INDYCAR’s inaugural Markham, Ontario street race begins with an embarrassing red flag
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
Practice 1 for INDYCAR’s inaugural Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham was cancelled Friday due to the failure of Green Savoree Racing Promotions to complete the temporary street circuit.
Ontario, CA- during the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto in Toronto, Ontatio (Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo)
Round 14 of the NTT IndyCar Series is scheduled for a new, all-asphalt 2.19-mile/12-turn circuit in the city of Markham, Ontario, located about 18 miles north of Toronto’s Exhibition Place where the race was first held in 1986.
All on-track activity will now be compressed into a two-day schedule beginning today. INDYCAR has announced an updated schedule (all times EDT) for FOX Sports television programming in the United States _ Practice 1: 10-11:30 a.m. (FS2); Practice 2: 2:30-4 p.m. (FS1) and NTT P1 Award Qualifying: 6:30-7 p.m. (FOX One), 7-8 p.m. (FS2).
“INDYCAR is incredibly disappointed that our promoter was not able to complete the track build on time, despite significant support from our team on-site,” INDYCAR President J. Douglas Boles said in a statement from Indianapolis. “Ontario has always been a magnificent market for our sport and the number of spectators that attended (Friday) is a shining example of that. New events can always pose logistical challenges and we join in the frustration of our loyal fans and apologize.
“Once we hit the track, we believe the circuit will be spectacular. We would like to thank the city of Markham for the major support it has made to provide INDYCAR a layout which is fast, technical and will put on a terrific show on Sunday.”
Due to time constraints in the early evening, qualifying Saturday will be conducted in the series’ traditional “road-course” knockout format as competitors vie for the NTT P1 Award.
The Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham will be the 40th INDYCAR race held in the Greater Toronto Area. There were three years when the Toronto event was interrupted _ 2008 due to INDYCAR restructuring and 2020-21 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The new circuit is longer, wider and smoother as the city repaved the streets for the inaugural event.
“It’s great to have a street course that’s fully repaved,” said Dallas resident Santino Ferrucci, driver of the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet fielded by Waller, Texas-based A.J Foyt Racing. “It looks rather smooth, which is good for the cars and good for grip. And it’s a little bit wider than I was anticipating, which will be awesome.”
The Ontario event is the second of three new street races on the 2026 schedule. The inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington weekend in North Texas played-out to rave reviews in March on a course running through the city’s popular Entertainment District. The third new venue is scheduled to host the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., on Sunday, Aug. 23.
Ferrucci said the Markham circuit appears to be quite the opposite of the Toronto venue. “Exhibition Place was really narrow in a very long straightaway,” Ferrucci said. “It was also super-bumpy, very crowded, difficult to pass. Also, all the asphalt and concrete were very old. This place is much more modern _ it’s wider, a little bit quicker _ so I think it’ll be quite nice.
“This track actually has a lot more similarities to that of Arlington. Also having a double pit lane, I think the series is getting quite known for those. I like them because they’re shorter and it provides more racing.”
Six-time series champion Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing is Toronto’s winningest active INDYCAR driver with four victories. The native New Zealander won both races in 2013 along with the 2018 and 2022 races. Second-generation star Michael Andretti has the most wins in Toronto with seven.
Dixon, three-time Toronto winner Will Power of Australia and Andretti Global (2007, 2010, 2016 with Team Penske); Josef Newgarden of Team Penske (2015, 2017); Christian Lundgaard of Denmark and Arrow McLaren (2023 with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) and Pato O’Ward of Mexico and Arrow McLaren (2025) are previous race-winners entered this year.
Coverage of Sunday’s 90-lap/197.1-mile race is scheduled to begin at noon on FOX and FOX One in the United States and TSN in Canada. Audio coverage of all on-track sessions also is available on INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls on SiriusXM Channel 218 and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA.
INDYCAR Officiating has announced six-position starting grid penalties for the Nos. 20 and 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet entries driven, respectively, by Alexander Rossi and Christian Rasmussen of Denmark and the No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Honda driven by Marcus Armstrong of New Zealand for unapproved engine changes following the race at Portland International Raceway on Sunday, Aug. 9.
The entries were in violation of Rule 16.1.2.3.2. A fifth (5th) Engine is eligible to earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Approved Engine Change-Out if a Full Season Entrant has completed the Full Season Entrant Engine Mileage with its first four (4) Engines. Otherwise, a fifth (5th) or more Engine does not earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Unapproved Engine Change-Out.
According to Rule 16.1.6.1.2., the penalty is a six-position starting grid penalty on road and street-course events and nine positions at oval events and will be served at the series’ next event, the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham on Sunday, Aug. 16, on the Streets of Markham.
NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 510; 2, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 400; 3, David Malukas, Team Penske, 392; 4, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren, 375; 5, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 355; 6, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 338; 7, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 335; 8, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 321; 9, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 278; 10, Rinus VeeKay, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 269;
11, Will Power, Andretti Global, 256; 12, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 252; 13, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 236; 14, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 236; 15, Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing, 230; 16, Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing, 208; 17, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 205; 18, Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 188; 19, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 176; 20, Dennis Hauger, Dale Coyne Racing, 174;
21, Romain Grosjean, Dale Coyne Racing, 168; 22, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 157; 23, Caio Collet, A.J. Foyt Racing, 147; 24, Mick Schumacher, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 146; 25, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 131; 26, Derek Daly, Dryer & Reinbold Racing, 24; 27, Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 20; 28, Jack Harvey, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, 8; 29, Jacob Abel, Abel Motorsports, 6; 30, Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian, 5;
31, Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing, 5; 32, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Arrow McLaren, 5; 33, Katherine Legge, HMD Motorsports with A.J. Foyt Racing, 5.
FOX SPORTS’ 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES BROADCAST SCHEDULE/(RACE WINNER)
Note _ All times Eastern
Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Saturday, March 7 _ Phoenix Raceway, Avondale, Ariz., (Josef Newgarden, Team Penske)
Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)
Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, April 19 _ Streets of Long Beach, Calif., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course, (Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren)
Sunday, May 24 _ 110th Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval, (Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian)
Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Downtown Detroit, (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill., (Josef Newgarden, Team Penske)
Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., 2 p.m., (Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren)
Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, (Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren)
Monday, July 20 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, Aug. 16 _ Streets of Markham, Canada, Noon
Sunday, Aug. 23 _ Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., TBA
Saturday, Aug. 29 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 1, West Allis, Wis., 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 2, West Allis, Wis., 1 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 6 _ WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., 2:30 p.m.
Note _ Dates and times subject to change.
2026 INDYCAR NXT BY FIRESTONE SCHEDULE/(RACE-WINNER)
Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., (Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)
Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, (Max Taylor, Andretti Global)
Saturday, March 28 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)
Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Alessandro de Tullio, A.J. Foyt Racing)
Friday, May 8 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 1, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)
Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 2, (Tymek Kucharczyk, HMD Motorsports)
Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Downtown Detroit, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)
Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill., (Myles Rowe, Abel Motorsports)
Saturday, June 20 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 1, (Lochie Hughes, Andretti Global)
Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 2, (Matteo Nannini, Cape Motorsports powered by ECR)
Saturday, July 4 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 1, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)
Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 2, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)
Sunday, July 19 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn., (Matteo Nannini, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)
Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, (Alessandro de Tullio, A.J. Foyt Racing)
Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis.
Saturday, Sept. 5 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 1
Sunday, Sept. 6 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 2
