Canadian IndyCar News

Paul Tracy pictured above finds a ride with Jay Penske's Dragon Racing Team. His contract allows for five races including the Edmonton and Toronto Indy runs. On April 2nd Paul tweets "All the hard word has paid off , I have a 5 race deal with jay penske dragon racing" Paul joins Montreal driver Alex Tagliani at the 2010 Honda Indy Toronto Street Party, below. Alex will be in the 2011 race.

Alex Tagliani and Paul Tracy.

Firestone Indy Lights Winners at 2009 Toronto's Honda Indy (James at right)

And Indy Lights Championship Runner-up and Canadian driver James Hinchcliffe will drive with the IRL, racing in North America which includes our own Honda Indy Toronto race.

In the pits during practice.

And remember it's not all open wheel cars and bud girls.

Model Jersey McIntosh.

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series stock car racing.

Motorcycle leans into the turn at the Honda Indy Toronto 2010.

Honda Indy Toronto - the fun begins

The weekend of on track excitement has started and I attended a press conference with Danica Patrick. She wanted to try something different and because she had the opportunity she jumped into stockcars with Nascar.

Danica will race about 15 Nascar races in addition to the IRL series. It takes some getting used to and she said an old coach told her that it doesn't have to be pretty - it just has to be fast. NASCAR has more passing so she says it is more fun than IRL.

When asked about the impact of being a celebrity she says she stays true to herself without causing too much drama.

At 9:55 am the drivers got out onto the track for one of the IZOD IndyCar Practices. One driver ended up against the wall and busted off his rear wing. It was Takuma Sato. Here is Marco Andretti relaxing after a morning practice run and later during the race.

The earlier rain stopped before the practice and the fans are taking advantage of the Friday free admission. The Firestone Indy Lights teams are on the track right now and at 12:30pm the Nascar Canadian Tire series begin their practice.

See more photos of Saturday's practice runs after the jump.

Paul Tracy in Toronto for Honda Indy Toronto Race

Paul Tracy is at Yonge-Dundas Square signing autographs and meeting fans as part of the Honda Indy Toronto off track events. His race suit will be on site around 1:00pm today – for a donation to the Make A Wish Foundation you can sign the suit he will use in the IRL race in the streets of Toronto this weekend. UPDATE: Paul ended up finishing in 13th place.

Paul also went on the Pit Stop Challenge stage with host Erik Tomas of Raceline Radio. Members of the media are battling it out for the champion tire changer and Toronto Sun sports columnist Dean McNulty took part in the event.

There are numerous sponsors on site promoting the race and you can go in the Schick Hydro submarine to get a free Hydro 5 razor, Dr Pepper was on hand offering free drink samples and the Blue Jays had some people handing out towels and they also had a baseball throwing booth.

Later tonite the NASCAR drivers will show up for an autograph session which starts at 5:00pm.

Honda Indy Toronto in Yonge-Dundas Square

The first major Honda Indy Toronto off track event starts today (Tuesday, July 13) at 12:00pm in the Yonge-Dundas Square. Work crews started setup early in the morning and even NASCAR Canadian Tire Series star J.R. Fitzpatrick is there with his #84 Schick Hydro stock car, seen here pushing his car into position for the event.

The IndyCar used for the Pit Stop Challenge is still waiting to be assembled for the Media Tire Change Challenge.

Here is a schedule of today's events.

12:00pm-8:00pm Yonge-Dundas Square Honda Indy Toronto Kick-off Party
12:00pm-8:00pm Sponsors, Indy Racing League, and Honda Indy Toronto activities
12:00pm-2:00pm Honda Media Tire Change Challenge
5:00pm-6:00pm NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Autograph session

Honda Indy Toronto - this is the week!

The sights, sounds and smells of the Honda Indy Toronto will come to life starting this Friday at the CNE grounds. The high pitched whine of the Honda V-8 high performance engines and the smell of burning rubber and ethanol fuel will remind everyone that the Honda Indy Toronto is in town. The sights include the beautiful women that make the weekend complete, including the Hooter's girls (Hooters' tent near turn 10) and the bevy of Bud girls. The final Bud Pit Crew Girl search pageant is Saturday at 3:45pm in the Budweiser Winners' Circle (near turn 9 and you can see the finalists here). General Admission for the weekend costs only $52 while grandstands range from $106 to $423. I will be there all weekend blogging and posting photos of the action so don't forget to check back often.

