Colton Herta Earns 3rd Straight IndyCar Pole at Toronto Indy

Defending race winner Colton Herta earned his third pole in a row at the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto. His Andretti Global team has been dominant and fast on these street circuits, and that will continue for tomorrow’s (Sunday, July 20) race.

“We have a great car here,” Herta said. “Plain and simple, like you see what me, Kyle (Kirkwood) and Marcus (Ericsson) are able to do in the race car. You know I’d like to think we’re better than everybody else, but the cars are just that good.”

Herta scored his second pole of 2025 and the 17th of his IndyCar career.

Championship leader Alex Palou tried to best the speedy Herta, but couldn’t do it. Marcus Armstrong earned his best start in 2025 with his third-place qualifying effort, followed by Will Power, and Graham Rahal.

Recent street course dominator Kyle Kirkwood wasn’t able to match his teammate’s speed, even though he led both of the rounds he was in. He will start sixth.

“Ah, we just gave away the pole, without a doubt,” Kirkwood said. “Started the lap, and first time that almost happened to me, had a huge snap right there, but understeering, and one time I go through there when it matters for pole, and it bottomed and I get a huge snap. That’s unfortunate, I just threw it away.”

Firestone Fast Six

Herta put down his flyer lap as time expired, holding off a late charge by both Palou and Armstrong. The surprise in the session was Kirkwood, who wasn’t able to lead his third straight group due to losing the rear during his fast lap.

Rahal used older tires to put down the fifth-best lap and will roll off fifth.

Position	Driver	Number	Team	Time from Pole
1	Colton Herta	26	Andretti Global	59.832 seconds
2	Alex Palou	10	Chip Ganassi Racing	+0.246
3	Marcus Armstrong	66	Meyer Shank Racing	+0.270
4	Will Power	12	Team Penske	+0.368
5	Graham Rahal	15	Rahal Letterman Racing	+0.777
6	Kyle Kirkwood	27	Andretti Global	+3.698

Round 2

Kirkwood continued his pace from Round 1, locking down the top speed. Rahal bumped out his teammate Louis Foster on his last lap run. Foster continues his strong qualifying runs of late, starting seventh.

Scott Dixon had troubles and scooted off into the run-off area on his flyer lap. Unfortunately he burned up his tires, and touched the wall later. He was able to recover and qualify 11th.

Position	Driver	Number	Team	Time from Advancing
7	Louis Foster	45	Rahal Letterman Racing	+0.170
8	Marcus Ericsson	28	Andretti Global	+0.215
9	Rinus VeeKay	18	Dale Coyne Racing	+0.276
10	Pato O’Ward	5	Arrow McLaren	+0.481
11	Scott Dixon	9	Chip Ganassi Racing	+1.236
12	Callum Ilott	90	Prema Racing	+1.385

Round 1 Group 1

The bump heading into turn 3 impacted the initial round within a minute of the session starting. Nolan Siegel hit it and ended up cooking his tires, redirecting into the run-off.

Kirkwood set the fastest lap in the group, with a surprising advancement by Ilott as it was just the second time this year to Round 2 with the freshman team PREMA Racing.

Christian Lundgaard and Felix Rosenqvist, two drivers who have performed well in qualifying on road and street circuits this year, did not advance. It will be the worst starting spot on non-oval races for both of them.

Position	Driver	Number	Team	Time from Advancing
13	Nolan Siegel	6	Arrow McLaren	+0.034
15	Scott McLaughlin	3	Team Penske	+0.070
17	Felix Rosenqvist	60	Meyer Shank Racing	+0.107
19	Christian Lundgaard	7	Arrow McLaren	+0.140
21	Conor Daly	76	Juncos Hollinger Racing	+0.214
23	Santino Ferrucci	14	AJ Foyt Enterprises	+0.393
25	Sting Ray Robb	77	Juncos Hollinger Racing	+0.758

Round 1 Group 2

Meyer Shank Racing’s Armstrong redeemed a rough Group 1 for his team, by leading the session. With Ericsson and Herta advancing, all Andretti Global cars will compete in Round 2.

VeeKay was second quickest, with a quality effort by his Dale Coyne Racing team.

Josef Newgarden led most of the session before drivers laid down their one-lap sprints, and wasn’t able to get in the top six. He will start 18th.

Position	Driver	Number	Team	Time From Advancing
14	Kyffin Simpson	8	Chip Ganassi Racing	+0.029
16	David Malukas	4	AJ Foyt Enterprises	+0.070
18	Josef Newgarden	2	Team Penske	+0.128
20	Robert Shwartzman	83	PREMA Racing	+0.155
22	Christian Rasmussen	21	Ed Carpenter Racing	+0.195
24	Alexander Rossi	20	Ed Carpenter Racing	+0.460
26	Devlin DeFrancesco	30	Rahal Letterman Racing	+0.529
27	Jacob Abel	51	Dale Coyne Racing	+1.577

FOX will air the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto on Sunday, July 20 at noon ET.