with a maximum deployment of
360 kilojoules (kJ) per lap.
Firestone tire allotment: Five sets primary, five sets alternate to be used during the event
weekend. Teams fielding a rookie driver may use one additional set of primary tires. Teams must
use one set of primary and one set of new (sticker) alternate tires for at least two laps in the
race.
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Event website: http://www.HondaIndy.com
INDYCAR website: http://www.INDYCAR.com
2025 race winner (Streets of Toronto):
Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet)
2025 NTT P1 Award winner:
Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda), 59.8392 seconds, 107.461 mph (172.942 kph)
Qualifying record: New circuit in 2026
FOX Sports telecasts:
NTT INDYCAR SERIES: Practice 1, 3 p.m. ET Friday, FS2 (USA)/TSN+(Canada) (live);
Practice 2, 10 a.m. ET Saturday, FS2 (USA)/TSN+ (Canada) (live);
Qualifying, 2:25 p.m. ET Saturday, FS1 (live) (USA)/TSN5/TSN+ (Canada);
Warmup, 8:30 a.m. ET, Sunday FS2 (USA)
Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham, noon ET, Sunday, FOX (USA)/TSN1/TSN4/TSN+ (Canada) (live).
Will Buxton is the play-by-play announcer for FOX’s coverage of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, alongside analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Georgia Henneberry, Kevin Lee and Jack Harvey are the pit reporters.
INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the anchor alongside
driver analyst Davey Hamilton. Jake Query and Nick Yeoman are the turn announcers. Michael
Young, Alex Wollf, Joel Sebastianelli and DJ Clark are the pit reporters. The Ontario Honda
Dealers Indy at Markham race (11:30 a.m. ET Sunday) can be heard live on network affiliates
nationwide. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES race, NTT P1 Award Qualifying (2:25 p.m. ET
Saturday) and all NTT INDYCAR SERIES practices also air live on SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation
218, indycar.com/leaderboard and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA.
At-track schedule (all times local):
Friday, Aug. 14
3:05-4:30 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 1 (40 minutes for all cars, followed by two
groups for 12 minutes each), FS2 (USA) /TSN+ (Canada), (Live)
Saturday, Aug. 15
10:05-11:30 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 2 (40 minutes for all cars, followed by two
groups for 12 minutes each), FS2 (USA) /TSN+ (Canada), (Live)
2:25-4 p.m. – Qualifying for NTT P1 Award (Three rounds of knockout qualifying), FS1 (USA) /
TSN5/TSN+ (Canada), (Live)
Sunday, Aug. 16
8:40-9:10 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Warmup, FS2 (USA), (Live)
Noon – FOX/TSN1 and TSN4 on air
12:15 p.m. – Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham “Drivers, start your engines”
12:22 p.m. – Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham (90 laps/197.1 miles/317.2 kilometers),FOX (USA) /TSN1/TSN4/TSN+ (Canada), (Live).
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IndyCar1909.com 