STREETS OF TORONTO QUALIFYING NOTES
QUALIFYING POSITIONS
22nd: CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN No. 21 Splenda Chevrolet
24th: ALEXANDER ROSSI No. 20 Java House Chevrolet
EVENT: Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto
TRACK: Streets of Toronto
LOCATION: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
TRACK LAYOUT: 11-turn, 1.786-mile street circuit
RACE LENGTH: 90 Laps
BROADCAST: Sunday – 12 p.m. ET (FOX)
ALEXANDER ROSSI, NO. 20 JAVA HOUSE CHEVROLET
ALEXANDER ROSSI, No. 20 Java House Chevrolet, Qualified 24th: “We are coming away from qualifying quite disappointed. We have not yet had the pace we need this weekend, so we will work hard overnight to see how we can improve the cars for the race tomorrow.”
BIRTHDAY: September 25, 1991|
HOMETOWN: Nevada City, CA
RESIDENCE: Indianapolis, IN|
TORONTO STATS
NUMBER OF STARTS: 6
TOP 5 FINISHES: 2
TOP 10 FINISHES: 3
BEST START: 4th (2019,
2022)
BEST FINISH: 2nd (2017)
CAREER STATS
SEASON: 10th
STARTS: 159
WINS: 8
POLES: 7
TOP 5 FINISHES: 50
TOP 10 FINISHES: 94
OF NOTE:
- Alexander Rossi will start 24th in tomorrow’s Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto. Half of his six previous starts in Toronto have resulted in Top 10 finishes, including a second place in 2017. He has recorded four Top 10 finishes so far this season, his first with ECR. Two of those came on street courses, including the most recent in Detroit. Earlier this season at The Thermal Club, Rossi placed an ECR car in the Firestone Fast 6 for the first time since mid-2022.
- Rossi is now in his 10th season as an NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver, made his 150th career start earlier this year in Long Beach and led the 1000th lap of his career in last month’s Indianapolis 500. Rossi, 33, has 30 career podium finishes, including eight victories, most notably the 2016 Indianapolis 500. The Nevada City, California native was the first American rookie to win since 1928. Rossi’s talent has taken him worldwide, with wins in F2, World Series by Renault, and the 24 Hours of Daytona along with starts in a Formula 1, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Baja 1000 and the Bathurst 1000.
- In addition to its versatile Peel n Pour™ single serve beverages, Java House owns and operates cafes in the Indianapolis and Lafayette, IN markets. The innovative cold brew coffee brand serves as the primary sponsor of Rossi’s No. 20 Chevrolet during select races throughout the 2025 season, including the streets of Toronto.
CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN, NO. 21 SPLENDA CHEVROLET
CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN, No. 21 Splenda Chevrolet, Qualified 22nd: “It’s definitely tight out there, but to be fair, it is every weekend. You see it everywhere. This field is just so competitive. We have been we’ve been struggling to get the car right all weekend. We just haven’t had the pace. I was honestly pretty happy with my lap. I didn’t think there was much more to extract out of it. That was a positive, but obviously we need to find more speed.”
BIRTHDAY: June 29, 2000
HOMETOWN:
Copenhagen, Denmark
RESIDENCE: Indianapolis, IN
TORONTO STATS
NUMBER OF STARTS: 1
BEST START: 12th (2024)
BEST FINISH: 27th (2024)
CAREER STATS
SEASON: 2nd
STARTS: 26
TOP 5 FINISHES: 1
TOP 10 FINISHES: 5
OF NOTE:
- Christian Rasmussen has qualified 22nd for his second NTT INDYCAR SERIES race in the Streets of Toronto. The circuit holds a special meaning for him as he earned his first career Road to Indy win on the downtown course. In 2019, Rasmussen won the USF2000 race in Toronto. He returns for his second NTT INDYCAR SERIES race this year looking for redemption. In last year’s event, he turned in one of his best street course qualifying performances of the season and advanced to the second round. However, in Turn 1 of the very first lap, Rasmussen’s Chevrolet was struck in by another competitor. The contact pushed him into the wall, resulting in race-ending suspension damage.
- Rasmussen is riding a wave of momentum after a pair of Top 10 finishes last weekend in the Iowa Speedway doubleheader. In both Saturday and Sunday’s races, Rasmussen drove through the field to earn 6th and 8th place results. He has finished no worse than 8th in any of the four oval races this season, including a 3rd place after starting 25th at WWT Raceway. His podium came on the heels of a standout Indianapolis 500 where he led the first laps of his career and finished 6th. One week after the “500,” Rasmussen made his first Fast 12 qualifying appearance of the year in Detroit and led for 21 laps.
- Splenda®, the most recognizable low-calorie sweetener brand in the world, will be featured on Rasmussen’s No. 21 Chevrolet at select events throughout the 2025 season, including this weekend’s race in the streets of Toronto. Coincidentally, Splenda’s packaging facility and ECR’s race shop are both on Georgetown Road in Indianapolis with locations less than one mile apart. Since Splenda’s launch in 1991, more than 100 billion yellow packets have been sold
