NTT Indy Car: Colton Herta Dominates in Toronto

By Roy J. Akers- www.skyviewsports.net

The very tight ONTARIO HONDA DEALERS INDY TORONTO course started the way many Indy Car street courses do, with a crash. Santino Ferrucci and Christian Rasmussen collided in the opening turns of the race. The wreck sent Ferrucci into multiple pit stops trying to salvage his day and Rasmussen out of the race. Most Indy Car Grand Prix style races have a minimum of passing and lead changes. This race had plenty of lead changes with 12, but had only 3 race leaders. The big one wreck happened with 14 laps to go as a red flag was thrown with six drivers being collected in a wreck including Santino Ferrucci with his second wreck of the day and who went air born but walked away.

Checkered Flag

Colton Herta has had a successful season in the minds of many but no wins on the season. In 2024, he has won two NTT poles, has had five top-five performances and another three in the top ten. He won the pole for this race in Toronto. Still, he has not won in 2024 and has not won the last six times he has earned a pole in a road course. During the red flag, Rob Edwards, the strategist for Herta said the red flag did not help Herta and he hoped for a drama free finish. Herta wins for the first time in over two years, ending a 41 winless streak. Herta said this race was not easy. “It was crazy. It was a crazy race. I was not able to watch it but I saw a little bit on the screens at some points. I don’t know how great the assing was or whatnot, but I felt like you could pass. When I got up to some of the slower cars, got by them super easy. All around it was a fun race.”

Podium 2nd

Kyle Kirkwood qualified second behind Herta. He is 7th in NTT Indy Car points and has three top five podium finishes and another six finishes in the top ten. Kirkwood ran a solid second behind Herta during the race. Kyle never had the burst to catch Herta on the restarts, but did guard his position well. Chip Ganassi drivers Scott Dixon and Alex Palou tried running him down but Kirkwood finishes second. Kirkwood said he tried to put pressure on Herta to no avail. To be honest, I was pressuring Colton because I was trying to get him to go faster because Scott was breathing down my neck for the restarts. I was trying
to do the best I can to manage the gap in front, that way
I’m not going too slow in certain sectors were Scott was
quick.”

Podium 3rd

Scott Dixon has a storied career in Toronto. He has won the race four times and has two wins in 2024 with six top-five finishes and another two in the top ten. Some in Indy Car said that the Hybrid would change his luck with fuel saving strategies as the machines have fuel sensors that are supposed to level the playing field. NBC announcers said he is just as good as ever to propel him to the front of the field. Dixon held his third place position but did not have the power or opportunity to pass Herta or Kirkwood. He has two wins on the season and 58 in his career. Only AJ Foyt has more victories. Dixon talked about his Penske teammates Will Power and Scott McLaughlin and their late race contact. “I don’t know what other carnage was going on. I saw the 3 and the 12, which looked like it must have been pretty fun with how animated the 3 was. Obviously they’ve had some close contact racing in the last few races. It’s tough when it’s teammates, too. I haven’t seen that to react to that.”

In the Mix

David Malukas lost his ride early in 2024. Thankfully for him and Meyer Shank racing, he found a second home in 2024 and it paid off with a strong 6th place finish. Malukas has no stats in 2024 as this is his best finish of the season. Malukas is 27th in NTT Indy Car points but he did not start in seven of 12 races this season. The third year driver enters the Indy Car Olympic break looking forward to the finish of the season with a strong finish.

What was Will Power doing?

Scott McLaughlin enters Toronto 5th in NTT Indy Car points and has won twice this season. He has three poles and five top-five finishes. His first pit stop was below par and his fourth place start in the race was wiped out and he fell back to 15th place. McLaughlin stayed in the top five when on the restart, he connected with Will Power who got loose, driving him into the turn five wall. McLaughlin’s day was over. He finishes 16th.

Wrecked after a Promising start

Marcus Ericsson took his only lead of the day after Colton Herta and the rest of the leaders went to their second pit stops. Ericsson had hit the brakes hard leaving the pits and nearly crashed with Felix Rosenqvist but avoided a wreck and fell to 11th place. Ericsson entered Toronto with three top five finishes in 2024 and no race wins. Marcus entered the race qualifying 11th in Toronto and was looking for a top ten finish. That ended as he hit a barrier that started the big one which involved several cars.

Santino Walks Away after going Airborn

Santino Ferrucci was very classy following his wreck with Pietro Fittipaldi after going air born following a blind turn collision. He thanked Indy Car for how they handled the caution and said he is ok and cannot wait for a string of oval races to finish the Indy Car season. Ferrucci entered Toronto 10th in Indy Car in the points championship race.

Mechanical Failure

Sting Ray Robb– Not sure how much more patient AJ Foyt will be with his Pray.com driver. Love Sting Ray, but his results speak for themselves. His teammate Santino Ferrucci is the bad boy wild child who can’t keep his mouth shut. Robb is classy but he has no success to speak of in 2024. No stats including even a single top ten finish in 2024. Quite often, a finish in the top 20 is the only time you see Robb. Hopefully AJ gives him more time to develop as a driver. For perspective, seven cars have had multiple drivers in 2024 and Robb is still the only driver for the #41. Robb finishes the Toronto race with mechanical failure.

15 Cars Finish the Race- Here they are

ONTARIO HONDA DEALERS INDY TORONTO Stats

Only 15 of 27 NTT Indy Cars finished the Toronto race. This includes 12 on the lead lap.

There were 533 passes by the field in Toronto. By far, the most for a road course this season.

Points Leaders after Toronto

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings: Palou 411, Power 362, Dixon 358, Herta 354, O’Ward 340, McLaughlin 328, Kirkwood 314, Newgarden 266, Alexander Rossi 265, Ferrucci 231, Lundgaard 229, Ericsson 222, Rosenqvist 221, Armstrong 203, VeeKay 201, Grosjean 199, Rahal 197, Lundqvist 173, Fittipaldi 135, Simpson 133, Robb 121, Rasmussen 109, Canapino 109, Pourchaire 91, Siegel 88, Malukas 82, Jack Harvey 80, Tom Blomqvist 46, Callum Ilott 39, Ed Carpenter 32, Sowery 32, Luca Ghiotto 27, Helio Castroneves 26, Conor Daly 26, Katherine Legge 24, Kyle Larson 21, Takuma Sato 19, Tristan Vautier 12, Colin Braun 10, Ryan Hunter-Reay 6, McElrea 6, Marco Andretti 5

Roy J. Akers is a multi-media reporter and covers several sports for www.skyviewsports.net