The Grand Prix of Toronto (known for sponsorship reasons as the Honda Indy Toronto) is an annual Indy Car race, held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally known as the Molson Indy Toronto, it was part of the

Champ Car World Series Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ( ...

from 1986 to 2007. After a one-year hiatus, it has been part of the

NTT IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...

schedule since 2009. The race takes place on a , 11 turn, temporary

street circuit A street circuit is a motorsport racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor races. Airport runways and taxiways are also sometimes part of street circuits. Facilities such as ...

through

Exhibition Place Exhibition Place is a publicly owned mixed-use district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located by the shoreline of Lake Ontario, just west of downtown. The site includes exhibit, trade, and banquet centres, theatre and music buildings, monuments ...

and on Lake Shore Boulevard. Toronto is classified as an

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backs ...

Grade Two circuit. It is IndyCar's second-longest running street race, only behind the

Grand Prix of Long Beach The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in downtown Long Beach, California. Christopher Pook is the founder of the event. It wa ...

and is the third oldest race on the current schedule (tied with the Mid-Ohio 200) in terms of number of races run. The Toronto Indy is one of seven Canadian circuits to have held an IndyCar race, the others being

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly Mosport Park and Mosport International Raceway) is a multi-track motorsport venue located north of Bowmanville, in Ontario, Canada, east of Toronto. The facility features a , 10-turn road course; a ad ...

Mont-Tremblant Mont-Tremblant () is a city in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec, Canada, approximately northwest of Montreal and northeast of Ottawa, Ontario. The current municipality with city status was formed in 2000. Mont-Tremblant is most famous for i ...

, Sanair,

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

, and

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...

Origins

Motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of t ...

and automobile demonstrations has a history at Exhibition Place going back over 100 years. Automotive shows, displays, races and driving demonstrations have taken place on the grounds since the invention of the automobile, including the first appearance of an indy car, the

1916 Indianapolis 500 The 6th International 300-Mile Sweepstakes Race was the sixth running of the Indianapolis 500. It was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday, May 30, 1916. The management scheduled the race for 120 laps, , the only Indianapolis 500 sch ...

winning

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and then ...

during the 1918

Canadian National Exhibition The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), also known as The Exhibition or The Ex, is an annual event that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the third Friday of August leading up to and including Canadian Labour Day ...

From 1952 until 1966 the

grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap al ...

hosted stock car racing on a paved quarter mile circuit on Friday nights and Sunday afternoons, hosting crowds upwards of 20,000 often broadcast live on CBC in Toronto. In 1958 the venue hosted a

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

race, the Jim Mideon 500. The race was the first of Richard Petty's 1,184 starts in NASCAR and was won by his father Lee Petty. In 1967, the first ever Indy race held in Canada was the ''Telegram Trophy 200'', held at nearby Mosport Park in

Bowmanville, Ontario Bowmanville is a town of approximately 40,000 people located in the Municipality of Clarington, Durham Region, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately east of Toronto, and east of Oshawa along Highway 2. Bowmanville was first incorporated as a ...

as part of the

USAC Championship Car From 1956 to 1978, USAC Championship Car seasons featured the top teams and drivers in U.S. open-wheel racing. Until 1971, the Championship contained road courses, ovals, dirt courses, and, on occasion, a hill climb. Thereafter, the schedu ...

season. The race was won by

Bobby Unser Robert William Unser (February 20, 1934 – May 2, 2021) was an American automobile racer. At his induction into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1994, he had the fourth most IndyCar Series wins at 35 (behind his brother Al, A. J. F ...

for his first career Indy victory. Following

Dan Gurney Daniel Sexton Gurney (April 13, 1931 – January 14, 2018) was an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner who reached racing's highest levels starting in 1958. Gurney won races in the Formula One, Indy Car, NASCAR, Can-Am, ...

’s victory in 1968, a group led by

John Bassett John White Hughes Bassett, (August 25, 1915 – April 27, 1998) was a Canadian media proprietor. Born in Ottawa, Ontario, he was the son of John Bassett (1886–1958), publisher of the ''Montreal Gazette'', and Marion Avery (née Wright) ...

and

Imperial Tobacco Imperial Brands plc (formerly Imperial Tobacco Group plc), is a British multinational tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, England. It is the world's fourth-largest international cigarette company measured by market share after Philip Mo ...

made the first proposal to run both the 1969 Telegram Trophy Indy race and the

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

Canadian Grand Prix at a new

along Lake Shore Boulevard and through Exhibition Place with the start/finish line and pits to be located inside

Exhibition Stadium Canadian National Exhibition Stadium (commonly known as Exhibition Stadium or CNE Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium that formerly stood on the Exhibition Place grounds, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally built for Canadian National E ...

