Ontario Honda Dealers Indy race moves out of Toronto

Wow, that's big news for the Canadian racing scene as the former IndyCar Toronto race in Exhibition Place will be moved to the City of Markham, beginning in 2026 for a period of 5 years. Moving made sense with the planned construction taking place in and around Exhibition Place along with the impact from the 2026 FIFA soccer games that will be held in Toronto and the lack of multi-year contracts with the City of Toronto. If they cancelled one year in Toronto, the event may not recover sponsors, attendance or fan interest, so keep it going somewhere close. So now it is known as the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Markham.

Rumours of moving to Downsview airport were going around along with the problems of moving to Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Bowmanville. But going around the streets of Markam Centre in the city's downtown core near Kennedy and Highway 401 (northeast of Toronto, see draft track at top) was kind of a surprise but at least it is in the GTA. And instead of the usual July race, the 2026 version will be held August 14-16.

"We are excited to welcome the exhilarating experience of INDYCAR SERIES racing hitting our streets in 2026," said Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti. “We are proud to welcome this world-class event to our community. I want to thank Green Savoree Toronto, Penske Entertainment Corp., NTT INDYCAR SERIES, the Ontario Honda Dealers Association and the Province of Ontario for their trust in our city. Markham is ready to build on its strong sports legacy and offer a new home where this celebrated summer tradition can thrive. I am extremely proud of our team at the City of Markham for bringing this initiative across the finish line in just a matter of months."

From the race organizer's, "The temporary track will be built in the eastern precinct of Markham’s downtown, between Kennedy Road, Enterprise Boulevard, Unionville GO tracks and Highway 407. Renowned track designer Tony Cotman of NZR Consulting has led the design process of the temporary circuit which features a 12-turn, 3.52-kilometre (2.19-mile) layout including a double-sided pit lane, thrilling straightaways and technically challenging sectors. The City of Markham has begun early works on the track and festival site in coordination with Metrolinx and other area partners."

Race Day at the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto 2025

Sunday comes early when you have a race to win and the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto 2025 is wrapping up July 20th with the 90-lap NTT IndyCar race and Colton Herta will be sitting in the P1 position hoping for another victory. Apparently both Colton Herta and Kyle Kirkwood are freaking fast!

Pato O'Ward holds up his Champions trophy

Pato O'Ward, Rinus Veekay and Kyffin Simpson during the champagne part of the awards

Update: Fast, yes, just not fast enough. IndyTO 2025 ended with Pato O'Ward 1st, Rinus Veekay 2nd and Kyffin Simpson 3rd on the podium spraying champagne at each other. There were also a few bumps along the way for a few drivers. It was a great end to the IndyCar race weekend.

1st Car #5 Pato O'Ward

2nd Car #18 Rinus VeeKay

3rd Car #8 Kyffin Simpson

You can find my posts of the 2025 Honda Indy race weekend as follows.

Welcome to the Honda Indy: Thursday, July 17

Free Fan Friday: Friday, July 18

Saturday Qualifications: Saturday, July 19

Race Day at the Honda Indy: Sunday, July 20

The IndyCar teams and cars are coming off the track after the early morning warm-up on Sunday, July 20, 2025. Most of the drivers ride around on little standup escooters, leaving the riding scooters in the past and surprisingly some still walk back to the paddock!

The number 14 car of Santino Ferrucci took a big hit in the warmup, hopefully he has time to get his machine back in fighting shape. Update: the AJ Foyt team announced that they have to pull the 14 car out of the race as it was too badly damaged.

NTT IndyCar says, "Last year in this event, the driver of Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian’s No. 26 Gainbridge Honda led a 1-2 team finish with Kyle Kirkwood second. Today, Kirkwood was also second in the No. 27 Silver Gold Bull Honda. Herta’s best lap time was 1 minute, .0578 seconds. Kirkwood’s best was 1:00.1578. The two drivers are about a half-second faster than the next-best driver. Herta has been the top qualifier two of the past three years at this track. "These Andretti guys are freaking fast," Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward said after the session."

After Saturday, July 19, the top ten qualifiers including the Firestone Fast Six are as follows.

