Will Power continued his mid-season hot streak and took the checkered flag in the 30th Annual Toronto Indy in Ontario. It was the Australian’s third career Toronto Indy win and his third win in the last four Verizon IndyCar Series events.
Will Power didn’t lead the most laps on Sunday afternoon, but he led the last 10 en route to another victorious afternoon. The Team Penske driver was running near the front of the field but was worried he might lose time as he closed in on slower traffic. As a result, he was called in for a pit stop to defuse the scenario.
Right as the eventual Toronto Indy winner pulled in the pits, the caution came out. This fortunate occurrence meant he could take on tires and also fuel. The remaining on-track lead drivers would have to follow suit later. That was the deciding factor that placed him out front of race leader Scott Dixon. Dixon lost the lead to Power when he had to come in the pits later in the race under green flag conditions.
With four laps remaining, the field was set for a re-start after the race’s final caution. In a mad dash to the finish, Will Power jumped out in front of the field. Furthermore, Power held of second place finisher and teammate Helio Castroneves. Power couldn’t believe how the outcome played out.
“One finally went our way,” Will Power said. “I could see the #22 car driven by teammate Simon Pagenaud getting held up by the #8 car rookie Max Chilton. When Tim called me in it was perfect timing. I couldn’t believe when I was driving along pit lane and I saw the yellow lights come on my dash, I went, ‘Ah, when has that ever happened?’ It was fantastic.”
Scott Dixon dominated the early part of the Toronto Indy. He went on to lead a race-high 56 laps, but pitting during live racing conditions costed the veteran dearly. The race’s pole sitter looked to have had the fastest car throughout the afternoon but settled for an eighth place result.
Simon Pagenaud, another Team Penske driver, finished in ninth. The current Verizon IndyCar points leader seen his lead shrink after the Toronto Indy street race. The triumph gave Will Power a 51 point surge and moved him into second place standings with 385 points. Simon Pagenaud sits with 432 points and seemed in good spirits after the contest. Helio Castroneves, another member of Team Penske, sits third in the standings.
“Yeah, you can look at the points at the end of each weekend, but it’s absolutely the wrong focus to be looking at points. You know your limits. You know your risks. You know what is a 50/50 move. You know when to take those risks. If you’re taking them all the time, you’re going to get caught out half the time or more. If you do it at a time when it’s necessary to take that risk, you have a good chance of pulling it off. That’s how you got to do it.” Pagenaud said.
James Hinchcliffe reached the podium in the Toronto Indy for the first time in his career. He finished with a third place finish after starting the contest in sixth. Hinchcliffe’s best previous finish in Toronto was eighth.
The Smith/Peterson Motorsports driver also won the pole position at Indianapolis this past May. That was quite the accomplishment considering he after nearly died there after a crash in practice a year ago. He currently sits eighth in the Verizon IndyCar points standings. Hinchcliffe was happy with the finish and recounted the ending in his post race interview.
“As we were coming out for the last restart (with one lap to go), I saw everybody in the last section get to their feet and I was just hoping I didn’t screw it up,” Hinchcliffe said. “It was obviously a great day to have a good day and for once we caught a lucky break in Toronto.”
Final Results for the Toronto Indy in Ontario:
- Will Power, Chevrolet, Team Penske
- Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, Team Penske
- James Hinchcliffe, Honda, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
- Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing
- Takuma Sato, Honda, A.J. Foyt Racing
- Mikhail Aleshin, Honda, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
- Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, KVSH Racing
- Scott Dixon, Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing
- Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, Team Penske
- Marco Andretti, Honda, Andretti Autosport
- Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing
- Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, Andretti Autosport
- Graham Rahal, Honda, Andretti Autosport
- Luca Filippi, Honda, Dale Coyne Racing
- Conor Daly, Honda, Dale Coyne Racing
- Alexander Rossi, Honda, BHA-Andretti Autosport
- Carlos Munoz, Honda, Andretti Autosport
- Max Chilton, Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing
- Spencer Pigot, Chevrolet, Ed Carpenter Racing
- Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, Team Penske
- Jack Hawksworth, Honda, A.J. Foyt Racing
- Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, Ed Carpenter Racing
