Live from Trackside – Toronto

Sunday, July 20
6:30 p.m.
When it really mattered there at the end, the No. 83 Levemir® FlexTouch® Chevrolet was quick. I have to give a huge amount of credit to the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing crew – they just always seem to get it right with the strategy. It was really nice to see a couple of Chip Ganassi cars up there in front and at one point it looked even better when we were all running third through sixth. It was tough conditions with the rain and concrete patches on the track, but we were able to push through all of the elements and make some passes at the right times. I’ll take the fourth place, especially heading into Mid-Ohio.

Thanks again to the fans who stuck it out with us… glad we were able to put on two good shows today!

Team pow-wow before race 2.

Ready to pit!

2:30 p.m.
What a day so far! And we still have one more race to go. We’re pretty happy with how the first race finished. We picked our way through, made the fuel mileage number we needed to, and made some good on-track passes. The Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing guys were awesome for pit stops, so we made up time there too. Not only did we advance 11 spots during race 1, but it was an all-Chevy podium with six Chevys in the top-10! The No. 83 Levemir® FlexTouch® Chevrolet is ready for race 2. We’ll work to make it a little better and hope to improve a few spots during the race this afternoon.

Tune in to NBC Sports Network at 3 p.m. Eastern for more IndyCar action!

Pre-race 1, Sunday edition

Saturday, July 19
7:20 p.m.
Well that was… interesting. We started getting some precipitation not too long after qualifying this morning and unfortunately it never let up. Normally we would race on rain tires on a street course but once we got out on track, the spray was too much. After a long wait including some movement of the cars from pit lane to the pit box (and back to pit lane again), IndyCar Race Control cancelled all track activity for the day due to the weather conditions.

Here’s the just-announced schedule for tomorrow, Sunday, July 20:
Race 1: 10:30 a.m. Eastern
Live on CNBC (and Sportsnet 360 in Canada)
65 laps, two-wide rolling start
Starting order set by Saturday’s qualifying

Race 2: 4:15 p.m. Eastern
Live on NBC Sports Network (and Sportsnet East, Ontario, West and Pacific in Canada)
65 laps, standing start
Starting order set by entrant points

Learn more about tomorrow’s two races here. A huge thanks to all of the fans who stayed in the rain and waited for a race today! You are why IndyCar has the best fans out there. We hope to see you again tomorrow for twice the fun.

On the grid before race 1.

Cars on pit lane during a red flag.

At the pit box during the red flag.

Thanks to the amazing fans for sticking it out with us!

Dry gloves = awesome.

11:30 a.m.
It’s race day! Unfortunately we didn’t have an ideal qualifying session thing morning. The car just wasn’t quite where we wanted it to be, and we got caught up in some traffic during our session. We’ll start P20 but as we’ve proved in the past, I know we can move up from there.

We have a bit of time before green flag this afternoon, so I’ll take the chance to look over data with my engineers, talk with the other drivers about setups and maybe take some downtime to myself. Tune in to race 1 at 3 p.m. Eastern on NBCSN!

Friday, July 18
3:50 p.m.
The No. 83 Levemir® FlexTouch® Chevrolet made a lot of progress in both practices today. We came in with some unanswered questions and some changes we needed to backtrack on, and after today I think we’re really starting to put the pieces together. This street course surface is definitely a rough one–I can even tell a difference from just last year–so that’s taking a bit of time to get adjusted to. I feel confident that we’re heading in a good direction for tomorrow, and I’m excited to see what the car can do on new tires.

Ready to go for practice 1 in Toronto!

Pit stop practice for the No. 83 crew.

A view of Exhibition Place from pit lane.

Changes during practice 2.

Ready to go for standing start practice.

8:15 a.m.
Good morning! It’s a beautiful day here in Toronto and it looks like it will stay dry and mostly sunny for both practice sessions. Watch both practices live via INDYCAR Race Control at 10 a.m. and 1:55 p.m. Eastern.

I’m off to a drivers’ meeting, but while you’re waiting for practice 1 (because it’s Friday and I know you’ll be watching from work…), check out this story from the Toronto Star about how I monitor my glucose levels while racing and how I prep for double-headers.

Ever wanted to take a tour of an IndyCar transporter? Here’s your chance: I gave Sportsnet a quick look inside the Chip Ganassi Racing transporters yesterday, and you can now watch it here. Enjoy!

Thursday, July 17
10:30 a.m.
It’s exciting to have the No. 83 Levemir® FlexTouch® Chevrolet and the whole Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team back here in Toronto. We had success there the last few years, getting my first IndyCar Series podium on the streets of Toronto. It’s always a great event–one of the highlights on the calendar for me. Having already been on the podium this year for the streets of Belle Isle in Detroit, I’m looking forward to repeating that, doing a few steps better and picking up a win this weekend in Toronto.

Today’s agenda is pretty straightforward… lots of time with my engineers, an interview with Sportsnet, and the track walk this afternoon. But I know once things get started for this double-header weekend, we’ll get busy quickly!

Here’s a race weekend schedule (all times Eastern):
Friday, July 18
10-10:45 a.m. Practice
1:55-2:50 p.m. Practice and Standing Start Practice
Saturday, July 19
10-11:10 a.m. Qualifying #1 (delayed broadcast on NBC Sports Network at 1:30 p.m.)
3 p.m. Race #1 (broadcast live on NBC Sports Network)
Sunday, July 20
10-10:30 a.m. Qualifying #2
12-1 p.m. Autograph session (in the INDYCAR Fan Village)
3 p.m. Race #2 (broadcast live on NBC Sports Network)

Catch live timing and scoring for all on-track sessions (and live video for practice sessions) via INDYCAR Race Control. Follow my Pit Lane Reporter (PLR) on Twitter @racewithinsulin for more behind-the-scenes action!