Honda Indy Toronto

July 14, 2019

3 p.m. EDT

Race Broadcast on NBC Sports Network and IndyCar Radio Network

Practice, Qualifying on NBCSN and NBC Gold

HONDA AT TORONTO

• The NTT IndyCar Series returns to Exhibition Place for the Honda Indy Toronto, one of the oldest street-circuit events in Indy car racing. Run for the first time in 1986 as a Championship Auto Racing Teams [CART] event, Toronto is preceded as an Indy car street circuit only by the Grand Prix of Long Beach.  

• Honda has served as title sponsor of the Toronto event since it returned to the IndyCar Series schedule in 2009.  The sponsorship is administered through Honda Canada, Inc., Honda’s Canadian subsidiary.  American Honda, meanwhile, sponsored the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park in April, and will also be title sponsor of the series’ next round, the Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (July 27-29).

• Honda-powered drivers and teams have a history of success at Toronto, winning 10 times in both CART and IndyCar Series competition, most recently with Scott Dixon’s victory in last year’s race.  One of Dixon’s three career wins in Toronto, he is now tied with former teammate Dario Franchitti as Honda’s most successful driver on the Exhibition Place street circuit.

• Franchitti’s first Toronto victory came in 1999, and he also won in 2009 and 2011.  Meanwhile, Dixon claimed both races of a doubleheader weekend in 2013 for his first two victories here.

• Other Honda-powered winners at Toronto include Adrian Fernandez in 1996, Alex Zanardi in 1998; Michael Andretti in 2001; and Will Power in 2010.

MANUFACTURER COMPETITION 

• On the strength of five race wins, six poles and 19 podium finishes in 10 races, Honda has a 72-point lead in the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series Manufacturers’ Championship.  Honda has 826 points to 754 for Chevrolet.

• The 2019 season marks the eighth season of manufacturer competition in the NTT IndyCar Series, following six years of Honda serving as single engine supplier from 2006-11.  Chevrolet and Honda are again battling for supremacy throughout the 17-race season.

• Honda’s most recent win came two weeks ago at the classic Road America road course, as Alexander Rossi dominated from start to finish, leading every lap but one to take the checkers by an astounding 28-second margin over Josef Newgarden and the rest of the 23-car field.

• Other Honda wins this year included defending series champion Dixon’s first victory of 2019 – and 45^th career Indy car triumph – in the second race of the “Dual in Detroit” doubleheader weekend on June 2. 

• Rossi scored his first win of 2019 – and second consecutive race victory on the iconic Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach street circuit in April.  Earlier Honda-powered race victories this season include Takuma Sato taking the win at Barber Motorsports Park; and Colton Herta, who became the youngest race winner in IndyCar Series history at the Circuit of the Americas in March.

• Rossi is second overall in the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series Drivers’ Championship, just seven points behind leader Josef Newgarden (402-395).  Dixon is fourth with 308 points.  Among other Honda-powered drivers, Sato is sixth with 292 points, followed by Ryan Hunter-Reay with 271. Graham Rahal stands eighth, with 244 points.

• Honda’s Indy car win total of 242 in 25 years of North American open-wheel racing – including 12 Indianapolis 500 victories since 2004 – is unmatched by any other manufacturer in the same period.  In addition, for the second year in a row, each full-time Honda team scored at least one IndyCar Series race victory in 2018.

• Eleven wins from 17 races in 2018 brought Honda the company’s seventh IndyCar Manufacturers’ Championship, highlighted by a 1-2 finish in the Drivers’ Championship for Honda-powered Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi.

WHERE TO WATCH

• Television coverage from Toronto on the NBC Gold App begins with the opening practice Friday at 11 a.m. EDT, and continues through all practice and qualifying sessions of the race weekend.

• Live race coverage of the Honda Indy Toronto can be viewed on the NBC Sports Network at 3 p.m. EDT Sunday.  Additional coverage can be found on the INDYCAR Radio Network, with live timing and scoring information available at INDYCAR.com.

• Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on the NBC Sports App with NBCSN authentication.