Shifting focus to Toronto

Yesterday, I decided not to blog and instead surf the ‘Net to see the reactions following the 2012 IndyCar chassis announcement. It was a good thing I wasn’t expecting a trove of “happy sunshine rainbow” articles, because for every even-keeled piece I could find, I found others that blasted IndyCar for either a) getting back in bed with Dallara; b) holding a swank conference at an art museum to announce nothing more than a ‘To be continued’ situation; and/or, 3) having the confidence that they’ll find enough manufacturers to build new aero kits or engines within 18 months.

In short, pessimism reigns. And oh yeah, as Pressdog has pointed out, Delta Wing’s kinda annoyed, too.

Well, good thing we’ve got a race this weekend, eh? The second half of the season continues as the IZOD IndyCar Series is starting the Honda Indy Toronto weekend with a pair of practice sessions today on the famous 1.75-mile temporary street circuit. This morning’s first session saw Scott Dixon lead the way with a lap of 63.9149 seconds, topping Justin Wilson (63.9804) and Canada’s own Alex Tagliani (64.0220). The afternoon practice is slated to start at 1:50 p.m. ET.

Last year’s race at Toronto, won by Dario Franchitti, was one of the more entertaining races of the year. Let’s hope we get another good show this weekend. Here’s the schedule, all times ET.

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Today
IZOD IndyCar Series practice — 1:50 to 2:50 p.m. ET.

Tomorrow
Firestone Indy Lights practice — 8 to 8:50 a.m. ET.
IZOD IndyCar Series practice — 9:10 to 10:10 a.m. ET.
Firestone Indy Lights qualifying — 11:40 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET.
IZOD IndyCar Series qualifying — 12:50 to 2:20 p.m. ET.

Sunday
Firestone Indy Lights warmup — 8 to 8:20 a.m. ET.
IZOD IndyCar Series warmup — 8:35 to 9:05 a.m. ET.
Firestone Indy Lights race (50 laps) — 10:10 to 11:25 a.m. ET.
IZOD IndyCar Series Honda Indy Toronto — 12:30 p.m. ET (ABC, IMS Radio Network, Sirius/XM, IndyCar.com)