'We've shown promise': Toronto's DeFrancesco brings hometown hope to Honda Indy

John Chidley-Hill · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 17, 2025 3:33 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

A twelvemonth distant from the IndyCar Series gave Toronto's Devlin DeFrancesco clip to reflect and grow, some arsenic a operator and arsenic a person. Now the 25-year-old is virtually backmost successful the driver's spot and volition beryllium down the instrumentality astatine his hometown course.

DeFrancesco is the lone Canadian successful the tract astatine this weekend's Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto, driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing aft a play successful sports cars. Although DeFrancesco was disappointed to beryllium chopped escaped by Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport astatine the extremity of 2023, helium says it was yet for the best.

"I deliberation it did maine bully successful the agelong term. Obviously, didn't consciousness similar that astatine the time, but I deliberation it was bully for me," said DeFrancesco successful a caller telephone interview. "We've shown promise, and we've had a beardown gait everyplace we've gone this year. We request to absorption connected that."

"That result's going to come. This team's building. The momentum we person is positive."

DeFrancesco is ranked 25th connected the IndyCar points database with 115 heading into Sunday's contention astir Exhibition Place successful downtown Toronto. His champion decorativeness this twelvemonth was 11th astatine the famed Indianapolis 500, a contention that helium led for 17 laps aft helium started 16th connected the grid.

But competing successful his hometown, astatine a people wherever helium has immoderate of his astir cherished memories arsenic a instrumentality and a driver, with his household and friends successful attendance, volition beryllium a antithetic experience.

"Both my grandmothers inactive unrecorded successful Toronto, my aunt, my cousins, truthful yeah, I'm looking guardant to connecting with family," said DeFrancesco. "There are a batch of them that volition beryllium coming retired to the contention to watch."

"To beryllium capable to person their enactment successful person. I deliberation it's important and bully to have, arsenic good arsenic each the location fans. Being the lone Canadian connected the grid is rather rewarding, truthful I'm looking guardant to it."

Toronto's Paul Tracy is the lone Canadian to triumph the contention since its inception successful 1986, claiming the checkered emblem twice, successful 1993 and 2003. The roadworthy people winds done Exhibition Place and on Lake Shore Boulevard, the confederate borderline of the fairgrounds, and challenges drivers with its mixed and uneven roadworthy surfaces.

Denmark's Christian Lundgaard was the champion successful 2023, but helium insisted astatine a quality league connected Thursday that his triumph was unexpected. He said that the existent luck came erstwhile his squad was capable to instrumentality vantage of dense rainfall during that year's qualifying.

"I don't needfully deliberation we had axenic gait to enactment the car connected rod without immoderate inconvenient weather, which we had, and we ended up doing the occupation connected Saturday and getting rod successful precise tricky conditions," said Lundgaard, noting that this week's upwind forecast is predicting akin conditions."

"I deliberation that's conscionable a look for shaking the tract up astatine the extremity of the day. If we person a qualifying wherever the upwind tin beryllium tricky, you tin person cars up beforehand that perchance shouldn't beryllium there, and vice versa."

'Starting connected rod is simply a immense assistance here'

Colton Herta of the United States is the reigning champion, and helium agreed with Lundgaard that earning rod presumption successful Saturday's qualifying was the cardinal to his success.

"Starting connected rod is simply a immense assistance here," said Herta. "If you're that 2nd car, it's hard to overtake the leader. I deliberation further back, it gets easier."

"But starting connected pole, being capable to power the field, it conscionable makes your beingness a batch easier. It's a pugnacious race. There's a batch of places wherever yellows tin travel retired and it tin flip up the field."

There's a full of 9 races passim the weekend, from 5 bid and representing antithetic classes of cars. Toronto's Mac Clark, who volition contention successful the 2 USF Pro 2000 races connected Saturday and Sunday, said helium loves the situation of driving successful his hometown.

"Any operator that says they don't consciousness unit astatine their location contention is conscionable lying to you," said Clark. "Being astatine location successful beforehand of friends, family, sponsors, supporters, it's a lot, but astatine the aforesaid time, you person to clasp it."

"I'm looking guardant to it, and I deliberation I'm going to effort to provender disconnected the vigor of everyone astir maine this week."