It’s race day in Toronto as the IZOD IndyCar Series hits the mid-season point with its annual visit to Toronto, Canada. As expected, street course master Will Power is on pole for today’s race, with Scott Dixon alongside him on the front row.
Power’s main adversary in the championship, Dario Franchitti, starts on the inside of Row 2 with Mike Conway, who has emerged as a legitimate threat on street courses this year with a victory at Long Beach as his biggest prize. Row 3 features Graham Rahal on the inside and the steady Oriol Servia on the outside.
As for the home boys from Canada, Quebec’s Alex Tagliani starts ninth on the grid, while Toronto area natives James Hinchcliffe and Paul Tracy start 13th and 24th, respectively. All cars will have 15 push-to-pass boosts of 16 seconds each, with each followed by the 10-second “blackout” recharge. Race time is set at 2:50 p.m. ET (Versus, IMS Radio Network).
Here are some things to watch for in today’s contest:
1. Turn 3
Perhaps the hottest spot on the Toronto course, cars barrel into this tight right-hander after achieving high speeds down the Lakeshore Boulevard backstretch. T3 is always a prime spot for passing and crashing, so expect plenty of both in today’s event.
2. Double-file restart
Turn 1 at Toronto is tricky enough in a logjam of cars, but now, the danger level rises with double-file restarts. Drivers will really have to take care of each other on these starts/restarts; this could easily be the site of a “cluster” if even one racer’s mind wanders.
3. Attendance/atmosphere
It’ll be interesting to see if the 25th anniversary of the event will bring out more people to Exhibition Place. We’d all love to see this race continue to make progress as it tries to return to its better years.
4. Team Canada
With the Power-Franchitti championship duel ongoing, the other major story on the driver’s grid should be the exploits of the Canadian pilots. We’ve all seen how loyal and rabid the fan base is in Canada. It’d be a hoot to see either Tag, Tracy or Hinch pull off a victory today.
5. A new plan for Power
Tim Cindric will take over as race strategist for Power after serving in the same capacity for Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves since 2000. I suppose you can’t blame the move after Power’s pit road incident with Charlie Kimball at Iowa two weeks back — an incident that could’ve been avoided. We’ll see if it pays off for the Australian (and for Castroneves, who will have John Erickson as his strategist today).