. Bassett dropped the idea just as the bill was going through third reading before Toronto city council. Toronto Indy Start Finish Line and Turn 1 at Princes Gates

Toronto Indy Start Finish Line and Turn 1 at Princes Gates

After a nine-year absence, IndyCars returned to the Toronto area for the ''Molson Diamond Indy'' at Mosport Park won by

A. J. Foyt Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American retired auto racing driver who has raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes United States Automobile Club Champ cars, sprint cars, and midget cars. H ...

in 1977 and Danny Ongais in 1978. Following the 1977 Formula One Canadian Grand Prix,

Labatt Labatt Brewing Company Limited (french: La Brasserie Labatt Limitée) is a Belgian-owned brewery headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1847, Labatt is the largest brewer in Canada. In 1995, it was purchased by Belgian brewer In ...

, the sponsor who held the rights to F1 racing in Canada at the time, as well as the owners of Mosport Park revived the proposal to move the race to Exhibition Place after the

deemed Mosport as an unsuitable host facility going forward. Toronto city council turned down the proposal by a margin of two votes and within a few hours, Montreal mayor

Jean Drapeau Jean Drapeau, (18 February 1916 – 12 August 1999) was Mayor of Montreal from 1954 to 1957 and 1960 to 1986. Major accomplishments of the Drapeau Administration include the development of the Montreal Metro entirely underground mass trans ...

had negotiated with Labatt to move the race permanently to Montreal. In 1984, Molson Breweries in-house promotional division, Molstar Sports & Entertainment acquired the rights to

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from the flatbed ...

sanctioned IndyCar races in Canada and ran the first Molson Indy at the Sanair Speedway outside Montreal. The tight tri-oval was unpopular with the CART teams in part due to a severe injury to

Rick Mears Rick Ravon Mears (born December 3, 1951) is a retired American race car driver. He is one of four men to win the Indianapolis 500 four times (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991) and is the current record-holder for pole positions in the race with six (197 ...

during the first event. In the spring of 1985, Molson revived the idea of a street circuit through

in Toronto for a third time. Toronto City Council approved the race by two votes in July 1985 for the race to be held the following year.

Race history

The first Molson Indy Toronto was won by

Bobby Rahal Robert Woodward Rahal (born January 10, 1953) is an American former auto racing driver and team owner. As a driver he won three championships and 24 races in the CART open-wheel series, including the 1986 Indianapolis 500. He also won the 2004 a ...

on July 20, 1986. The event quickly became Canada's second largest annual sporting event, eclipsed only by the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, with three-day attendance figures routinely around 170,000 people. In the 1996 race, American driver

Jeff Krosnoff Jeffrey John Krosnoff (September 24, 1964 – July 14, 1996) was an American race car driver. A competitor in the CART PPG Indy Car World Series, he was killed in a racing accident during the 1996 Molson Indy Toronto. Early life and caree ...

was killed in a crash with 4 laps remaining. In that same crash, volunteer corner marshal Gary Avrin was killed, and marshal Barbara Johnston also received injuries in the crash; she was treated and released that evening.

Adrián Fernández Adrián Fernández Mier (born April 20, 1963 in Mexico City, CDMX, Mexico) is a Mexican former professional race car driver and he was co-owner of the Fernandez Racing team. Racing career Early career Fernández began his career in Mexico by ...

won the race. The name of the race was changed in 2006 from the Molson Indy Toronto to the ''Molson Grand Prix of Toronto'' after it was purchased by the Champ Car World Series from Molstar Sports and Entertainment. The name was also changed to distance Champ Car from the rival

Indy Racing League The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...

(IRL), which had gained the exclusive right to use the "Indy" name after 2002. In 2007, after Molson dropped their title sponsorship to the race,

Steelback Brewery Steelback Brewery was a Canadian based and owned brewery, located in Tiverton, Ontario, on the shores of Lake Huron. History The start Steelback Brewery was started in September, 2002 by Frank D'Angelo while looking for expansion space for his ...

signed a multi-year, multimillion-dollar deal to become the event's title sponsor, renaming it the ''Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto''. This marked the first title sponsorship change since the event started in 1986. The unification of Champ Car and the Indy Racing League was announced on February 22, 2008, and the Grand Prix of Toronto's future was left in doubt. After attempts were made to preserve the race for 2008, it was confirmed on March 5, 2008, that the race had been cancelled. On May 15, 2008,

Andretti Green Racing Andretti Autosport is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series, Indy Lights, Indy Pro 2000, and Formula E. The team also has a 37.5% ownership stake in the Australian Supercars Championship touring car team, Walkinshaw Andretti U ...