The race weekend excitement starts the morning of Friday, July 16 at 7:45am with a practice by the Canadian Tire Touring Cars and ends on Sunday, July 18 at 4:30pm with the finish of the Acura Sports Car Challenge Trans-Am Race. The 85 lap IRL main race is on Sunday from 12:45 to 3:00pm. Friday usually has the lowest attendance with many people attending only on the weekend and especially on the Sunday. This Friday should have more people due to the free entrance provided by the Honda Indy Toronto Dealers Association (seats are first come - first served).

The races include the IZOD IndyCar Series, the Firestone Indy Lights Series, the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, the Acura Sports Car Challenge, the Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship and the SCCA Pro-Racing Trans-Am Series.  It doesn't look like there will be any motorcycles races or demonstrations this year.

The current top 10 IndyCar drivers are 1. Will Power, 2. Dario Franchitti (last year's Toronto winner), 3. Scott Dixon, 4. Ryan Briscoe, 5. Helio Castroneves, 6. Ryan Hunter-Reay, 7. Tony Kanaan, 8. Justin Wilson, 9. Dan Wheldon and 10. Marco Andretti. There are 126 points seperating the first and tenth place drivers. Crowd favourite Danica Patrick is 11th, Canadians Alex Tagliani is 14th and Paul Tracy is 33rd. IRL intends to announce the design of future IndyCars on July 14 in Indianapolis

It is great that stock car racing is returning to this event - the old CASCAR series used to be included in the race weekend. CASCAR was purchased by NASCAR and became the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series and they have moved it's Quebec race into the Toronto Honda Indy. One of my favourite drivers is Andrew Ranger who is splitting his time between the Canadian Tire Series and the American K&N Pro Series East and will join other great drivers like DJ Kenington, JR Fitzpatrick and Scott Steckly.

I love a street course more than an oval so Toronto's 11 turns and 2.84km/1.755 miles circuit is just perfect for me - here is a link to the official track map. Thunder Alley along Lakeshore Boulevard will see the fastest speeds of around 300km/h and it takes about one minute to complete one lap of the course.

A lot of the fun happens off the track in the Direct Energy Centre and along Thunder Alley, across Gasoline Alley and the Pizza Pizza Family Zone with driver autographs, concerts and other entertainment. The Paddock has been moved west closer to BMO field. Speculation remains about who will be the Grand Marshal for this race - last year it was Gene Simmons of Kiss.

Entertainment and special event schedule from Wednesday, July 14, 2010.


WEDNESDAY 14th: 12:30-2:00pm Alex Tagliani unveils the #77 Hot Wheels Race Car at Yonge-Dundas Square.

THURSDAY 15th: 6:00-8:00pm Race to the Party - IndyCar drivers and hosts Jamie Little and Matte Babel present a street party at a location still to be announced. This will include the great Canadian Pit Stop Challenge Montreal (Alex Tagliani) and Toronto (Paul Tracy). LA based Rival Sons will perform.

From 8:30pm is the Race to the Party After Party at the Dolce Social Ballroom (647 King Street) hosted by Paul Tracy and Alex Tagliani and joined by many other IndyCar drivers. The red carpet starts at 8:30pm.

FRIDAY 16th: 6:00pm IndyCar Series Driver's Party at C Lounge (456 Wellington Street) where you can meet and greet the drivers. C Lounge will also host the Driver's After Party as well.

SATURDAY 17th: 3:45pm Bud Girl Pit Crew Pageant.

SUNDAY 18th:

Honda Indy Toronto 2010 Schedule

Update July 12: Check out my blog post for information on special events including the Driver's Party.

The Honda Indy Toronto has announced their 2010 schedule for the race weekend - remember that Friday is free entrance. The week leading up to the race is full of events off site. On Tues and Wed July 13 and 14 the events will be at Yonge-Dundas Square, Thurs July 15 is the Run, Walk 'n Wheelathon and later in the day there is an autograph session at Bay Eatons Centre. You know we are getting close when the Thunder Alley stands are in place and the barriers on Lakeshore are almost complete (above) and turn 9 needs a little streetlight removal (below).

The on and off track schedule, with gate times, is shown after the jump.


