Early pit stops shape the opening phase of the race
The tire choices at the start already hinted at an exciting race. While most of the top ten drivers started on the softer compound, second-place starter Alex Palou surprisingly chose the harder tire.At the start, polesitter Colton Herta managed to maintain the lead, while Palou, on his hard tires, was passed by Marcus Armstrong and Will Power. The entire field made it through the first lap without issues. At the end of lap two, several drivers immediately dived into the pits, including Pato O’Ward, Marcus Ericsson, and Scott McLaughlin.
However, McLaughlin’s pit stop didn’t go as planned. As he exited the first corner, the wheel nut flew off his car, causing him to crash in Turn 2. This triggered the first caution of the race.
Almost all drivers who had started on the softer tire compound immediately came in for a pit stop. This handed the lead to Palou, with Rinus VeeKay — surprisingly staying out on the soft tires — in second place.
Because many backmarkers had started on the hard compound and a few drivers had pitted just before the caution, Herta dropped back into the midfield.
Palou then tried to build a large enough gap to rejoin the track ahead of Herta after his pit stop, but it didn’t come to that. On lap 16, the race was neutralized again due to a spin by Christian Rasmussen after light contact from Will Power. Rasmussen suffered a puncture and lost two laps in the pits.
Cautions lead to more cautions
On lap 30, the pace car was deployed again. This time it was the other Ed Carpenter Racing car involved: Alexander Rossi hit the wall hard exiting the final corner. His car sustained significant damage, and he parked it in Turn 1. Most of the field immediately came in for a pit stop, but surprisingly, Palou and Dixon stayed out. In the pits, things went wrong for Kirkwood, who spun and lost several positions.At the restart, things went wrong again right in Turn 1. Louis Foster attempted to pass Jacob Abel, made slight contact with the Dale Coyne Racing car, and slammed into the wall. Josef Newgarden couldn’t avoid Abel and crashed into him, with Abel’s car coming to rest on top of Newgarden’s. The crash partially blocked the track, forcing several drivers to stop on track. Devlin DeFrancesco and Nolan Siegel even had to head to the pits with damage.
Strategic gamble costs Dixon and Palou positions
During this caution, Palou and Dixon finally decided to pit, which dropped them far back in the field. This handed the lead to VeeKay, followed by Kyffin Simpson and Conor Daly.Behind Daly, O’Ward began an impressive charge after the restart. On fresher tires than his competitors, he first overtook Power — who narrowly avoided the wall and lost significant ground. O’Ward then passed Daly and Simpson, but remained stuck behind race leader VeeKay.
O’Ward passes VeeKay for the lead during final pit stop
Despite having made one fewer pit stop, VeeKay managed to reach the crucial lap 55 — the point where he could finish the race with just one more stop. The Dutchman even built up a small buffer and made his second and final stop on lap 57. One lap later, O’Ward entered the pits and rejoined the track just ahead of the #18 Dale Coyne Racing car.VeeKay initially stayed close and applied pressure, but O’Ward managed to build a lead of up to three seconds after a few laps. In the final ten laps, the 24-year-old Dutchman began closing the gap again — until he came upon backmarker Sting Ray Robb and lost valuable time.
The race seemed set to finish under green, until Felix Rosenqvist spun in the penultimate corner with three laps to go, and Nolan Siegel couldn’t avoid his car. As a result, the race ended under caution, with O’Ward taking the win ahead of surprise podium finishers VeeKay and Simpson.
Full results of the race on Toronto
PhotographyPenske Entertainment
