MARKHAM, Ontario — Louie Foster of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing claimed his second career IndyCar P1 Award, winning the pole for Sunday’s Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham Saturday night on the newest street course in IndyCar.
But he shares the attention Alex Palou, who made a rare mistake and crashed in the second round of Saturday’s qualifications and that puts him 11th in the starting lineup.
Instead, Foster will lead to the field to the green after winning the NTT P1 Award Saturday night on the streets of Markham.
Foster won the pole with a fast time of 1:13.2383 in the No. 45 Honda around the 12-turn, 2.19-miles street course in this northeast suburb of Toronto.
In the previous round, Palou lost his two fastest laps and with a damaged race car, was not going to be able to continue in the second segment of qualifications. That ended his streak of starting in the top 10 for every race since the start of 2025 – 30 straight races.
“I lost it, I lost the rear into Turn 10, I was pushing,” Palou said. “I saw my .38 and thought it was all right, but I lost my rear. We had an amazing car. We would have made it. I would have made it, but I crashed.
“We have a really fast car so that is the good part. It’s going to be tough. It’s a different race for sure. I have to focus on first, not crashing, then making up some positions.”
In the Firestone Fast Six, the only driver in that group that had won a race in 2026 was Christian Lundgaard, winner of two races this season.
Foster was the fastest driver with 3:30 left in the session and Scott McLaughlin clipped the wall on his attempt. Dennis Hauger took over the fast time at 1:14.1515 with 2:34 left before Foster regained the top of the speed list at 1:13.3739, the fastest lap yet at Markham.
Foster went even faster at 1:13.2383 to increase his advantage over the field.
When it was all over, Foster won the NTT P1 Award for the second time in his career.
“We had such a messy session beforehand, and I knew if I pieced it all together, we could do it,” Foster said. “It’s great to get a Gremlin off our back. Now, I look forward to tomorrow.
“We had an issue last year or overexerting ourselves in qualifying. I’m happy with that. We came to play.”
Foster was followed by Christian Lundgaard’s No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet at 1:13.6352, Scott McLaughlin’s No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet at 1:13.6804, Marcus Ericsson’s No. 28 Andretti Global Honda at 1:13.8383, Dennis Haunger in the No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing at 1:13.9403 and Rinus VeeKay’s No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet at 1:14.0601.
When the session began at 6:45 p.m. Eastern Time, the ambient temperature was 74 degrees Fahrenheit, and the track temperature was 97 degrees as the sun was lower on the horizon and shadows were becoming an issue for the drivers on track.
Nolan Siegel was the first to post fast time at 1:15.1875 followed by Christian Rasmussen on top at 1:14.7008 and then Dennis Hauger that turned the best time at 1:14.1952.
Caio Collet, who had to have his car repaired after a crash in Saturday afternoon practice, ran out of fuel on the race course and that brought out the red flag with 2:03 remaining. Because of that, he lost his two fastest laps.
“I think we changed the hybrid after practice 2 and with everything, I think there was a little bit off,” Collet said. “We were quick all day. I don’t know what to do.
“It hurts because we had the opportunity to be in the Fast Six today. We don’t know how many opportunities we will have in the future.”
During the red flag, Rasmussen’s team worked on a broken toe link. At the time of the red flag, Alex Palou, Marcus Ericsson, Scott McLaughlin were all out of the six cars attempting to advance into the next round.
The green flag waved with 1 minute, 30 seconds left and Palou was on the track attempting to race his way into the next round with little time for error. He was successful by setting the fastest lap of the session at 1:14.0990. McLaughlin also moved into the second at 1:14.1598. Scott Dixon also raced into sixth place at 1:14.4915, replacing teammate Kyffin Simpson in the group of drivers advancing into the Round of 12.
The six drivers that moved on were, in order, Palou at 1:14.0990, McLaughlin at 1:14.1598, Hauger at 1:14.1952, Marcus Ericsson at 1:14.3281 in the No. 28 Honda for Andretti Global, Graham Rahal at 1:14.4891 in the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda and Scott Dixon’s 1:14.4915 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda.
The six drivers that didn’t advance were, in order, Simpson at 1:15.5349 in the No. 8 Sunoco Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing, Christian Rasmussen’s No. 21 ECR Chevrolet at 1:14.7008, Sting Ray Robb’s No. 77 Chevrolet at 1:14.8410, Siegel’s No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet at 1:15.1875, Santino Ferrucci’s No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet at 1:15.6148 and Collet’s No. 4 AJ Foyt Chevrolet at 1:27.9141
