James Hinchcliffe is looking to win his first IndyCar race at his hometown track this Sunday during the Honda Indy Toronto, but he'll have to beat out a tough field to do so.
Hinchcliffe is currently fifth in the points race but the top of the podium has eluded the 25-year-old from Oakville, Ont.
Defending champion Dario Franchitti will try to win for a fourth time in Toronto while the king of the road/street courses, Will Power, aims to extend his lead in the overall points race.
One familiar face who will not be in the lineup is Toronto's Paul Tracy. The 43-year-old veteran has switched over to the Grand-Am Series after being unable to secure a full-time ride in IndyCar. The Thrill From West Hill has driven in every Toronto race since 1992.
Let's take an in-depth look at the 25 drivers who will make up the field.
No. 2 -- Ryan Briscoe
Team: Team Penske
Hometown: Sydney, Australia
Position in standings: Ninth, 205 points
Best finish in Toronto: Second (2009)
Breakdown: Briscoe has had an up-and-down 2012 season but could snap out of it in Toronto. Since joining Penske in 2009, the 30-year-old driver has been a consistent title contender.
No. 3 -- Helio Castroneves
Team: Team Penske
Hometown: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Position in standings: Fourth, 261 points
Best finish in Toronto: 10th (1998)
Breakdown: The Dancing With The Stars champion won in Toronto during his minor league years but since then, Castroneves hasn't had much success in Toronto. His best performance actually came in his rookie season with Bettenhausen Racing in 1998 and since then he hasn't cracked the top 10. Castroneves does have one win and two top-five finishes on road/street courses this year and might be able to turn around his luck in Toronto.
No. 4 -- J.R. Hildebrand
Team: Panther Racing
Hometown: Sausalito, Calif.
Position in standings: 14th, 173 points
Best finish in Toronto: Eighth (2011)
Breakdown: Hildebrand has found himself in the middle of the pack for most of 2012. His two top-10 finishes this year came on road/street courses and he could get another in Toronto.
No. 5 -- E.J. Viso
Team: KV Racing Technology
Hometown: Caracas, Venezuela
Position in standings: 17th, 160 points
Best finish in Toronto: Ninth (2011)
Breakdown: Viso had his best finish of the season in Milwaukee (fifth) before having his worst in Iowa (24th). A bounce-back at Toronto is in the cards.
No. 7 -- Sebastien Bourdais
Team: Dragon Racing
Hometown: Le Mans, France
Position in standings: 26th, 86 points
Best finish in Toronto: First (2004)
Breakdown: The four-time CART/Champ Car series champion only races street/road courses in IndyCar. Nevertheless, a fifth-place finish in Toronto last year showed he's still got it.
No. 8 -- Rubens Barrichello
Team: KV Racing Technology
Hometown: Sao Paolo, Brazil
Position in standings: 15th, 164 points
Best finish in Toronto: N/A
Breakdown: The 40-year-old Formula One veteran is an IndyCar rookie and races in Toronto for the first time in his career. Barrichello has five top-10 finishes so far this year and -- not surprisingly -- has had more success on road/street courses than ovals.
No. 9 -- Scott Dixon
Team: Target Chip Ganassi Racing
Hometown: Auckland, New Zealand
Position in standings: Third, 271 points
Best finish in Toronto: Second (2011)
Breakdown: Toronto has been very kind to Dixon. Other than a 20th-place finish in 2010, he has always finished within the top-five. Dixon also has one win and two runner-up finishes on street/road courses this season, making him a favourite to win in Toronto.
No. 10 -- Dario Frachitti
Team: Target Chip Ganassi Racing
Hometown: Edinburgh, Scotland
Position in standings: Eighth, 216 points
Best finish in Toronto: First (1999, 2009, 2011)
Breakdown: The four-time IndyCar Series champion has had an uncharacteristic 2012 season, although he did win the biggest race of year at the Indianapolis 500. He's won in Toronto three times and it's hard to count him out from winning a fourth.
No. 11 -- Tony Kanaan
Team: KV Racing Technology
Hometown: Salvador, Brazil
Position in standings: Seventh, 235 points
Best finish in Toronto: Fourth (2010)
Breakdown: The veteran IndyCar driver hasn't had much luck in Toronto, with only one top-10 finish. After a slow start this season, Kanaan has maintained his presence near the top of the pack.
No. 12 -- Will Power
Team: Team Penske
Hometown: Toowoomba, Australia
Position in standings: First, 286 points
Best finish in Toronto: First (2007, 2010)
Breakdown: Power has three wins this season, all on road/street courses. Last year, Power was locked in a two-man race for the title with Dario Franchitti, who unintentionally booted the Australian driver from the Honda Indy Toronto when the two collided.
