Rahal, Foster and Schumacher Head to a New Canadian Venue for the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham – Streets of Markham, Ontario, Canada
Pre-Race Notes
Round 14 of 18 in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES

DATE:     August 14-16, 2026

PRACTICE BROADCAST:     Live on FS2 on Friday from 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. ET and Saturday from 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. on FS1 and Sunday from 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. ET on FS1.  Also live on the INDYCAR Radio Network (IRN) and www.indycar.com (timing & scoring + live analysis).

QUALIFYING BROADCAST:     Live on FS1, the IRN and www.indycar.com (timing & scoring + live analysis) from 2:30 – 4:00 p.m. ET Saturday.

RACE BROADCAST:     Live on FOX on Sunday, August 16 from 12:00 – 2:30 p.m. ET. And also on the IRN Sirius
XM INDYCAR Nation 218.

TRACK LAYOUT:     2.19-mile, 12-turn temporary street course
RACE LENGTH:     90 laps / 197.1 miles

2025 WINNER:     Inaugural race in Markham; 2025 Toronto winner – Pato O’Ward
2025 POLESITTER:     Inaugural race in Markham; 2025 Toronto pole – Colton Herta, 107.461 mph

RAHAL’S BEST TORONTO START / FINISH:     2nd in 2017 / 4th in 2022; will be his 19th Indy car race in Ontario, Canada and 20th overall
RAHAL’S BEST SERIES START / FINISH:     5 poles – Pole at St. Pete (street) 2009, Kansas (oval) 2009, Detroit Race 1 (street) 2017, IMS (road) 2023 August, Portland (road) / 6 wins – 1st in St. Pete in 2008, Fontana & Mid-Ohio 2015, Texas 2016, Detroit Race 1 & Race 2 2017

FOSTER’S BEST TORONTO START / FINISH:     7th / 21st – both in 2025; second race in Ontario, Canada
FOSTER’S BEST SERIES START / FINISH:     Pole at Road America 2025 / 7th (Indy GP and Detroit 2027)

SCHUMACHER’S BEST TORONTO START / FINISH:     Will be his first race here
SCHUMACHER’S BEST SERIES START / FINISH:     4th (Phoenix oval 2026) / 8th (Nashville oval 2026)

RLL’S BEST START / FINISH AT TORONTO:     2 Poles (B. Rahal 1992; Lundgaard 2023) / 1 Win (Lundgaard 2023)

NEWS & NOTES:

RLL IN TORONTO – 1 WIN, 6 PODIUMS AND 2 POLES
The 2026 Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham will mark the 25th year of Indy car racing for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) in Ontario, Canada and first in Markham after competing in Toronto previous years. The event will be held on the streets of Downtown Markham, a unique site situated within the growing downtown core of Markham, Ontario. The track utilizes the Unionville GO station parking lot and the surrounding streets near the Markham YMCA and Markham Pan Am Centre. Prior to racing in Markham, the team also competed in the Atlantic Series races in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 2003 and 2004. The team won in 2023 with Christian Lundgaard, earned four second place finishes (Rahal 1992, 1994, 1995; Michel Jourdain Jr. 2003), and finished third in 1996 (B. Rahal) in Toronto. In total, the team has earned SIX podiums (3rd – Rahal 1996), 11 top-five’s and 25 top-10 finishes at the track. RLL’s best start is pole in 1992 by Bobby Rahal and 2023 by Christian Lundgaard.  Prior to the 2026 event, the team prepared a total of 47 Indy car entries. The No. 15 United Rentals entry for Graham Rahal, the No. 45 Droplight entry for Louis Foster and the No. 47 ENVE entry for Mick Schumacher will bring the Indy car total to 50 in 2026.

