The ground trembles as flashes of orange, green and blue zoom by at break-neck speed and with ear-splitting noise.

Overhead, the announcer’s voice blasts through overhead speakers as he narrates the action on the track. 

“… they’re coming to turn number six… as a group is starting to separate on the field…”

The race cars wind through the track that runs along the Lakeshore and loops back into the Direct Energy Centre. As the drivers come back around, they rev their engines and blast through the main stretch at more than 300 kilometres an hour. The smell of burning rubber fills the stands. Number 8, EJ Viso, comes off the track and races to his team’s KV Racing Technology pit stop.

His team scrambles around the car and a hydraulic lift raises his car as four engineers pull out their drills and hatch on new tires. Within ten seconds his car plops down on the ground and his wheels burn away at the concrete as they spin into action and rejoin the pack.

Meanwhile, the announcer continues his play-by-play. “… Helio [Castroneves] continues to drive aggressively and it looks like he’s going to try to pass Number 14, Vitor Meira, as they come up to the next turn…”

Castroneves’ front right tire hits Meira. Fans in the packed stands let out a long “Oooo!”  as parts of his car go flying in the air. “... Helio just hit Meira!...” the announcer cries.

His car bangs into the concrete barriers, skidding alongside it before crashing into a sea of tire barriers. Safety crews are rushing to the site, while other safety cars slow down the pack as they cautiously drive around the course.

“… He’s done, he’s out of the race! Helio Castroneves’ day ends early as he lands in 24^th place at the Toronto Indy.”

The Toronto Honda Indy was held July 16 to 18 and it was a huge success. Will Power, who wasn’t one of the prominent racers for the majority of the race, was victorious at the end of the day — taking home the title and the trophy. But six other drivers didn’t cross the finish line in the same way, as their cars had to be towed off the track in what was a crash-filled race. While no one was hurt, there were some bitter feelings.

Tomas Scheckter bumped into Alex Tagliani of Lachenaie, Que., late in the race, forcing him to drop down to 17^th after running in the top 10 all day. This is the second run-in for the two drivers — last year Tagliani bumped into Scheckter during the same race in Toronto.

However, the other Canadian who competed in the race, Toronto’s own Paul Tracey, avoided all the collisions and held one of the six lead changes for 10 laps — sending the crowd into cheers. This was surprising because the veteran part-time driver has a reputation for crashing. He started 24^th among the 26 cars and finished 13^th.

Right off the start, he moved through the pack, especially when the leaders had their first pit stop. A long stretch of full-out racing followed, in hopes this would give him a leg up on pit strategy. But with all the crashes, it hurt Tracey’s chances and his pit -stop advantage vanished when Scotland's Dario Franchitti passed him on Lap 32. Later in the race he stalled when his rear wheels locked while he braced.

Power is the series' leading driver and has won back-to back races for the second time for Team Penske. In second place was Franchitti, who was also last year’s winner for Target Chip Ganassi. Meanwhile, American Ryan Hunter-Reay finished third for Andretti Autosport. Among the drivers and fans were celebrities like Greg Kinnear, who was the Grand Marshall, and Ashley Judd, the wife of Franchitti.

The grandstands were packed for this great day of driving action — a scene unlike last year. Although the crowd numbers were far from the glory days of the 1980s and ‘90s, the crowd this year was bigger than it has been for quite some time.•

Photo courtesy of Alex Shena