INDYCAR Previews

Preview – 2019 Honda Indy Toronto

By Dylan Reynolds, The Open Wheel

The INDYCAR season continues this weekend with the NTT IndyCar Series Honda Indy Toronto and the Indy Lights Cooper Tires Grand Prix Presented by Allied Building Products on the Streets of Toronto, Canada. The Open Wheel will be covering the action all weekend so stay tuned to this site and our Twitter page @openwh33l for all of the latest news.

2016 toronto saturday6

Photo by Christy Reynolds/The Open Wheel

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Indy Lights Preview: Cooper Tires Grand Prix Presented by Allied Building Products (Entry List), Race 1 – Saturday, July 13, 2019 12:45PM (ET) & Race 2 – Sunday, July 14, 2019 11:00AM (ET) – It seems like a lifetime ago that the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires machines were last on a street course back at St. Pete. The winners then were Rinus VeeKay and the now departed Zachary Claman DeMelo. Toby Sowery managed podium finishes in both races so watch out for him this weekend. Results from Indy Lights Race 1 and Race 2 from 2018 show Andretti Autosport and Belardi Auto Racing had Toronto figured out as Patricio O’Ward and Santiago Urrutia each earned wins. This will be the Toronto Lights debut for BN Racing but based on the success of Sowery and David Malukas to start the year I’d say watch them close this weekend. My picks to win: Rinus VeeKay & Toby Sowery

NTT IndyCar Series Preview: Honda Indy Toronto – Sunday, July 14, 2019 3:00PM (ET) NBCSN – Previous driver experience at Toronto shows five former winners in the field in Scott Dixon (3), Will Power (3), Sebastien Bourdais (2), Josef Newgarden (2), and Ryan Hunter-Reay (1). The Top 5 in laps led are Dixon (200), Bourdais (189), Power (162), Newgarden (120), and Hunter-Reay (36). Dixon and Newgarden have won over the last two years. Looking at the box scores from 2018 and 2017, only Simon Pagenaud and James Hinchcliffe have finished in the Top 5 in each of the last two years. If that’s expanded to the Top 10, those two are joined by Dixon, Alexander Rossi, Newgarden, and Marco Andretti. My pick to win: Scott Dixon – Dixon took the latest of his three Toronto victories just last year and needs to start winning to keep his championship hopes. Doesn’t he always seem to do just enough to keep himself in the conversation? For that reason alone I he’s my pick this weekend.

My fantasy.indycar.com picks: Scott Dixon, Will Power, James Hinchcliffe, & Sage Karam – You know my thoughts on Dixon. Toronto isn’t Power’s best track by any means, even with three wins, but when he stays out of trouble he’s at the front. He’s due for that after a couple rough years in Canada so I expect to see him put together a good result. Hinchcliffe will be carrying the hopes of Canada once again and has really fared well in Toronto in recent years. I wouldn’t be surprised and actually expect him to be on the podium once again. I’m excited to see what Karam does in his first time on an NTT IndyCar Series road & street circuit since 2015. My expectations aren’t high, but listening to Sage’s thoughts on the opportunity I expect him to manage his weekend as best he can and do his best to just turn laps. With the strength of the rest of this lineup and a little luck, that may be all I need at his value price of just $15.

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