(co-owned by

Michael Andretti Michael Mario Andretti (born October 5, 1962) is an American semi-retired auto racing driver and current team owner. Statistically one of the most successful drivers in the history of American open-wheel car racing, Andretti won the 1991 CART P ...

) purchased the assets of the former Grand Prix of Toronto. On July 30, 2008, it was confirmed that the race would return to Toronto on July 12, 2009. On September 18, 2008, Andretti Green Racing announced that it had signed a multi-year agreement with

Honda Canada Inc. Honda Canada Inc. is the Canadian division of the Honda Motor Company. Founded in 1969, Honda has been building cars in Canada since 1986 in Alliston, Ontario and head office in Markham, Ontario. Sales Motorcycles were the first Honda product ...

for the title sponsorship of the race, henceforth named from 2009 onward as the Honda Indy Toronto. 2013 Honda Indy Toronto Exhibition Place

In 2013, the race weekend was changed to a 2 race format with one race Saturday and one race Sunday. The Saturday race would feature a standing start while the Sunday race would be a rolling start. After an aborted standing start Saturday leading to a rolling start, teams and officials agreed to try the standing start again Sunday. The Sunday standing start was successful on its first attempt and was the first successful standing start in unified IndyCar series history (the Champ Car World Series had used standing starts late in its history shortly before unification). In 2014, weather forced both races to be run Sunday, exposing the difficulty in logistics of running two races in an already packed schedule. By 2015, both standing starts and the two race format were abandoned. In 2016, the track layout was modified to accommodate the newly constructed

Hotel X Toronto Hotel X Toronto is a hotel and sports club complex on the grounds of Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The hotel, part of the Library Hotel Collection, is intended to serve visitors attending conventions, meetings, and trade shows b ...

. Under the new layout, the pit lane was moved to the opposite side of the race course, starting at the outside of turn 9 and exiting just after turn 11. This, in turn, made turn 11 a sharper turn than it had been in the previous configuration. Michael Andretti is the all-time race win leader with seven victories. The 2020 and 2021 editions of the event was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario The COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario is an ongoing viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in C ...

, marking the second time in the race's history. This came due to the restrictions that were in place barring non-essential travel at the Canada-United States border (as most

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...

races are within the United States) and after Mayor

John Tory John Howard Tory (born May 28, 1954) is a Canadian politician who has served as the 65th and current mayor of Toronto since 2014. After a career as a lawyer, political strategist and businessman, Tory ran as a mayoral candidate in the 2003 ...

announced that all mass public gatherings were banned throughout the summers of 2020 and 2021 respectively in response to the pandemic. Following the cancellation of the 2020 race, a new three-year agreement was reached in September 2020 between Exhibition Place and Green Savoree Toronto to host the event through 2023.

Past winners

USAC (Mosport Park)

*1967: Run in two heats of 98 miles (158 kilometers/40 laps) each. Second race stopped after 6 laps due to rain. *1968: Run in two heats of 98 miles (158 kilometers/40 laps) each.

CART/Champ Car/IndyCar (Exhibition Place)

*1990: Race shortened due to rain. *1996: Race shortened due to fatal crash involving

and a track marshal. *2014 I: Race postponed from Saturday to Sunday morning due to rain. Shortened to accommodate regularly scheduled Sunday race. *2014 II: Race shortened due to time limit.

Support race winners

Road to Indy

SCCA Trans-Am Series

Pirelli World Challenge – GT

Pirelli World Challenge – Touring Car

CASCAR Super Series

NASCAR Pinty's Series

The Indy Toronto circuit is based around Exhibition Place, but the heritage of NASCAR and Exhibition Place dates considerably earlier than the 2010 Canadian Tire Series round at Indy Toronto. In 1958, the 31st round of NASCAR's Grand National (now Cup Series) championship was held at the third

(located on the site of

BMO Field BMO Field is an outdoor stadium located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which is home to Toronto FC of Major League Soccer and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. Constructed on the site of the former Exhibit ...

). That race marked the Cup debut of

Richard Petty Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "The King", is an American former stock car racing driver who raced from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notabl ...

Stadium Super Trucks

Lap Records

The official race lap records at the Grand Prix of Toronto (

) are listed as:

Current series

* Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires *

Indy Pro 2000 Championship The USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, formerly known as the Star Mazda Championship, Pro Mazda Championship, and later Indy Pro 2000 Championship, is an open-wheel racing series serving as the third step on the Road to Indy l ...

