Ontario Honda Dealers Indy: Ericsson snaps 63-race winless streak, takes Markham win

MARKHAM, Ontario — Andretti Global driver Marcus Ericsson took his fifth career NTT IndyCar Series win in the chaotic, inaugural Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at the Markham after a late-race pass on Dale Coyne Racing’s Romain Grosjean.

The driver of the No. 28 RVI Group Honda survived six full-course yellows to climb to the lead during the final laps of IndyCar’s race on the Streets of Markham. Ericsson was hungry to get to the top after his final pit stop on Lap 69 of 90. 

The 35-year-old Swedish driver was able to capitalize on a fading Alex Palou to overtake the Spanish driver for second place. Soon afterward, he was able to use his pace and final seconds of push-to-pass to take the lead from Grosjean and hold it to the checkered flag in Canada. 

Throughout the race, Ericsson felt the pace of his No. 28 Andretti Honda. Although he felt the power of his car, he noted during the post-race press conference that he could push the car to stay out to keep his leg up. 

“I felt all the way through, especially in the race, that I had a really fast car,” Ericsson said. “There were key decisions there where we decided to stay out. I was pushing really hard to stay out. I know it was not ideal because I needed a ton of pace to be able to pull out the gap needed to come out in a decent place. But I really felt like the car was just so fast that I wanted to try and stay out and use that to my advantage.”

Green Flag

Louis Foster got a great jump on Christian Lundgaard, as the Arrow McLaren driver defended second place against Scott McLaughlin in Turn 1. Caio Collet had a flat left-rear tire after making brief contact with Felix Rosenqvist on the opening lap. 

Collet entered the pits for a set of soft tires as the No. 4 AJ Foyt Racing team looked at possible suspension damage. As the drivers entered Lap 2, Kyle Kirkwood gained six places and held 16th after going three-wide against Pato O’Ward and Rosenqvist on Lap 1. 

Rosenqvist pitted on Lap 5 due to a slow puncture after contact with Collet. Will Power made a move on Santino Ferrucci to take 20th from the Connecticut native. Soon afterward, the newest Andretti Global driver made a move on his former teammate Josef Newgarden as he climbed up the grid. 

Schumacher out early

The yellow flag came out on Lap 15 when Mick Schumacher caught the inside wall and then crashed into the outside wall in Turn 4 while trying to catch David Malukas. 

After a two-lap full-course caution, Louis Foster restarted the race and got away from Scott McLaughlin in second place. Alex Palou jumped on his championship rival, David Malukas, to take sixth place on the restart. 

Dennis Hauger went wide in the hairpin, dropping from fourth to sixth. Malukas overtook Hauger for sixth place to chase down his title rival, Palou. Hauger caused a traffic jam on Lap 20 at the hairpin as he lifted Christian Rasmussen, then made contact with the adjacent Pato O’Ward.

David Malukas was fighting his brakes, which allowed O’Ward and Christian Lundgaard to move past him. Felix Rosenqvist retired due to a fuel pump issue after losing momentum following contact with Caio Collet. Arrow McLaren driver Nolan Siegel held the net lead in eighth place on Lap 28 as frontrunners were yet to pit. McLaughlin pitted from second place at the start of Lap 29. 

Armstrong’s chaotic moment

On Lap 31, Sting Ray Robb made contact with Marcus Armstrong at the end of the hairpin, sending the No. 66 Honda spinning and stopping in place, which caused the second full-course yellow. 

As the pack came around the hairpin, Armstrong was able to restart his car but ignored the AMR Safety Team’s instructions to stay put, as the Meyer Shank Racing driver attempted to head back to the track on his own. Armstrong was not able to clear the barrier, which caused the pace car to stop and the drivers behind them to take evasive action. 

Rinus VeeKay and Scott McLaughlin both stalled after the field clustered, but they were able to restart their engines on their own. As a result, Armstrong was hit with a 10- second stop-and-go penalty for not following the AMR Safety Team’s instructions. 

Siegel out front

Nolan Siegel took the field back to green on Lap 36 as the previous frontrunners pitted under caution when pit lane opened up. The Arrow McLaren driver was able to get away from Romain Grosjean in second place. Graham Rahal and Will Power both landed moves on Sting Ray Robb and Scott McLaughlin, respectively. 

Rahal took fourth place, and Power took sixth. Alex Palou drag-raced McLaughlin to take seventh from the Team Penske driver ahead of the hairpin. As McLaughlin entered the hairpin, the driver from New Zealand made contact with Power.

Siegel and Grosjean gained some distance from the rest of the field as Dennis Hauger spun Scott Dixon, with Christian Rasmussen unable to evade contact. This incident caused a full-course yellow on Lap 36.