Firestone Fast Six

1 #26 Herta, Colton 

2 #10 Palou, Alex will use primary tires

3 #66 Armstrong, Marcus 

4 #12 Power, Will

5 #15 Rahal, Graham 

6 #27 Kirkwood, Kyle 

The rest of the top ten qualifiers

7 #45 Foster, Louis (R) will use primary tires

8 #28 Ericsson, Marcus 

9 #18 Veekay, Rinus 

10 #5 O'Ward, Pato 

It rained in the early morning but the weather looks good for the rest of the day. The top 16 teams will mostly be running on their alternate tires and two cars (#4 and #30) will have to start on primary tires.  Car #9 (Scott Dixon) was penalized six grid positions after using too many engines, he starts 17th.

Gates open at 8am and Sunday's schedule starts with an early IndyCar warmup, a few support series races then the headlining NTT IndyCar Series Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto race beginning at 12:22pm, then a few more support series races, followed by the track tear down beginning at 4:15pm.

Sunday, July 20 schedule

8:32 a.m. - 8:57 a.m. NTT INDYCAR SERIES Warmup
9:25 a.m. - 10:05 a.m. USF2000 Race 2
10:20 a.m. - 11:05 a.m. USF Pro 2000 Race 2

IndyCar Race

11:25 a.m. - Cars to Grid
11:30 a.m. - NTT INDYCAR SERIES Driver Introductions

11:52 a.m. - Grid Formation

11:59 a.m. - Anthem

12:06 p.m. - Drivers to your cars

12:15 p.m. - Intro to Drivers Start Your Engines
12:22 p.m. Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto (90 Laps)

2:15 p.m. - Estimated start of post race Victory Circle celebrations

Back to the Support Series races
2:50 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Radical Cup Canada Race 2
3:45 p.m. - 4:10 p.m. Miata Canada Cup Race 2

See the gallery of photos of race day after the jump.

Saturday Qualifications at Honda Indy Toronto 2025

Friday's IndyCar practice number one gave the drivers their first crack at the temporary street course, which changes every year, to see what they can do in Toronto and Kyle Kirkwood had the fastest lap, followed by Scott McLaughlin, Alex Palou, Marcus Armstrong and Will Power. Saturday, July 19 is another day and another early practice round (10:30 to 11:30am) with the NTT IndyCar Series qualification and Firestone Fast Six session (2:35 to 4pm) in the afternoon. Qualification is a big deal as the pole position in Toronto gives you a good chance to control the race and take home the Waterford Crystal trophy from William Ashley.

You can find my posts of the 2025 Honda Indy race weekend as follows.

Welcome to the Honda Indy: Thursday, July 17

Free Fan Friday: Friday, July 18

Saturday Qualifications: Saturday, July 19

Race Day at the Honda Indy: Sunday, July 20

Toronto has five current IndyCar drivers that have won at least one race at the Honda Indy Toronto and of the top five drivers in IndyCar standings, only three have not won in Toronto: Alex Palou, Pato O'Ward and Kyle Kirkwood. Kyle has also won the last two street races this year in Long Beach and Detroit.

IndyCar Toronto winners that are driving here in 2025
Colton Herta (2024)
Christian Luundgaard (2023)
Scott Dixon (2022)
Scott Dixon (2018)
Josef Newgarden (2017)
Will Power (2016)
Josef Newgarden (2015)
Scott Dixon (2013)
Scott Dixon (2013)
Will Power (2010)

Will Power (2007)

Colton Herta in the #26 car takes the 2025 Pole Position

Top 5 IndyCar current driver standings 
1 #10 Alex Palou
2 #5 Pato O'Ward
3 #9 Scott Dixon
4 #27 Kyle Kirkwood
5 #7 Christian Lundgaard

The challenging track is open for a few drivers to take the checkered flag during the Sunday, July 20, 2025 90-lap race.

Saturday July 19 schedule includes four races and a test parachute drop by the Skyhawks who will land on the start/finish line (10:10 to 10:15am). The parachute drop did not happen.

Those Radical drivers

8:30 a.m. Gates Open

9:00 a.m. - 9:20 a.m. USF2000 Qualifying 2

9:35 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. USF Pro 2000 Qualifying 2

10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 2

11:50 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. Miata Canada Cup Race 1

12:30 p.m. - 1:10 p.m. Radical Cup Canada Race 1

1:30 p.m. - 2:10 p.m. USF2000 Race 1

2:35 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. NTT INDYCAR SERIES Qualifying

4:20 p.m. - 5:05 p.m. USF Pro 2000 Race 1

6:40 p.m. Ride the Track 2025

The second IndyCar practice had the following top five drivers: 1. Colton Herta, 2. Kyle Kirkwood, 3. Josef Newgarden, 4. Scott McLaughlin and 5. Pato O'Ward. So Kyle is sticking around and could finish on the podium. Let's see what happens in Qualifying.

