Louis Foster has won pole position at the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy in Markham, Ont. Christian Lundgaard will join him at the front of the grid for Sunday’s IndyCar race around the streets of downtown Markham. Scott McLaughlin was third. Organizers had to cancel the first day of track sessions on Friday because the course was not completed and had not undergone safety inspections. As a result, both practice sessions and qualifying were all done in one day. Drivers had to drive with the setting sun in their eyes for qualifying. It’s the first year Markham has hosted the race after it moved from Toronto’s Exhibition Place, where it had been held since its inaugural running in 1986. Foster also posted the fastest practice lap, putting down a time of one minute 14.1793 seconds in the second session of the day. Alex Palou had the fastest time in the morning’s first practice session. He made it around in 1:14.9915. He reached the final 12 in qualifying but bent his left rear wheel after bumping a wall in Turn 10. He had been in the top 10 of every IndyCar qualifying session since 2025. Palou finished four seconds ahead of Felix Rosenqvist at Portland for his sixth IndyCar victory of the season last Sunday. That extended his lead to 110 points over Kyle Kirkwood in the driver rankings as he closes in on his fifth IndyCar title. Last year, Pato O’Ward used a strong tire strategy to charge from 10th on the starting grid and earn his first career victory on the streets of Toronto. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 15, 2026. John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press
