The inaugural race on 20 July 1986 was held under the CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) banner. The event ran as a CART fixture through 2003, then continued under the Champ Car World Series label from 2004 to 2007. After a one-year gap in 2008, it returned with the newly unified IndyCar Series in 2009 and ran continuously at Exhibition Place through 2025, when it relocated to Markham, Ontario. The race was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Title sponsorship has changed multiple times across the event's history — from Molson through various backers to Honda, whose automotive brand became associated with the event under the IndyCar banner.
The temporary street circuit at Exhibition Place measured 1.755 miles (2.824 km) and used Lake Shore Boulevard along the Toronto waterfront alongside passages through the Exhibition Place fairgrounds complex on the western edge of downtown Toronto. The layout combined high-speed sections on the boulevard with tighter passages through the venue grounds.
The 2013 Honda Indy Toronto was the 27th running of the event and, for the first time in its 28-year history, was held as two separate races on consecutive days — rounds 12 and 13 of the 2013 IndyCar Series season. Both races were contested over 85 laps of the 1.755-mile circuit.
Race 1 on 13 July was won by Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing, who drove from fifth on the grid to victory in 1:41:17.0605. Pole position had been taken by Dario Franchitti with a lap of 59.6756 seconds (105.872 mph). Sebastien Bourdais of Dragon Racing finished second and Franchitti third, though Franchitti's third place was initially taken away by a 25-second penalty for blocking Will Power on the final lap — a penalty that was later rescinded. Ryan Briscoe broke his wrist in an accident during Race 1. Helio Castroneves set the race's fastest lap at 59.8267 seconds.
Race 2 on 14 July was dominated by Dixon, who started from pole — a lap of 58.9686 seconds (107.142 mph) — and led 81 of the 85 laps to win in 1:35:02.3755. Castroneves finished second and Bourdais third. A collision in the final laps eliminated Will Power, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Takuma Sato. Franchitti set the fastest lap at 59.7982 seconds. Indy Lights driver Carlos Munoz substituted for the injured Briscoe in Race 2.
The double-victory was Dixon's first wins at Toronto and represented the fifth and sixth IndyCar victories in Toronto for Chip Ganassi Racing. Dixon also won the preceding Pocono IndyCar 400, giving him three consecutive wins. After the Toronto weekend he moved from fourth in the championship standings to second, 29 points behind Castroneves.
Michael Andretti holds the all-time race victory record at the event with seven wins. Newman/Haas Racing leads teams with seven victories. The event's "Fan Fridays" initiative, which accepted charitable donations in lieu of paid admission for Friday practice sessions, raised over $820,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation as of 2019.
Gallery · 1 related image