U.S. F2000 National Championship The USF2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires is an American racing series using the American variation of the Formula Ford formula, "F2000", that resumed operation for the 2010 season. As of 2022, it is sanctioned by the United States Auto ...

NASCAR Pinty's Series The NASCAR Pinty's Series (french: Série NASCAR Pinty's), commonly abbreviated as NPS, is a national NASCAR racing series in Canada, and is a continuation of the old CASCAR Super Series which was founded in 1981. History In September 2006 NASCA ...

IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge Canada The Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama was a one-make racing series based in Canada utilizing Porsche 911 GT3s. The Ultra 94 GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama featured semi-professional drivers racing head to head in one of ...

* SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks

Former series

Besides the main event, Honda Indy Toronto also holds races of lower levels before. These are known as support series. A variety of racing series have previously run as support series on the race weekend. These include: *

Atlantic Championship The Atlantic Championship is a formula race car series with races throughout North America. It has been called Champ Car Atlantics (after its former name), Toyota Atlantics (due to the series' previous history of using Toyota-powered engines) ...

Barber Dodge Pro Series The Barber Dodge Pro Series was a professional open-wheel auto racing series from 1986 to 2003. It was one of the first professional spec series for open-wheel racecars in North America. The races were primarily on road and street courses in Nor ...

CASCAR Super Series The CASCAR Super Series was Canada's premier stock car touring division. It was sanctioned by CASCAR. The series ended after the 2006 season after NASCAR purchased CASCAR, and NASCAR used it as the basis for the NASCAR Pinty's Series. General T ...

Trans-Am Series The Trans-Am Series is a sports car racing series held in North America. Founded in 1966, it is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). Primarily based in the United States, the series competes on a variety of track types includ ...

Ferrari Challenge The Ferrari Challenge is a single-marque motorsport championship that was created in 1993 for owners of the 348 Berlinetta who wanted to become involved in racing. The series was proposed by Ferrari Club Nederland founder and President Hans ...

North American Touring Car Championship The North American Touring Car Championship was a touring car racing series using the Supertouring formula that raced in North America in 1996 and 1997. The series was funded in part by IndyCar team owner Gerald Forsythe with input from British se ...

Canadian Touring Car Championship Canadian Touring Car Championship (CTCC) presented by Pirelli is a Canadian professional touring car road racing series. In 2006, it was created based on the growth of amateur touring car racing in Canada and the pent-up demand for a professional ...

Motorola Cup Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorola ...

* North American Fran Am 2000 Pro Championship *Canadian Formula Ford Championship *

Pirelli World Challenge The GT World Challenge America is a North American auto racing series launched in 1990 by the Sports Car Club of America. It has been managed by the Stephane Ratel Organisation since 2018, and has been sanctioned by the United States Auto Club s ...

*Player's Ltd./GM Motorsport series *Honda Michelin Challenge Series *F1600 Super Series

Charities

During the tenure of Molson's original race ownership, the Molson Indy Festival Foundation hosted various fundraising events in the city in the week leading up to the race week. As of 2004 the foundation had donated $5.6 million towards community groups and charitable organizations. In 2010 the race introduced the annual Fan Fridays to the race weekend. In lieu of paid admission, attendees are encouraged to make a contribution to the

Make-A-Wish Foundation The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in the United States that helps fulfill the wishes of children with a critical illness between the ages of and 18 years old. Make-A-Wish was founded in 1980 and headqua ...

upon entering the grounds. The initiative has raised $820,000 as of 2019 for the organization dedicated to granting wishes for children with critical illnesses.

Race day attendance

References

External links

Official website2013 IndyCar Results PageExhibition Place (Toronto) race results
at Racing-Reference {{Navboxes , list = {{Honda Indy Toronto {{Parades and Festivals in Toronto {{Exhibition Place {{Indy Racing League Seasons {{IndyCar Series races {{Pirelli World Challenge circuits {{Champ Car Races {{Atlantic Championship circuits {{Trans-Am tracks {{NASCAR Canadian Tire Series racetracks {{Indy Lights racetracks {{Pro Mazda Championship race venues {{Stadium Super Trucks tracks {{Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada tracks {{Global MX-5 Cup tracks {{IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge racetracks Auto races in Canada Tourist attractions in Toronto Festivals in Toronto Articles containing video clips Exhibition Place 1986 establishments in Ontario Recurring sporting events established in 1986 IndyCar Series races Champ Car races NASCAR races Annual events in Toronto