GRAHAM RAHAL IN ONTARIO
The 2026 Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham will be Graham Rahal’s 19th Indy car race in Ontario, Canada and 20th overall (Atlantic 2006) here. In 18 Indy car races, his best start of second came in 2017 with RLL and best finish of fourth came in 2022. He has four, top five starts and nine, top 10 finishes. Full results from the Toronto events are available upon request. Bobby Rahal won the first race held on the streets of Toronto in 1986. After earning three podium finishes on road and street courses this season, Graham Rahal is hoping to also make his mark on the inaugural race in Markham.
“We have been on the simulator with Honda, so we’ve been able to do a little prep work in that area. I’ll be in it Wednesday and do some laps. The track looks good. There are some long straightaways, and I think it will be fairly bumpy, but most street courses are. Overall, from what I see, it looks good; I’m excited. A new race gives us a fresh take on things. I always loved going to Toronto, but it’s not too terribly far away so people can come out to the race. It might even be easier with their transit system, to be honest. The street course program for us this year has been mixed so we’ve got a little work to do there. I had some good results and obviously a podium at Detroit, which took a little luck but that’s the way things go and hopefully the luck continues in our favor in Markham as well.”

FOSTER IN ONTARIO, CANADA
This will mark Louis Foster’s second INDYCAR race in Ontario, Canada. Last year in Toronto, he ran in podium contention until race car damage contributed to a 21st place finish. He started seventh and dropped to eighth on the opening lap when eventual second place finisher Veekay passed him. Multiple strategies came into play when a caution came out for McLaughlin on Lap 3 and Foster moved up to third on his primary tires. He ran as high as second for seven laps and was passed by Malukas. His race outcome was limited when he passed rookie Abel, and their cars briefly touched. A problem would later surface and he had to pit for repairs on Lap 44/90. The team worked quickly to identify the problem and replace his lower left A-arm before he rejoined the race. He ultimately was scored with a 21st place finish, 23 laps down. Foster competed on the streets of Toronto two times in the USF Pro 2000 series, both in 2022. In the doubleheader, Foster won both poles, set the fastest lap in both races and won both races en route to the championship in his rookie season. He has been building momentum after some strong sessions at Portland and hopes to continue that in Markham.
“We’ve done some SIM work for the Markham race so we have some information to work with. How much of it is going to be realistic, we will find out when we get there but it seems like the course as a whole, looks quite challenging. And particularly, the hairpin looks quite hard. There are a few corners here and there that are quite bumpy so we’re going into it with no expectations and just seeing how it comes to us.
“This is our only international race so it’s very important for us as a series to have this race on the calendar. It’s cool to cross the border and celebrate INDYCAR racing with the Canadian fans. We’ve always had great fans at Toronto every year so I’m hoping that with the new venue, we not only retain all those fans, but also get some new ones.
(On the challenge of a new venue:) “If you’ve got a good engineering group and a good core of people, you’re going to figure it out faster than everyone else. The disparity between first and last will always be bigger at a new circuit, but I don’t necessarily think that just because it’s a new circuit means that it equalizes everything.”

SCHUMACHER IN CANADA
Like the rest of the field, Schumacher will get his first experience on the track on Friday. Markham is one of only three tracks this season that it will happen – the others being new races in Arlington and Washington, D.C.. He competed in Canada in 2022 in the Formula One series where he qualified sixth but retired due to an engine failure after 19/70 laps. He has continued to gain valuable experience this season and is hoping to better his existing top start of fourth place in Phoenix and eighth in Nashville.
“I’m looking forward to getting back to Canada. I really liked Montreal; it was a fun track to race in F1. I’m very excited to see how Markham is going to be. Being in Canada makes me feel at home a little bit because they’re on kilometers an hour. I’m excited to go there and see the track for myself.
“I’ve done a sim (simulator) session to prepare for the race, and it was interesting. It’s obviously very early days and very hard to imagine how it’s going to be. These tracks, especially when they’re new, tend to be a little bit different than what they are in the simulator. It’s going to be the same for everybody else too at the end of the day. From what I felt in the sim and what I hear, it’s going to be very bumpy. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

POINTS BATTLE AFTER 14 OF 18 RACES
Heading into Round 14 of 18 at the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham, Rahal is in 13th place in the point standings with a total of 236. Foster is 18th with 188 and Schumacher is 24th with 146.