A Canadian Surprise

Coming into today's Honda Indy Toronto, it didn't feel like there was a lot of buzz. Maybe it was because everyone was still tired from the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Maybe it was because this was the final week of a three month marathon with track activity every weekend. Maybe it was because this isn't the usual Toronto date. It was likely a combination of all those factors. The result was pre-race buzz that felt more perfunctory than anything else.

Then the green flag waved and we were treated to one of the best races ever at Toronto. It had weather, side-by-side action, strategy, a surprising lack of contact, and a popular winner. IndyCar fans can be nitpicky, but there was very little to nitpick on this one.

In the end, the telltale move that netted Josef Newgarden his second win of the season and his career was the team's decision to make their second pit stop a little earlier than the rest of the field. By the time Newgarden had hit pit road, Stefano Coletti's latest adventure in a wall brought out a caution. (My mistake, this was James Jakes's caution. Such are the mistakes that get made trying to publish quickly) During the caution, the rest of the field pitted for the most part, and that put Newgarden in the catbird seat the rest of the way. Josef knew what to do with it and held off the challenges for the win.

Of course, the primary challenger was his teammate, Luca Filippi. Like Newgarden, he used a combination of strategy and pace to get himself to the top. The two had a moment in turn 3 late in the race when Filippi tried the outside pass and Newgarden squeeze him a little bit. Luckily they made it through and CFH Racing earned a well earned and much deserved 1-2 finish. Needless to say, the team needed this after a crash filled Month of May and last week's Texas no-show. Helio Castroneves used an alternate strategy (in this case, pitting later than everyone else) to complete the podium, a good result given that pace-wise he was the slowest of the Penskes going in.

After the podium came the guys that put on a heck of a show all day: Will Power, Sebastien Bourdais, Tony Kanaan, Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Dixon, Graham Rahal, Takuma Sato, and Simon Pagenaud. In various combinations, these guys engaged in plenty of battles throughout the race. Power and Pagenaud particularly went at it early until Pagenaud's car went away in the second half. His luckless season continues. Turn three all day was exciting, but without the calamity and contact we've grown accustomed to.

That lack of contact coupled with the close racing and alternate strategies created a fine race from start to finish. It was nothing like the demolition derby we usually see at Toronto. It was a nice surprise and turned what felt like a sleepy Sunday into a thrill ride.

Other Notes

Steve Matchett was in the booth today and was his usual self. At one point he let out a full Pillsbury dough boy "Woohoo" after a close call for Filippi.

You could really see how hard the drivers were working today, especially Newgarden in the closing laps as he fought a pushing race car and the light rain that was falling. For the most part, the drivers drove a professional race.

Stefano Coletti had the one semi-significant wreck of the day, continuing his tour of the walls of IndyCar. Before that he made contact with Charlie Kimball: Human Bowling Pin. Leigh Diffey basically said Coletti sucked on the broadcast. It was not subtle.

Points-wise, Montoya essentially fought his competitors to a draw. Castroneves and Power made some slight gains, but nothing JPM can't handle.

The top Honda was Graham in 9th. Oof.

There was some controversy about Push-to-Pass information not being public anymore, and I'll be honest: I really don't care.

Thanks to a weird shot-in-the-dark pit strategy, Rodolfo Gonzalez led laps. Ryan Hunter-Reay has yet to lead a lap all season. It was odd. Gonzalez did hold up the rest of the leaders though, which set up the Newgarden/Filippi battle, so good for him, I guess.

Today's "Were You Even In the Race?" Winners: Jack Hawksworth, Gabby Chaves, Sebastian Saavedra, Tristan Vautier

I laughed at those weird national anthems from that Canadian rock band. I suspect that was not the majority reaction.

Indy Lights had a well, interesting, weekend. The first race was marred by RC Enerson's horror crash. It's a tribute to the design of the new Lights chassis that Enerson walked away from that. The second race this afternoon though was a complete shitshow. In admittedly very tough wet conditions, only 3 cars finished on the lead lap. The one plus is the rest of their season is set up for a nice three car battle for the title between Jack Harvey, Spencer Pigot, and Ed Jones.

Between this race and another fantastic 24 Hours of Le Mans, it was great weekend of racing. The only negative was Kurt Busch winning a rain shortened NASCAR race. That's like having a great party end with someone vomiting in the coat check room.

Up Next

We finally have a week off, which I think everyone needs. The teams especially, but as a fan, I'm not complaining about it. After that, it's off to Fontana, which starts at 4 pm eastern on a Saturday for some reason.