Honda Indy Toronto 2010 schedule

ON-TRACK SCHEDULE

July 16 - 18

FRIDAY	JULY 16
START TIME	END TIME	EVENT
7:45 am	8:15 am	Canadian Touring Car Practice
8:35 am	9:35 am	Acura Sports Car Challenge - World Challenge & Trans-Am Practice
9:55 am	10:55 am	IZOD IndyCar Practice
11:15 am	12:10 pm	Firestone Indy Lights Practice
12:30 pm	1:30 pm	NASCAR Canadian Tire Series - Canadian Tire Jump Start 100 Practice
1:50 pm	2:50 pm	IZOD IndyCar Practice
3:10 pm	4:10 pm	Acura Sports Car Challenge - World Challenge & Trans-Am Practice
4:30 pm	5:10 pm	NASCAR Canadian Tire Series - Canadian Tire Jump Start 100 Qualifying
5:30 pm	6:00 pm	Canadian Touring Car Qualifying
SATURDAY	JULY 17
START TIME	END TIME	EVENT
8:00 am	8:50 am	Firestone Indy Lights Practice
9:10 am	10:10 am	IZOD IndyCar Practice
10:30 am	11:20 am	Acura Sports Car Challenge - World Challenge and Trans-Am Qualifying
11:40 am	12:30 pm	Firestone Indy Lights Qualifying
12:50 pm	2:20 pm	IZOD IndyCar Qualifying
2:30 pm	2:45 pm	NASCAR Canadian Tire Series - Canadian Tire Jump Start 100 Pre-Race
2:45 pm	4:00 pm	NASCAR Canadian Tire Series - Canadian Tire Jump Start 100 Race
3:45 pm	4:45 pm	Drivers' Autograph session
4:20 pm	5:20 pm	Acura Sports Car Challenge - World Challenge Race
5:40 pm	6:10 pm	Canadian Touring Car Race #1
SUNDAY	JULY 18
START TIME	END TIME	EVENT
8:00 am	8:20 am	Firestone Indy Lights Warm-Up
8:35 am	9:05 am	IZOD IndyCar Warm-Up
9:20 am	9:50 am	Canadian Touring Car Race #2
10:10 am	11:25 am	Firestone Indy Lights Race
11:45 am	12:45 pm	IZOD IndyCar Pre-Race
12:45 pm	3:00pm	Honda Indy Toronto IZOD IndyCar Race
3:00 pm	3:30 pm	IZOD IndyCar Post-Race
3:30 pm	4:30 pm	Acura Sports Car Challenge - Trans-Am Race

OFF-TRACK SCHEDULE

July 13 - 18

TUESDAY	JULY 13
START TIME	END TIME	EVENT
12:00 pm	8:00 pm	Yonge-Dundas Square Honda Indy Toronto Kick-off Party
12:00 pm	8:00 pm	Sponsors, Indy Racing League, and Honda Indy Toronto activities
12:00 pm	8:00 pm	Honda Media Tire Change Challenge
12:00 pm	5:00 pm	NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Autograph session
WEDNESDAY	JULY 14
START TIME	END TIME	EVENT
12:00 pm	8:00 pm	Yonge-Dundas Square Honda Indy Toronto party continues
12:00 pm	8:00 pm	Sponsors, Indy Racing League, and Honda Indy Toronto activities
12:30 pm	2:00 pm	Media Event
5:00 pm	7:00 pm	IndyCar Driver appearances / Media Q&A / Autograph session
7:00 pm	8:00 pm	Toronto Sun "Drivers, start your engines" contest finals
THURSDAY	JULY 15
START TIME	END TIME	EVENT
6:00 pm		Run, Walk n' Wheelathon for Spinal Cure Research
6:00 pm		Festivals and activities, including a special concert
6:30 pm	7:30 pm	IZOD IndyCar Autograph Session at The Bay Eatons Centre
7:00 pm	8:00 pm	Sam Schmidt Event
FRIDAY	JULY 16
START TIME	END TIME	EVENT
7:30 am	6:30 pm	Gates Open
SATURDAY	JULY 17
START TIME	END TIME	EVENT
7:30 am	6:40 pm	Gates Open
11:20 am	11:40 am	VIP Pit Walk-Thru
3:45 pm	4:45 pm	IZOD IndyCar Autograph Session: Paul Tracy, Alex Tagliani, and more
SUNDAY	JULY 18
START TIME	END TIME	EVENT
7:30 am	5:00 pm	Gates Open
9:50 am	10:10 am	VIP Pit Walk-Thru
11:25 am	11:40 am	Pace Car Rides
3:00 pm	3:30 pm	IZOD IndyCar Post-Race

Prepping for the Honda Indy Toronto

Construction crews have started setting up the grandstands and will start on the road construction works getting ready for the 2010 Honda Indy Toronto. Soon the worn start/finish line will be repainted and ready for the summer's IRL race through the streets of Exhibition Place and onto Lakeshore Boulevard.

From the race website "The track build is sponsored by Mike, No Ordinary Phone, as part of its Built by Mike program for Honda Indy Toronto. The TELUS Mike Network will be providing wireless Motorola Push To Talk handsets for the duration of the track’s construction, and will hold a Built by Mike Fun Facts contest to win tickets to Honda Indy Toronto through its website: www.BuiltByMikeChallenge.com."