Marcus Ericsson won the first IndyCar race ever run on the streets of Markham, Ontario — and led fewer laps than two of the men who didn’t. Louis Foster, the pole-sitter, led 32. Romain Grosjean, who ran up front for much of the second half, led 28. Ericsson led 21, all of them at the end, which turned out to be the only laps that counted.
A Record Pole, Then a Wall
Foster gave Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing the first NTT P1 Award in Markham history on Saturday, lapping the new 2.19-mile, 12-turn temporary circuit in 1 minute, 13.2383 seconds — four-tenths of a second quicker than Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard and enough to stand as the track’s inaugural qualifying record. It was the second pole of his INDYCAR career and the first he’d won on a street course rather than a permanent road circuit.
He backed it up in the race, too, for a while. Foster led 32 of the 90 laps, more than anyone else in the field, before putting the No. 45 Honda into the wall 42 laps in. He finished 22nd, 21 positions behind where he started and 48 laps short of the checkered flag.
Grosjean’s Near-Miss, Ericsson’s Timing
Romain Grosjean inherited the lead when Foster crashed, and he made the most of it. Back at Dale Coyne Racing this year after a season as a reserve driver, Grosjean led 28 laps — seven more than race winner Marcus Ericsson would lead all day — and looked, for a stretch, like he might pull off a genuine upset. Ericsson had other plans. Working forward from fourth on the grid, the Andretti Global driver took control for the final 21 laps and crossed the line 7.5 seconds ahead of Grosjean’s No. 18.
It fit a pattern. Three of Ericsson’s four career INDYCAR victories have come on street circuits, including the inaugural downtown Nashville race in 2021. Markham makes it two wins in two tries at brand-new street venues — which is either a coincidence or the best argument yet for betting on him whenever the series shows up somewhere for the first time.
Third From Last, Second Podium in a Row
Will Power’s route to third was the most dramatic of all. The Andretti Global driver wrecked his primary setup in Saturday’s second practice, needed a right-side rebuild, and lined up dead last for Sunday’s race. He spent 90 laps working forward to finish on the podium, his second straight after a third-place run last week at Portland — a rare bright spot in Power’s first season away from Team Penske, a partnership that lasted 17 years before he moved to Andretti Global for 2026.
The finish behind him was tighter than the results sheet lets on. Power’s margin over fourth-place Alex Palou was 0.19 seconds, and fifth-place Pato O’Ward crossed just 0.61 seconds behind Power after two hours and sixteen minutes of racing.
Palou’s Bad Day That Still Wasn’t
IndyCar’s points leader had his own rough Saturday. Alex Palou crashed twice into the Turn 10 wall during the Top 12 qualifying session, snapping a personal streak of 30 consecutive top-10 starts that dated back to the end of the 2024 season. “My mistake. It’s on me,” he said afterward. A six-spot grid penalty against Alexander Rossi, for an engine change made after Portland, bumped Palou up to 11th on the grid, and he drove the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda forward to finish fourth.
That was more than enough. Kyle Kirkwood, Palou’s closest championship pursuer, was collected in a crash 53 laps in and finished 21st. David Malukas, third in points, managed only 17th. Palou’s fourth-place finish widened his championship cushion over Kirkwood from 110 points to 133 with four races left on the schedule — the kind of gap that survives even his own mistakes.
What’s Next
Markham’s debut was also a preview of sorts. IndyCar’s 2026 calendar is stacked with first-time venues down the stretch, and the series moves to Washington, D.C. next Sunday for another street race making its debut. With a five-year deal already in place for Markham, Sunday’s chaos won’t be a one-off — Ontario’s newest street circuit will be back, and after a debut this eventful, the bar for a boring rematch just got a lot higher.
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