RACE REPORT: Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto

“We had a car capable of winning today. The Gainbridge Honda was fast, and the crew did everything perfectly. Finishing fourth feels frustrating because we know we had more in us. Things have not quite fallen our way this season, but we will keep fighting. There’s still a lot of racing left.”

• Taking the green from the third row, Kyle Kirkwood came into the final street course race of the season looking to add to his two street course wins from earlier this season.
• Kirkwood used his street course expertise to navigate the No. 27 Silver Gold Bull Honda up three positions to third on the opening lap. 
• After his Lap 4 pit stop under yellow, Kirkwood was issued a penalty by Race Control for being out of line at the start, forcing the No. 27 to give up three positions down to 22nd. By Lap 22, Kirkwood had made 11 on-track passes to climb into the top 12.
• Kirkwood climbed to ninth by Lap 34 before heading to pit lane for a scheduled stop. Unfortunately, contact from the No. 66 caused the No. 27 to spin. Race Control later issued the No. 66 an unavoidable contact penalty.
• Despite losing positions due to the pit lane incident, Kirkwood climbed back into the top 10 alongside his teammates by Lap 55. The Florida native continued to move the Silver Gold Bull Honda further up the field, taking the checkered flag in sixth.
• Today’s result moved Kirkwood up a spot to third in the INDYCAR Championship standings and marked his 10th top-10 finish of the season.

“You can’t be too upset with sixth, but I definitely think we had cars strong enough to sweep the podium today. We just got caught out by some untimely yellows while others benefited. Still, it was a solid effort from the entire team to have all of us, including the Silver Gold Bull Honda, right there in the fight.”

• Taking today’s start from his second-best starting position in Toronto, Marcus Ericsson took on the downtown streets, hoping to capture his first win on the Canadian circuit. 
• After gaining a position on the opening lap, Ericsson made an early stop for tires and fuel. Utilizing the restarts and his experience on the Canadian circuit, he kept the No. 28 Delaware Life Honda inside the top 10 for much of the race until breaking into the top five by Lap 56. 
• By Lap 58, Ericsson took over the race lead before heading to pit lane for tires and fuel. Despite losing the lead, the Swede remained inside the top five before taking the checkered flag in fifth.
• Ericsson’s fifth-place finish marks his 22nd career top five and his best result on the Streets of Toronto.

“Overall, it was a strong weekend for the Delaware Life crew. We’ve had a tough season with a lot of things not going our way, so to qualify well and come away with a top-five finish today feels like a step in the right direction. I’m proud of the effort from everyone on the team. Of course, we’re always chasing more. I think all three Andretti cars had the pace to challenge for the podium. Unfortunately, the way the yellows played out didn’t fall in our favor and shuffled us back a bit. Still, P5 is a strong result and gives us something to build on as we push toward a strong finish to the season.”

“Unfortunately, the yellow flag got in the way of what we hoped would happen today. We clearly had three fast cars and hoped to lock out the podium. However, I am happy to get all three cars in the top six. But you show up to the racetrack for wins and podiums, and we had the cars to deliver that today. The timing of the yellows just didn’t fall our way.”