After a week off, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES is back in action as the season really gets in full swing now until the finish. 3 races over the next 8 days and 5 in total over the next 5 weeks will really shape who wins this year’s championship between the drop of green flag for Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto (1:30 p.m. ET, Peacock, INDYCAR Radio Network) and the checkered flag flying in the return trip to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road courses on Aug. 12.

MORE: 5 things I’m watching for Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto

Here’s what’s at stake:

• Can Honda remain perfect? They’re 3-for-3 on street courses this season with taking 6 of the 9 podiums too. It went Ganassi-McLaren-Ganassi in St. Pete, Andretti-Andretti-Ganassi in Long Beach and Ganassi-Penske-McLaren the last time out in Detroit. They went  1-2-3-4-6-7-8 in practice on Saturday morning and starts 1-4-7-8-9-10. Chevrolet though has 3 of the top 5 starters too.
• Can anyone top the “Big 2?” Penske and Ganassi have combined to have won each of the last 10 series championships. As we sit at the midseason mark, I struggle to think anyone will top them again this year. They have six of the top seven in points including 1-2-3-4-6-7. 
  • They’ve also won 8 of the 9 races this year and 41 of the 56 (73.2%) of the races with the Aeroscreen. Furthermore, if you go back to the 2022 Indy 500, they’ve combined to have won 18 of the last 22 (81.8%) of the races. Can anyone stop them moving forward?
  • Next up is Toronto. Penske and Ganassi have won five straight there.
  • Overall, they have combined to have won 7 of the last 8 street course races and 13 of the last 19 of them in general. Only Andretti Autosport (4 wins) and Arrow McLaren Racing (1 win) has won in this span.
  • They have 2 of the top 4 starters and 4 in the top 7. Can RLL (Lundgaard) or McLaren (O’Ward, Rosenqvist) among the top seven starters hold them off.
• Palou Going for 4 Straight Wins – He’s going for a rare feat on Sunday in hopeful to become just the fifth driver to win four consecutive races since 1970. Al Unser Jr. did it first in 1990. Alex Zanardi joined him in 1998. Cristiano da Mattra (2002) and Sebastien Bourdais (2006) are the only other drivers to win four in-a-row. Can Palou join them?
  • The 26-year-old is also on a string of races entering Toronto to where he’s started 3rd, 1st, 1st, 3rd and 4th and finished 1st, 4th, 1st, 1st and 1st. He’s led 220 of the 520 laps (42.3%) in the process. Mid-Ohio was his 8th straight top five finish on the season and 9th top 10 in as many races run this year. He’s scored 24 top five finishes in the last 42 races.
  • The thing is, he only qualified 15th. He was also just 12th in Friday’s practice.
• Points – Palou has left the door open by qualifying 15th. However, second in points, Scott Dixon (-110) only got up to seventh in qualifying. He was 11th and 8th in practice himself. Josef Newgarden (-116) is third in points but was only ninth in both practices and starts 11th. Marcus Ericsson (-122), Pato O’Ward (-127), Scott McLaughlin (-148) and Will Power (-151) are 4th-7th in points and each made the Fast Six however. McLaughlin starts second, O’Ward third, Ericsson fourth and Power in sixth.
• Can Lundgaard capitalize on pole? He didn’t in Indy with a fourth place result. He said after his pole that he doesn’t think that he has the speed to contend for the win on Sunday if it’s dry, but also notes that anything can happen.

Race Details

Race Coverage: 1:30 p.m. ET

Green Flag: 2 p.m. ET

TV: Peacock

Radio: INDYCAR Radio Network, SiriusXM 160

Track: Exhibition Place

Honda Indy Toronto Starting Lineup

Row 1: Christian Lundgaard, Scott McLaughlin

Row 2: Pato O’Ward, Marcus Ericsson

Row 3: Felix Rosenqvist, Will Power

Row 4: Scott Dixon, Kyle Kirkwood

Row 5: Romain Grosjean, Marcus Armstrong

Row 6: Josef Newgarden, Rinus VeeKay

Row 7: Helio Castroneves, Colton Herta

Row 8: Alex Palou, Callum Ilott

Row 9: David Malukas, Agustin Canapino R

Row 10: Jack Harvey, Tom Blomqvist R

Row 11: Ryan Hunter-Reay, Devlin DeFrancesco

Row 12: Sting Ray Robb R, Santino Ferrucci

Row 13: Benjamin Pedersen R, Alexander Rossi

Row 14: Graham Rahal