With his big brother Justin watching on, himself a race winner on the Toronto street circuit, Stefan Wilson took his first Firestone Indy Lights victory.
Wilson, competing in his 24th race in the series, led a one-two Andretti Autosport sweep in the Toronto 100 on the temporary street course. Peter Dempsey, participating in his first race with the team after moving from O2 Racing, was runner-up under caution for an incident on lap 45 of 50.
"It's really a monkey off my back," Wilson said.
Wilson's victory likely took away the sting of not winning the pole for the race. He appeared to have set the quickest lap of the 45-minute qualifying session July 9, but it was nullified because it was recorded with a local caution flag flying for a stalled car. It would have been his first pole start in the series.
So he settled for his second front-row start, and seized the opportunity when pole sitter and race leader Esteban Guerrieri's No. 7 Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt Motorsports car spun on the concrete surface (the transition from asphalt to concrete) in Turn 3 on a restart. Guerrieri got the car turned around, but six cars got through before he rejoined the race.
"We were pushing Estaban [Guerrieri] hard those first five laps,” said Wilson. “The car was fast; I'm confident we would have been able to pass him even if he didn't make that mistake. From that point on, it was just about concentrating on hitting marks and getting some clean, quick lap times. I love this circuit and city, so the 25th anniversary race is a really special win for me. We're still a long way out for the championship. Right now for me, it's about getting race wins. I have to thank my teammate Peter for pushing me, Michael and the whole team for everything working up to this win today."
Wilson gave Andretti Autosport a full house this season. Marco Andretti won the IZOD IndyCar Series race at Iowa Speedway, Zach Veach and Spencer Pigot have won in USF2000 and Sage Karam has won in Star Mazda. Team owner Michael Andretti won seven times on the streets of Toronto.
"He drove perfectly and I'm very proud of him," said Justin Wilson, Stefan's brother who posted his first North American victory at Toronto in 2005.
Gustavo Yacaman, driving the No. 2 TMR-Tuvacol/Xtreme Coil Drilling car, finished third after starting sixth for his second consecutive podium finish, and Guerrieri recovered to finish fourth. Anders Krohn, driving the No. 9 Liberty Engineering Special for Belardi Auto Racing tied his season best of fifth.
Series championship points leader Josef Newgarden, who started fifth, was challenging Dempsey for second on lap 32 when the front wing of the No. 11 Copart/Score Big/Robo-Pong/Sam Schmidt Motorsports car made contact with Dempsey's right-rear tire. Newgarden was ordered to pit, which dropped him a lap down.
He finished eighth, but leads Guerrieri by 37 points entering the doubleheader on the City Centre Airport circuit in Edmonton, Alberta, in two weeks. Wilson moved to third, 46 points back.
Firestone Indy Lights Toronto 100 Results
Pos.(Start) Driver Laps Status
1 (2) Stefan Wilson 49 Running
2 (3) Peter Dempsey 49 Running
3 (6) Gustavo Yacaman 49 Running
4 (1) Esteban Guerrieri 49 Running
5 (4) Anders Krohn 49 Running
6 (11) Jorge Goncalvez 49 Running
7 (13) Victor Garcia 49 Running
8 (5) Josef Newgarden 48 Running
9 (10) Victor Carbone 48 Running
10 (8) Duarte Ferreira 44 Contact
11 (9) Bruno Andrade 15 Contact
12 (7) Daniel Herrington 15 Contact
13 (12) David Ostella 12 Contact