Colton Herta and Andretti Global know how to go quick on street courses.
This was proven Saturday (July 20) as Herta took his 14th NTT IndyCar Series pole for the Ontario Honda Dealers Toronto Indy.
But speed hasn’t been the concern for the No. 26 car, it’s been wins, something he hasn’t achieved since the Indianapolis Grand Prix in 2022.
“You know this thing has been a rocket ship all weekend, really has been the past few races,” Herta said. “Luck hasn’t turned our way this year for a win yet. I’m hoping it’s here tomorrow. The Gainbridge Honda is very quick and we’ve always had good results here and I hope we can transfer that tomorrow.”
It was a front-row sweep for Andretti Global, as teammate Kyle Kirkwood will start on the outside.
“We ended up doing three laps of tires on the first run, which put us in a situation where we grained the front,” Kirkwood said.
The outside front-row start continues Kirkwood’s strong season, but he knew he didn’t have the speed to challenge his teammate.
“Colton’s obviously been the quickest driver all weekend long, so he’s extremely deserving of this.”
Meyer Shank Racing put two cars in the top six, with Felix Rosenqvist starting third for Sunday’s race, and new teammate David Malukas further proving he has speed. The American will start sixth.
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin was the highest starting top-five championship contender and the only one to make the Firestone Fast Six, qualifying fourth. Romain Grosjean will start fifth.
Firestone Fast Six
Herta was the clear favorite, but Kirkwood tried his best to put his No. 27 ahead of his teammate. But it didn’t work out.
Grosjean went too deep in one of the turns and had to back up on the track, luckily not impeding any other cars. That misstep set him back in his run, but he rebounded to take fifth.
Malukas’ start is his second straight Firestone Fast Six appearance, after qualifying third at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
| Position | Driver | Number | Team | Time |
| 1 | Colton Herta | 26 | Andretti Global | 59.5431s |
| 2 | Kyle Kirkwood | 27 | Andretti Global | +0.1304 |
| 3 | Felix Rosenqvist | 60 | Meyer Shank Racing | +0.2821s |
| 4 | Scott McLaughlin | 3 | Team Penske | +0.3651s |
| 5 | Romain Grosjean | 77 | Juncos Hollinger Racing | +0.4581s |
| 6 | David Malukas | 66 | Meyer Shank Racing | +0.6678s |
Round 2
Confusion reigned on who would advance after Malukas was penalized for causing a local yellow, which affected another car on his run, stripping him of his fastest lap at the time. However, he set his fastest lap on his one remaining circuit and still moved on. His qualifying pace continues to be consistently strong.
Graham Rahal put his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing car in eighth, the best for the team and the second race in a row he will roll off the grid from that spot.
Josef Newgarden and Will Power were unable to match their teammate McLaughlin’s pace, starting seventh and ninth respectively.
| Position | Driver | Number | Team | Time from Advancing |
| 7 | Josef Newgarden | 2 | Team Penske | +0.0190s |
| 8 | Graham Rahal | 15 | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | +0.1717s |
| 9 | Will Power | 12 | Team Penske | +0.2704s |
| 10 | Agustin Canapino | 78 | Juncos Hollinger Racing | +0.4267s |
| 11 | Marcus Ericsson | 28 | Andretti Global | +0.4758s |
| 12 | Christian Rasmussen | 20 | Ed Carpenter Racing | +0.5730s |
Round 1 Group 1
Championship contender Scott Dixon had a moment on his final flyer lap, slightly losing the rear which hurt his final run. He will have a tough road ahead of him on Sunday to win his fifth Toronto Indy.
Kirkwood was fastest, with Rasmussen advancing for his second straight qualifying session.
Newgarden inched his way through with a slightly faster lap than Marcus Armstrong.
Dale Coyne Racing rookie Hunter McElrea, who has been effusive with his excitement to drive this weekend, unfortunately crashed in turn 8. He was unable to continue and will start at the rear.
| Positon | Driver | Number | Team | Time from Advancing |
| 13 | Marcus Armstrong | 11 | Chip Ganassi Racing | +0.0256s |
| 15 | Scott Dixon | 9 | Chip Ganassi Racing | +0.1913s |
| 17 | Santino Ferrucci | 14 | AJ Foyt Enterprises | +0.4596s |
| 19 | Nolan Siegel | 6 | Arrow McLaren Racing | +0.6933s |
| 21 | Toby Sowery | 51 | Dale Coyne Racing w/ RWR | +0.7891s |
| 23 | Pietro Fittipaldi | 30 | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | +0.8315s |
| 25 | Hunter McElrea | 18 | Dale Coyne Racing | ACCIDENT – NO TIME |
Round 1 Group 2
Traffic seemed to be more of a factor in this group, as both Pato O’Ward and Grosjean dealt with cars in front of them. It ended up hurting the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet more, as O’Ward did not advance.
As part of the traffic problem, championship leader Alex Palou was deemed to impede O’Ward and was stripped of his two fastest laps. He will start 18th after initially being fast enough to move to Round 2.
“We need to look at that,” Palou said. “I’m still on the grid, so I need to check that, I had three cars in front of me, couldn’t really go anywhere. I was already out for one lap, unlike the cars that were in front of me. So, do not agree (with the penalty), but it is what it is.”
Agustin Canapino was moved into the top six of the group, thus moving on to his first Fast 12 qualifying session due to the Palou penalty.
Defending pole winner Christian Lundgaard had a different experience in qualifying than a year ago, only able to put down the ninth fastest time for the session, thus not advancing.
Theo Pourchaire, who could easily be in a National Lampoon’s International Vacation movie script, soldiered on in the session, but his lack of track time was too much to overcome. He will start 26th.
Unlike Group 1, no incidents occurred.
| Position | Driver | Number | Team | Time from Advancing |
| 14 | Pato O’Ward | 5 | Arrow McLaren | +0.1242s |
| 16 | Christian Lundgaard | 45 | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | +0.2317s |
| 18 | Alex Palou | 10 | Chip Ganassi Racing | PENALTY / +0.3144 |
| 20 | Kyffin Simpson | 4 | Chip Ganassi Racing | +0.4309s |
| 22 | Rinus Veekay | 21 | Ed Carpenter Racing | +0.5653s |
| 24 | Linus Lundqvist | 8 | Chip Ganassi Racing | +0.6906s |
| 26 | Theo Pourchaire | 7 | Arrow McLaren Racing | +1.087s |
| 27 | Sting Ray Robb | 41 | AJ Foyt Enterprises | +1.215s |
2024 Ontario Honda Dealers Toronto Indy at Exhibition Place Qualifying Results
The Ontario Honda Dealers Toronto Indy at Toronto will start at 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 21, with coverage exclusively on Peacock.
About the author
Tom is an IndyCar writer at Frontstretch, joining in March 2023. Besides writing the IndyCar Previews and the occasional Inside Indycar, he will hop on as a fill-in guest on the Open Wheel podcast The Pit Straight. His full-time job is with the Department of Veterans Affairs History Office and is a lieutenant colonel in the Army National Guard. After graduating from Purdue University with a Creative Writing degree, he was commissioned in the Army and served a 15-month deployment as a tank platoon leader with the 3d ACR in Mosul, Iraq. A native Hoosier, he calls Fort Wayne home. Follow Tom on Twitter @TomBlackburn42.
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