- Colton Herta takes pole in Toronto for the second straight year, clocking the only sub-1:00 lap
- Andretti Global dominate again, though teammate Kyle Kirkwood misses out after late mistake
- Championship leader Alex Palou joins Herta on the front row as he chases his first Toronto win
Colton Herta continued his dominance around the streets of Toronto, claiming his second consecutive pole at Exhibition Place and his third in the past four years. The Andretti Global driver clocked the only lap under one minute in the Firestone Fast Six, a blistering 59.8320 seconds around the 11-turn, 1.786-mile street circuit.
The pole is Herta’s second of the season, both coming on street courses, and the 16th of his INDYCAR career. That moves him past Tony Kanaan and Juan Pablo Montoya on the all-time list and puts him one behind Emerson Fittipaldi.
“We have a great car here, it’s plain and simple as you see,” Herta said of his No. 26 Gainbridge Honda. “I’d like to think (the team’s drivers are) better than everybody else, but the cars are really just that good. I think (the cars) make us look really good.”
Herta heads into Sunday’s race still searching for his first win of 2025, after taking two victories last season, including this event.
He has a strong record on the Toronto street circuit, finishing second, third and first in his last three visits. Another podium looks well within reach, especially after another strong qualifying performance from Andretti.
But the front row didn’t feature both Andretti cars as expected. Teammate Kyle Kirkwood was on a lap that could have challenged for pole before a snap of oversteer at Turn 2 forced him to abort. There wasn’t enough time left in the session for another attempt.
“We just gave away a pole, without a doubt,” Kirkwood said. “I started the lap and the first time all weekend I got a huge snap. (The car) has been understeering and the one time I go through (Turn 2) when it matters for pole it bottoms (out) and I have the huge snap. It’s unfortunate. It feels like I’m throwing away poles left and right on street courses.”
Kirkwood was similarly frustrated after qualifying third in Detroit but bounced back to win the race. He’s taken three wins this year, all on street circuits.
Joining Herta on the front row will be series leader Alex Palou. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver continues to stretch his championship advantage and will be chasing his first win on the streets of Toronto. He finished fourth here last year and carries a 129-point lead into Sunday’s 90-lap race.
The rest of the top six qualifiers include Marcus Armstrong (Meyer Shank Racing), Will Power (Team Penske), Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing), and Kirkwood in sixth.
Scott Dixon, who holds four wins at Exhibition Place, will look to move forward from deeper in the field. Power and Josef Newgarden, with three and two Toronto wins respectively, are also expected to be in the mix.
Other past winners in the field include Christian Lundgaard (2023) and Herta (2024). The pole sitter has gone on to win in three of the last four races at Toronto, including the last two editions.
This weekend’s event marks the final street race of the 2025 season. After Toronto, the calendar wraps up with road course rounds at Laguna Seca and Portland, before concluding with ovals at Milwaukee and Nashville.
The green flag drops at noon ET Sunday (FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).
