Marcus Ericsson ended a three-year INDYCAR winless streak with a spectacular late charge through the field, passing Romain Grosjean with four laps remaining to win the inaugural Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham.
The Andretti Global driver used an aggressive strategy that allowed him to run longer than his rivals before making his final stop, then carved his way through the leading group on fresher tires and without the same fuel-saving demands facing those ahead.
Ericsson completed the decisive pass on Grosjean on Lap 86 and pulled clear over the final four laps to claim his fifth career NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory and first since the 2023 season opener at St. Petersburg.
Grosjean finished second for Dale Coyne Racing after leading 28 laps and coming agonizingly close to his first INDYCAR victory.
Will Power completed the podium after an extraordinary recovery from 25th on the grid, while championship leader Alex Palou survived a chaotic afternoon to finish fourth.
Pato O’Ward rounded out the top five for Arrow McLaren.
The first INDYCAR race on the new 12-turn Markham street circuit quickly developed into one of the most unpredictable events of the season.
Louis Foster started from pole and initially appeared capable of turning his breakthrough qualifying performance into a first career victory.
The Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver controlled the opening 32 laps and built an advantage approaching three seconds before the first major pit sequence changed the complexion of his race.
Several of the frontrunners stopped before Foster, including Palou, Scott McLaughlin, Power and Ericsson.
A caution shortly afterward trapped Foster on the wrong side of the pit cycle and dropped him outside the top 10.
The setback appeared temporary.
Foster immediately began charging back through the field and had already recovered several positions when he approached Ericsson for third on Lap 43.
Attempting to make the pass entering Turn 3, Foster clipped the inside wall.
The contact sent his car violently across the circuit and head-on into the outside barrier, ending what had been a potentially race-winning performance.
Foster climbed from the car without injury, but his afternoon was over.
The accident was one of several major incidents on a circuit that punished even small mistakes.
Mick Schumacher triggered the first caution of the race when he hit the wall at Turn 4 on Lap 15.
Five laps later, rookie Dennis Hauger became involved in contact at the Turn 5 hairpin with Christian Rasmussen and O’Ward as the field fought through one of the circuit’s primary passing zones.
The race became increasingly chaotic during the middle stint.
Scott Dixon was spun following contact with Hauger and collected Rasmussen, leaving Dixon with significant rear suspension damage.
When the race resumed, Grosjean moved into the lead while Foster began his charge back toward the front.
Foster’s crash on Lap 43 brought the field together again and placed the Andretti Global trio of Ericsson, Power and Kyle Kirkwood directly behind Grosjean in the running order.
Kirkwood’s race then ended in almost identical fashion to Foster’s.
Running third behind his Andretti teammates, Kirkwood clipped the inside wall approaching Turn 3 and was launched into the outside barrier.
The crash eliminated Palou’s closest championship rival and dramatically changed the title picture.
Another restart brought more trouble.
Nolan Siegel carried too much speed into the Turn 5 hairpin and struck Josef Newgarden, spinning the Team Penske driver and leaving him stalled.
Siegel was penalized for avoidable contact.
Through all of the interruptions, Ericsson and Andretti Global continued working a strategy built around running long.
When racing resumed on Lap 63, Ericsson was leading but still needed another stop.
Rather than immediately giving up the position, the Swede used the opportunity to attack.
Ericsson produced some of the fastest laps of the race and stretched his advantage over Grosjean to more than 13 seconds before finally making his stop around Lap 70.
The strategy dropped him back into the pack, but it gave him two important advantages.
His tires were considerably fresher than those of the drivers ahead, and unlike several of his rivals, he did not need to aggressively save fuel to reach the finish.
Ericsson initially emerged behind VeeKay and Power before beginning his charge.
Power passed VeeKay for fifth and quickly began working toward the Team Penske cars ahead.
Ericsson followed.
With the laps counting down, both Andretti drivers sliced through the field.
Power reached fourth on Lap 78 and moved into third one lap later.
Ericsson was moving even faster.
After clearing the Penske cars, he caught Power and attempted an aggressive move at the Turn 5 hairpin on Lap 82.
Ericsson locked the brakes and made contact with his teammate, but both cars continued.
The move put Ericsson ahead and directly behind Palou.
Two laps later, Ericsson attacked again at the same corner and passed the championship leader.
That left only Grosjean.
With six laps remaining, Ericsson faced a gap of approximately 1.5 seconds to the Dale Coyne Racing driver.
It disappeared quickly.
Grosjean had spent the final stint managing both fuel and tires after stopping considerably earlier, while Ericsson was free to attack.
On Lap 86, the Andretti driver completed the pass for the lead.
Grosjean had no response.
Ericsson immediately pulled away and took the checkered flag to end a 63-race winless streak.
For Grosjean, second place represented his best result since finishing runner-up at Barber Motorsports Park in 2023.
It was also another frustrating near miss.
The former Formula 1 driver has now finished second six times during his INDYCAR career without reaching victory lane.
Power’s third-place finish was nearly as remarkable as Ericsson’s victory.
After crashing during practice and starting last in the 25-car field, the two-time series champion methodically worked his way through the chaos and ultimately gave Andretti Global two cars on the podium.
Palou finished fourth after beginning the race outside the top 10 following a rare qualifying mistake.
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver endured contact, changing strategy and several restarts but avoided the major incidents that eliminated others around him.
O’Ward finished fifth as the highest Chevrolet-powered entry, with Arrow McLaren teammate Christian Lundgaard sixth.
VeeKay continued his run of strong finishes with seventh for Juncos Hollinger Racing, while McLaughlin finished eighth.
Graham Rahal and Santino Ferrucci completed the top 10.
2026 Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham Top 10
- Marcus Ericsson — Andretti Global
- Romain Grosjean — Dale Coyne Racing
- Will Power — Andretti Global
- Alex Palou — Chip Ganassi Racing
- Pato O’Ward — Arrow McLaren
- Christian Lundgaard — Arrow McLaren
- Rinus VeeKay — Juncos Hollinger Racing
- Scott McLaughlin — Team Penske
- Graham Rahal — Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
- Santino Ferrucci — A.J. Foyt Enterprises
The championship implications were almost as significant as the battle for the victory.
Kirkwood’s crash and David Malukas’ 17th-place finish allowed Palou to dramatically increase an already commanding points advantage.
With four races remaining, Palou left Markham 133 points ahead of Kirkwood and 137 ahead of Malukas.
For Ericsson, however, Markham was about finally converting a season of improving performances into a victory.
The 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner had not reached Victory Lane since St. Petersburg more than three years earlier.
He ended that drought with one of the most aggressive closing stints of the season.
After making his final stop, Ericsson had to pass nearly everyone who mattered.
He caught Power.
He passed Palou.
Then he erased Grosjean’s advantage and took the lead with four laps remaining.
On a new circuit that produced crashes, cautions and constantly shifting strategy, Ericsson and Andretti Global made the final gamble work.
And when the opportunity appeared, Ericsson drove like a driver who had waited long enough to win again.