During the Saturday Qualification session Colton Herta of Andretti Global kept up his winning form and came first and picked up his second NTT P1 Award, two years in a row and his third in Toronto. And he will head into Sunday's race with a good chance to repeat last year's win in the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto. Kyle Kirkwood ended up number six in the Firestone Fast Six.

“We have a great car here, it’s plain and simple as you see,” Herta said of the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda of Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian that turned the only Firestone Fast Six lap under 1 minute (59.8320 seconds). “I’d like to think (the team’s drivers are) better than everybody else, but the cars are really just that good.

Honda Indy Toronto Free Fan Friday 2025

Today is the official start of the 37th annual Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto 2025 race weekend and you can get free general admission to the race with a voluntary donation to Make-A-Wish Canada. Plus as a bonus you can show your presto card to get free access to the NTT IndyCar Series paddock all day. The paddocks are the best place to get some photos of the cars up close when they are moved and keep a close eye for the drivers as well.

You can find my posts of the 2025 Honda Indy race weekend as follows.

Welcome to the Honda Indy: Thursday, July 17

Free Fan Friday: Friday, July 18

Saturday Qualifications: Saturday, July 19

Race Day at the Honda Indy: Sunday, July 20

Gates open at 9pm and a highlight of the day will be the IndyCar driver autograph session at 12:30pm in Heritage Court within Enercare Centre (between the Paddock area and Coca Cola Coliseum). Off track you can find food trucks, interactive displays and activities in several areas. Inside the track you can find Thunder Alley, the Beer Deck, the Truck Stop and the support series paddock. Some of the best general admission viewing is inside the track across from the pits, then along Turn-4 and also alongside Lake Shore Boulevard. Outside the track is Victory Circle (west of Enercare Centre behind the pit suites), a food and beverage area near the Start/Finish Line as well as some more general admission viewing. Inside Enercare Centre is the IndyCar paddock as well as a support series paddock, Ontario Honda Dealers Pit Stop, a Fuel Up food and beverage area and more vendors.

The lead up to the Honda Indy has been intense as the final touches get put on the track, stands, paddocks and vendor areas. Race cars and equipment, including an astounding amount of big rigs and vehicle carriers are now on site and work areas in the paddock have been setup and the cars are being fine tuned for the upcoming practice, qualifications and races. In addition to the NTT IndyCar Series there are four other series to keep an eye on; USF Pro 2000 Championships presented by Continental Tire, USF2000 Championship Presented by Continental Tire, Emzone Radical Cup Canada and the Miata Canada Cup.

“We encourage all our Toronto Indy patrons to not only enjoy the racing action tomorrow, but also to contribute to Make-A-Wish Canada’s impactful work with a voluntary donation at Your Ontario Honda Dealers Present Free Fan Friday,” said Jeff Atkinson, president of the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto. “It’s an honour to be a part of this long-standing community initiative, and we look forward to seeing everyone at Exhibition Place tomorrow and throughout the weekend.”

Two weeks to Honda Indy Toronto 2025 race day #IndyTO

The work crews are in overdrive finishing the layout of the temporary street course and stands in Exhibition Place as they prepare for the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto 2025. Headlining race weekend (Friday to Sunday) is the NTT IndyCar Series Grand Prix of Toronto on Sunday, July 20. On July 18 you can attend Free Fan Friday which includes general admission courtesy of the Ontario Honda Dealers Association with a voluntary donation to Make-A-Wish Canada.

Victory Circle is just west of the Enercare Centre

From the Honda Indy website, "The 37th edition of the legendary motorsport festival headlined by the NTT INDYCAR SERIES returns to Exhibition Place in downtown Toronto on July 18-20. The longstanding, iconic summer event will again bring high-speed racing action to Toronto’s downtown streets alongside a festival atmosphere full of family fun with interactive displays and diverse food and beverage options. The weekend offers great value for families as children 12 and under receive free general admission every day when accompanied by a ticketed adult.

On track, the stars and cars of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES will take on the 2.874-kilometre (1.786-mile), 11-turn temporary street circuit built on Exhibition Place near the Lake Ontario shoreline. Exciting sports car action from Emzone Radical Cup Canada presented by Michelin, plus open-wheel competition from the sport’s rising stars at USF Pro 2000 Presented by Continental Tire and USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire add to the weekend schedule."

