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INDYCAR: Miller’s Toronto Preview
Written by: Robin Miller   
07/09/2009
Indianapolis, IN
 
The Indy Racing League gets its first look at the streets of Toronto this weekend but it's an old friend for half of the 23-car field.

No less than 12 drivers have run around Exhibition Place since it first hosted a CART race in 1986 -- including four former winners.
Watkins Glen winner Justin Wilson looks forward to returning to Toronto. The Briton won the wildly popular street race the last time it was held in 2007. (LAT) ยป More Photos
Hometown hero Paul Tracy had the Canadian crowd in a frenzy in 1993 and 2003 and he's back for his third start of 2009 with KV Racing.

Dario Franchitti first flashed his street-course prowess by snaring the pole position as a CART rookie in 1997 before winning in 1999.

Justin Wilson, who scored the most popular victory of the season last Sunday at Watkins Glen, was a dominant victor in the '05 Champ Car show.

Will Power, returning to the Team Penske stable, won the last open wheel race here in '07 with Champ Car.

Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan competed at Toronto several times in CART before moving to the IRL while Alex Tagliani always ran well here during his CART/Champ Car days and Ryan Hunter-Reay had three starts in Champ Car.

Graham Rahal ran Atlantics and one Champ Car show while Danica Patrick and Rafael Mathos had a pair of starts in Atlantics.

And Michael Andretti, one of the co-promoters of the Honda Indy Toronto, owned this place with seven victories during his CART career.

"A lot of guys are looking forward to going back to Toronto and I know I am," said Tracy, whose triumph in '03 ended with most of the crowd sticking around to sing the Canadian national anthem as he stood atop the podium.

"We struggled a little bit last week because
I'd never been to The Glen but I think our team has a good street course setip and I KNOW this track real well."

Franchitti, tied with Ryan Briscoe for second in the standings and trailing leader Dixon by 19 points, always loved the tight, quick confines of the 1.75-mile circuit that's been altered through the years by construction.

"I haven't raced there in six years and I understand the track is a little different but it should all come back to me pretty quick," said Franchitti, who also won the pole in 1998. "It was always one of the most challenging tracks we went to and I really enjoyed it."

Power, who won the pole at Long Beach in only his second start for Penske last April, has been idle since Indy but is now coming back for five of the final eight races.

"My last memory of Toronto was a good one," he said. "I can't wait to get back in a car and I'm glad it's at a place I really like."

Wilson broke the stranglehold on victory lane shared by Ganassi and Penske this season (they were 8-0 prior to his win) in addition to giving Dale Coyne his initial W after 25 years of trying.

"To come off that win and go to a street course is just what we need to create some momentum," said JWill, who finished third in the street circuit opener at St. Pete after leading late. "Obviously, we've had good cars at St. Pete and Long Beach so the whole team is looking forward to Toronto.

"That was my first win in CART and I'm glad we're going back there."

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, SPEED, FOX, or NewsCorp.
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