Siegel restarted the race on Lap 41 as Louis Foster took seventh place from Alexander Rossi. Soon afterward, Pato O’Ward eyed eighth place from Rossi, and Foster tried to get ahead of Alex Palou. 

Grosjean took the lead as O’Ward stuck the landing on Rossi, as Kyle Kirkwood got ahead of the Ed Carpenter Racing driver. Foster went around the outside of Palou at the hairpin to land in sixth. David Malukas took 13th place from Rinus VeeKay. 

Foster’s stellar weekend cut short

As Louis Foster tried to make a move on Marcus Ericsson for third place, the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver clipped the inside wall of Turn 3, then crashed nose-first into the outside wall. Foster walked away from the incident and came up empty-handed after leading the most laps (32) at Markham. 

Romain Grosjean led the field back to green on Lap 50 as Ericsson closed in as he eyed the lead. Alex Palou attempted to take seventh from Alexander Rossi and made contact from the inside but was unsuccessful, as Scott McLaughlin took advantage as the four-time IndyCar champion dropped to ninth place. 

Rossi locked up and lost tire pressure from the contact with Palou, as McLaughlin and Palou used this opportunity to get ahead of the No. 20 Chevrolet. The Ed Carpenter Racing driver came into the pit lane as other drivers passed him on the track. 

As Grosjean pitted from the lead for a new set of soft tires, Kyle Kirkwood caused the fifth full-course yellow, making the same mistake as Foster did in Turn 3. 

Ericsson took the grid back to green as Grosjean made a move on Sting Ray Robb for sixth place. Soon afterward, Josef Newgarden got spun by Nolan Siegel, who got hit with a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact. That incident brought out the sixth and final full-course caution. Both drivers were able to get back on track to continue in Markham.

Back to green

With 28 laps to go, Marcus Ericsson restarted the race as Scott McLaughlin got close to Romain Grosjean to take second place from the Frenchman. The drivers were able to keep the hairpin clean on the restart lap as Alex Palou took sixth place from Dennis Hauger. 

Will Power was able to get ahead of Kyffin Simpson as he touched wheels with the driver from the Cayman Islands. Grosjean was back in the lead after Ericsson pitted on Lap 69.

Palou took second place from McLaughlin as the Chip Ganassi Racing driver moved up from the inside with 18 laps remaining. A couple of laps later, David Malukas caught up to his teammate McLaughlin as they battled for a podium finish. 

Pato O’Ward took ninth place from Hauger as Rinus VeeKay tried to take fifth place from Will Power by going around the inside. However, VeeKay could not overtake Power and gave Marcus Ericsson the opportunity to move up to sixth place and Simpson to seventh place. 

As Palou was trying to catch Grosjean for the lead, the Spanish driver made a mistake with 14 laps to go but was able to stop his car from crashing to continue racing. However, Palou lost time correcting that mistake. 

Ericsson’s climb to the top

With nine laps to go, Will Power caught up with Alex Palou. But Power’s teammate Marcus Ericsson tried to make a move on the inside of him, and the two Andretti Global drivers made contact. Both continued with Ericsson taking third place from Power. 

Ericsson caught Palou and made a move on the inside of the hairpin to take second place from the Spanish driver. With the lead in his sights, Ericsson had the pace and the push-to-pass remaining to catch up to Romain Grosjean. Palou lost a spot to Power as the Andretti driver took third place. 

The driver of the No. 28 RVI Honda used his push-to-pass to take the lead from Grosjean with five laps to go, denying the Frenchman’s maiden IndyCar win. Kyffin Simpson spun out at the hairpin but avoided a full-course caution as he got back on track. 

Ericsson maintained his lead until the end, taking his fifth career IndyCar win at the new Markham Street Circuit. Grosjean finished second, and Power rounded out the podium in third.

The NTT IndyCar Series will visit another new track to celebrate the United States’ 250th year of independence, with the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington DC. Coverage begins at 11:30 a.m. ET on FOX.

Results: 2026 Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham Street Circuit

GRID Ranking

The 2026 GRID Ranking is the 10th year of the world’s premier motorsports ranking system, which was initially released on Sunday, April 5.

The official ranking includes drivers participating in seven racing series (NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula 1, Formula E, WRC, Supercars, MotoGP). Each driver earns GRID Ratings, which help determine their seeding in the GRID Ranking.

GRID Ranking Week 20 IndyCar drivers:

DRIVER	OLD RATING	PREVIOUS RANKING	MOST RECENT FINISH	NEW RATING	NEW RANKING
Alex Palou	17.08	1st	4th	17.00	1st
Christian Lundgaard	11.62	13th	6th	11.36	13th
Kyle Kirkwood	12.08	10th	21st	11.21	15th
David Malukas	10.00	22nd	17th	9.29	26th
Pato O’Ward	N/A	N/A	5th	8.50	32nd