Markham Gets Canada’s IndyCar Weekend as the Series Leaves Exhibition Place
Festival week opened Monday for the first Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham. Race weekend is August 14–16 on a new downtown street circuit, with the 90-lap IndyCar race Sunday just after noon ET.
MARKHAM — Canada’s IndyCar race has a new address. On Monday, Markham opened festival week for the first Ontario Honda Dealers Indy on its own downtown streets, with the full weekend set for August 14–16 and the main event Sunday afternoon.
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES stop that spent decades at Exhibition Place on Toronto’s lakeshore now runs through Markham Centre. Circuit planner Tony Cotman drew a temporary 12-turn, 2.19-mile (3.52 km) layout between Kennedy Road, Enterprise Boulevard, the Unionville GO tracks, and Highway 407.
Race day is Sunday, August 16: 90 laps, about 197 miles, with the green flag listed for 12:22 p.m. ET on FOX and FOX One. Friday practice and Saturday qualifying fill out the same pavement, with NASCAR Canada, USF Pro 2000, USF2000, and Radical Cup Canada on the support card.
Toronto’s hold loosened as FIFA World Cup soccer at BMO Field and other Exhibition Place changes squeezed the old venue. Markham signed a five-year deal with Green Savoree Racing Promotions and IndyCar. Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward won the last Toronto running. Across the older layouts, Scott Dixon, Will Power, and Josef Newgarden stacked wins. This weekend, the field starts from scratch.
The new track borrows a few modern street-race tricks. There’s a double-sided pit lane like Detroit’s 2023 debut, a Turn 5 hairpin, and a long run to Turn 6. The Turn 3 grandstand sits next to the festival site, so the braking zone and the crowd share a block.
Mayor Frank Scarpitti called it a world-class event landing on local streets. James Hinchcliffe, the former IndyCar driver who grew up in Markham, put it closer to home: this is where his racing dreams started, and he wants Ontario fans lining those same roads. Organizers are talking about more than 150,000 people over three days and roughly 250 international media credentials. Treat those as targets. They still explain why York Region hotel nights and GO timing will matter as much as picking a grandstand.
The Ontario Honda Dealers title also lands in a city where plenty of Asian Canadian households already shop Honda, circle plaza lots, and live on the 404/407 rhythm. Markham and Richmond Hill aren’t a random suburb for that badge. If you’re also thinking about the three-row or hybrid that has to work the other 51 weeks, our GTA region guide is the longer read.
Before you buy, keep the calendars apart. Montreal’s Canadian Grand Prix is Formula 1 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. July’s ImportFest was the indoor modified-car show downtown; Markham is temporary barriers and open-wheel noise. Free Fan Friday seating is first-come, Saturday and Sunday grandstands are reserved, and gate sales are cashless. Full closures and teardown stretch past race day, so mid-August Markham Centre will drive like a construction zone with a concert next door.
On track, Chip Ganassi’s Alex Palou arrives as points leader after three straight titles and last weekend’s Portland win. He’s already been sharp on street courses this year. Next week the series tries another brand-new temporary circuit in Washington, D.C.
For sessions and tickets in one place, use our Indy at Markham 2026 event page. Decide early whether you’re chasing Friday practice or the FOX window Sunday, and lock parking or GO before race morning gets ugly.