The weekend schedule has been released (subject to modification) and you can find the races and other events below. Note that the best way to see the drivers is to go to the IndyCar autograph session on Friday or get a pit pass and see the drivers going to or from their racecars. Keep an eye out for posted notices of other autograph sessions.

Friday, July 18
9:25 a.m. - 9:55 a.m. Radical Cup Canada Practice 1
10:10 a.m. - 10:35 a.m. Miata Canada Cup Practice 1
10:50 a.m. - 11:20 a.m. USF2000 Practice 1
11:35 a.m. - 12:05 p.m. USF Pro 2000 Practice 1
12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. NTT INDYCAR SERIES Autograph Session in Heritage Court
12:45 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. Radical Cup Canada Qualifying
1:35 p.m. - 1:55 p.m. USF2000 Qualifying 1
2:15 p.m. - 2:35 p.m. USF Pro 2000 Qualifying 1
3:05 p.m. - 4:25 p.m. NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 1
4:45 p.m. - 5:10 p.m. Miata Canada Cup Qualifying
6:15 p.m. Rev & Run 5000

Saturday, July 19
9:00 a.m. - 9:20 a.m. USF2000 Qualifying 2
9:40 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. USF Pro 2000 Qualifying 2
10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 2
11:50 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. Miata Canada Cup Race 1
12:30 p.m. - 1:10 p.m. Radical Cup Canada Race 1
1:25 p.m. - 2:10 p.m. USF2000 Race 1
2:35 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. NTT INDYCAR SERIES Qualifying
4:20 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. USF Pro 2000 Race 1

Sunday, July 20
8:32 a.m. - 8:57 a.m. NTT INDYCAR SERIES Warmup
9:25 a.m. - 10:10 a.m. USF Pro 2000 Race 2
10:25 a.m. - 11:10 a.m. USF2000 Race 2
11:30 a.m. NTT INDYCAR SERIES Driver Introductions
11:35 a.m. NTT INDYCAR SERIES Champions Club Grid Walk
12:22 p.m. Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto (90 Laps)
2:50 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Radical Cup Canada Race 2
3:45 p.m. - 4:10 p.m. Miata Canada Cup Race 2

The best way to get to the track is to take public transit. You can ride the Lakeshore West GO Train to the Exhibition Place station or take the 509 west TTC streetcar from Union Station, or the 511 south TTC streetcar from Bathurst Station, both to Exhibition Loop.

You can buy general admission (no designated seat), grandstand or trackside suite tickets along with NTT IndyCar Series paddock and pit row access tickets. There will be plenty of food and beverage options available and they always have a water refill tank available on site for free refills.

Track Build underway for Honda Indy Toronto 2025

The enormous task to turn Toronto's Exhibition Place from sport and event central to a world class street course for the 37th edition of the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto race is well underway, which is good because in a short time the Indy Cars will be ripping through downtown Toronto. The speedfest will take place July 18-20, 2025 and you can purchase your single day, multiday and pit & paddock entrance tickets online. See the race weekend schedule on my post here.

You can find my posts of the 2025 Honda Indy race weekend as follows.

Welcome to the Honda Indy: Thursday, July 17

Free Fan Friday: Friday, July 18

Saturday Qualifications: Saturday, July 19

Race Day at the Honda Indy: Sunday, July 20

Update July 17: Finishing touches and team setups are underway before the official start of race weekend. Bridge is finished, barriers are up or ready to close off any openings at roads and driveways and the start/finish line has been painted

Update July 12: Most of the barriers and fencing are up in Exhibition Place, except for some entrances and nothing on Lake Shore Boulevard West yet. All Turn 11 grandstands are complete now, they are finishing the suite along Pit Lane and partway through the Princes Blvd suite. The pedestrian bridge has been installed except for the stairs. Some work underway in Thunder Alley. Not started the Turn 10 grandstand. Advertising and tire barriers are being installed.

Turn 1 looking towards start line 

Princes Blvd suite underway

Pedestrian bridge over pit lane area

Turn 6 at the fountain

Turn 8 runoff area 

Update July 1: crews are working Canada Day continuing fencing between Turns 3 and 5. The south Turn 11 Grandstand is also being assembled.

See more of the track build progress after the jump.