Exhibition Place in Toronto hosted American open-wheel car racing, sanctioned by IndyCar and formerly ran as the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto. It was held from 1986 to 2025. The race was held annually in July from 1986 to 2025. In addition to the IndyCar race, several support races were also held, including Indy NXT and the NASCAR Canada Series, as well as vendor exhibits, concerts, and other off-track activities. The street circuit used local roads that wound through and around Exhibition Place and was commonly referred to as the "Streets of Toronto". The race festival took place on a weekend, with the roads closed from Thursday until Monday.

Toronto was classified as an FIA Grade Two circuit.

Circuit

The start/finish line was located on Princes' Boulevard, slightly west of Newfoundland Drive. From the Start/Finish line, drivers head east towards the Princes' Gates, turning right (south) onto Canada Boulevard before reaching the gate. From Canada Boulevard, the track goes right onto Lake Shore Boulevard (west) which comprises the longest straightaway on the circuit (this straightaway is sometimes incorrectly referred to as Shoreline Drive during race telecasts; Shoreline Drive is the start-finish straight at the Grand Prix of Long Beach). Drivers re-enter the Exhibition grounds at Ontario Drive, heading north towards Prince's Boulevard where they turn left (west). The circuit continues on to Manitoba Drive and heads north-east then east until reaching Nova Scotia Avenue. At Nova Scotia Avenue, drivers turn right (south) then navigate a left-right-left series of turns until rejoining Prince's Boulevard and heading east towards the start/finish line.

Exhibition Place is one of eight Canadian circuits to have held an Indy/Champ Car race, the others being Mosport, Concord Pacific Place in Vancouver, Edmonton City Centre Airport, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Sanair Super Speedway, and Markham (coming in 2026).

Lap records

The unofficial track record is 0:57.143, set by Gil de Ferran in a Reynard 99I, during qualifying for the 1999 Molson Indy Toronto. The fastest official race lap records at the Exhibition Place are listed as:

CategoryTimeDriverVehicleEvent Second Grand Prix Circuit (1996–2025): CART 0:58.806 Cristiano da Matta Lola B02/00 2002 Molson Indy Toronto IndyCar 0:59.7140 Will Power Dallara IR-18 2018 Honda Indy Toronto Indy Lights 1:04.0124 Esteban Guerrieri Dallara IPS 2011 Toronto 100 Formula Atlantic 1:05.487 Graham Rahal Swift 016.a 2006 Toronto Formula Atlantic round Indy Pro 2000 1:07.0213 Rasmus Lindh Tatuus PM-18 2019 Indy Pro 2000 Grand Prix of Toronto US F2000 1:10.9853 Rasmus Lindh Tatuus USF-17 2018 US F2000 Grand Prix of Toronto Porsche Carrera Cup 1:11.501 Trenton Estep Porsche 911 (992 I) GT3 Cup 2022 Toronto Porsche Carrera Cup North America round Barber Pro 1:11.771 A. J. Allmendinger Reynard 98E 2002 Toronto Barber Pro round Trans-Am 1:12.149 Paul Gentilozzi Jaguar XKR 2004 Toronto Trans-Am round Radical Cup 1:14.042 Jon Field Radical SR3 SRX 2023 Toronto Radical Cup North America round Super Touring 1:15.599 Randy Pobst Honda Accord 1996 Toronto NATCC round GT4 1:16.730 Charles Robin Mercedes-AMG GT4 2022 Toronto Sports Car Championship Canada round TCR Touring Car 1:17.473 Richard Boake Audi RS 3 LMS TCR (2021) 2023 Toronto Sports Car Championship Canada round F1600 1:18.440 Edouard Aube EuroSwift SC92 1998 Toronto Canadian F1600 round Mazda MX-5 Cup 1:24.7092 Matt Cresci Mazda MX-5 (ND) 2017 Toronto Mazda MX-5 Cup round Original Grand Prix Circuit: 2.871 km (1986–1995): CART 0:58.830 Bobby Rahal Lola T95/00 1995 Molson Indy Toronto Indy Lights 1:03.799 Robbie Buhl Lola T93/20 1995 Toronto Indy Lights round Formula Atlantic 1:04.708 Jacques Villeneuve Ralt RT40 1993 Toronto Formula Atlantic round Trans-Am 1:10.553 Scott Pruett Chevrolet Camaro 1994 Toronto Trans-Am round

Former series A variety of racing series have previously run as support series on the race weekend. These include:

Champ Car World Series (1986–2007) Indy Lights (1986–1999, 2001, 2009–2019) Canadian Formula Ford Championship (1987, 1998–2000, 2002–2003) SCCA Corvette Challenge (1989) Atlantic Championship (1990–2007) Trans-Am Series (1993–1994, 2004–2005, 2010) North American Touring Car Championship (1996–1997) Motorola Cup (1998–2000) CASCAR Super Series (1999–2005) Barber Dodge Pro Series (2001–2003) North American Fran Am 2000 Pro Championship (2003–2004) USF2000 Championship (2006, 2013–2019, 2022–2025) Pirelli World Challenge (2007, 2010, 2013–2014) USF Pro 2000 Championship (2007, 2012–2013, 2015–2016, 2018–2019, 2022–2025) IndyCar Series (2009–2019, 2022–2025) Canadian Touring Car Championship (2009–2011, 2015) NASCAR Pinty's Series (2010–2011, 2016–2019, 2022–2023) Ferrari Challenge North America (2011–2012) Stadium Super Trucks (2013–2016, 2019) Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada (2014–2019) F1600 Super Series (2014) Mazda MX-5 Cup (2017) Porsche Carrera Cup North America (2022) Sports Car Championship Canada (2022–2024) Radical Cup North America (2023–2024) Radical Cup Canada (2023–2025) Miata Canada Cup (2025)

References