By: Spencer Neff

August 15, 2026

Qualifying Results Provisional Starting Lineup

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Louis Foster repeated his quick pace from both practices on Saturday en route to winning the pole for Sunday’s inaugural Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham.

The sophomore driver set a blistering lap of 1m13.2383 (103.225 mph) during the Fast Six on the 2.19-mile, 12-turn street circuit. It is the second pole of his NTT INDYCAR SERIES career (2025 Road America), making him the 146th driver with multiple poles.

Previously, Foster’s best qualifying effort on a temporary street circuit was seventh, that being at last year’s race in Toronto. His previous best qualifying position this year was a sixth at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.

It is Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s 39th INDYCAR pole (Foster’s a year ago being the most recent) and first on a street course since Christian Lundgaard in 2023 at Exhibition Place in Toronto, where Lundgaard captured his first INDYCAR win a day later.

Round 3-Fast Six

For the first time since the season opener in St. Petersburg, the Fast Six on a road and street course was not completed via the individual, one-lap “shootout” format. Due to impeding darkness and the compressed schedule, all six cars were on track simultaneously in a six-minute session.

Foster bested Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard by .3969 of a second, splitting the front row between Honda and Chevrolet. Lundgaard is the only driver qualified in the Top 11 to have won a race so far in 2026.

Row 2 features Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin and Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson. On Row 3 are Dale Coyne Racing’s Dennis Hauger (fastest rookie) and Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Rinus VeeKay, The Fast Six would be represented by as many teams, with Honda and Chevrolet each taking a trio of spots.

Round 2-Fast 12

Ericsson (1m14.019-102.136 mph) led the half-dozen competitors for the pole, advancing with Mclaughlin, Hauger, VeeKay, Lundgaard and Foster.

Falling short of the Fast Six were David Malukas, Alexander Rossi, Scott Dixon, Graham Rahal, Mick Schumacher and Alex Palou. Schumacher earns his best start on a road/street course and his first Top 12 qualifying effort since Phoenix in March.

Palou bobbled in Turn 10 and made contact with the inside retaining wall before spinning himself to a stop. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES points leader would be docked his two fastest laps and dropped to 12th in the session, unable to advance.

Round 1

Group 1: Palou continued his pace from Saturday morning’s opening session, leading the first qualifying group (1m14.099-102.026 mph).

He would move on to the Fast 12 with McLaughlin, Hauger, Ericsson, Rahal and Dixon.

With just over two minutes to go in the group, A.J. Foyt Racing’s Caio Collet stopped between Turns 5 and 6 following a reported loss of fuel pressure. For causing the stoppage, Collet was moved to 12th in the order, docked his two fastest laps and was unable to continue on in the session.

Missing out on the Fast 12 were Kyffin Simpson, Christian Rasmussen, Sting Ray

Group 2: Malukas would lead the way in Group 2 (1m13.4759-102.891 mph) as multiple incidents scrambled the running order.

Alongside Malukas-Foster, Rossi, Schumacher, Lundgaard and VeeKay advanced.

Just over halfway through the session, Andretti Global’s Will Power, who rebounded from a practice crash, spun in Turn 4. Fort causing the ensuing red flag, Power was docked his two fastest laps, knocked to the bottom of the order and was unable to advance.

As the session ended, Josef Newgarden made heavy contact with the outside wall near pit entry and prompted a simultaneous red along with the checkered flag. During that incident, Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward slid off track, causing a local caution and was docked his best lap, knocking him out of the Fast 12.

Newgarden will start 25th after being knocked to last in the 13-car order. Starting on the outside of rows 7-12 will be Romain Grosjean, Kyle Kirkwood, Felix Rosenqvist, Pato O’Ward, Marcus Armstrong and Power.

Up Next

Here is the remaining schedule for the weekend. Stay with IndyCar1909.com for the latest on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham

At-track schedule (all times local):

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).

Header Image By Joe Sibinski/INDYCAR