No. 14 -- Mike Conway
Team: A.J. Foyt Enterprises
Hometown: Bromley, Kent, England
Position in standings: 22nd, 137 points
Best finish in Toronto: 22nd (2009, 2011)
Breakdown: Conway has finished 22nd twice in Toronto and is currently 22nd in the points. Twenty-two seems to be his number, even if it's not very lucky.
No. 15 -- Takuma Sato
Team: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Hometown: Nazareth, Pa.
Position in standings: 18th, 154 points
Best finish in Toronto: 20th (2011)
Breakdown: His first career IndyCar podium came at the Sao Paolo street course this season, although Sato is probably more famous for trying to pass Dario Franchitti on the final lap of the Indy 500 and crashing into the wall.
No. 18 -- Justin Wilson
Team: Dale Coyne Racing
Hometown: Sheffield, England
Position in standings: 11th, 188 points
Best finish in Toronto: First (2005)
Breakdown: Wilson has been more successful on ovals this season, including a win in Texas, but he has had great success at Toronto in the past, including a win in 2005 and a third-place finish in 2007.
No. 19 -- James Jakes
Team: Dale Coyne Racing
Hometown: Leeds, England
Position in standings: 21st, 138 points
Best finish in Toronto: 18th (2011)
Breakdown: Jakes has one top-10 finish in his young IndyCar career but hasn't had much luck on street courses so far.
No. 20 -- Ed Carpenter
Team: Ed Carpenter Racing
Hometown: Indianapolis, Ind.
Position in standings: 19th, 151 points
Best finish in Toronto: 15th (2009)
Breakdown: Owner/driver Carpenter returns to Toronto for the first time since 2009 after driving part-time the past two years. He's had more success on ovals, earning his lone career win last season in Kentucky.
No. 22 -- Oriol Servia
Team: Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
Hometown: Pals, Spain
Position in standings: 12th, 185 points
Best finish in Toronto: Second (2005)
Breakdown: Since switching engines from Lotus to Chevrolet, Servia has finished in the top-five three times in the last five races and is climbing up the standings.
No. 26 -- Marco Andretti
Team: Andretti Autosport
Hometown: Nazareth, Pa.
Position in standings: 13th, 173 points
Best finish in Toronto: Fourth (2011)
Breakdown: His father Michael won a record seven times in Toronto over his illustrious career. The younger Andretti is still looking for No. 1 in T.O. but he's improved every year and is coming off a second-place finish in Iowa.
No. 27 -- James Hinchcliffe
Team: Andretti Autosport
Hometown: Oakville, Ont.
Position in standings: Fifth, 256 points
Best finish in Toronto: 14th (2011)
Breakdown: Hinchcliffe is still looking for his first IndyCar win and what better place than at home to finally reach the top of the podium? The 25-year-old has finished in the top-10 in seven of nine races this season and looks to be a contender in Toronto.
No. 28 -- Ryan Hunter-Reay
Team: Andretti Autosport
Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Position in standings: Second, 283 points
Best finish in Toronto: Third (2010, 2011)
Breakdown: Hunter-Reay enters Toronto on a two-race win streak and is only three points behind Will Power for the points lead. Could Hunter-Reay win his third race in a row?
No. 38 -- Graham Rahal
Team: Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing
Hometown: Columbus, Ohio
Position in standings: 10th, 193 points
Best finish in Toronto: Fifth (2010)
Breakdown: His father Bobby won the very first Toronto race in 1986 but in four tries at the street course, the 23-year-old Graham has only finished in the top-10 once. He's currently riding a bit of a hot streak, with three top-10 finishes heading into Toronto.
No. 67 -- Josef Newgarden
Team: Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing
Hometown: Hendersonville, Tenn.
Position in standings: 23rd, 126 points
Best finish in Toronto: N/A
Breakdown: The 21-year-old is currently second in the running for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year award. He raced in Toronto during his 2011 Indy Lights championship season, although he finished eighth.
No. 77 -- Simon Pagenaud
Team: Schmidt/Hamilton Motorsports
Hometown: Montmorillon, France
Position in standings: Sixth, 246 points
Best finish in Toronto: Fourth (2007)
Breakdown: An IndyCar rookie, Pagenaud is familiar with the Toronto track, having raced in the now-defunct Champ Car series in 2007. He also finished fourth in Toronto in the Champ Car Atlantic series in 2006. It's been several years and the cars are different but is another fourth-place finish in the cards?
No. 78 -- Simona de Silvestro
Team: HVM Racing
Hometown: Thun, Switzerland
Position in standings: 24th, 111 points
Best finish in Toronto: Ninth (2010)
Breakdown: In two Toronto races, de Silvestro has finished in the top-10 both times. But driving with a Lotus engine this season, de Silvestro has been out of the mix although she will have an upgraded engine for Toronto.
No. 83 -- Charlie Kimball
Team: Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing
Hometown: Camarillo, Calif.
Position in standings: 16th, 164 points
Best finish in Toronto: 21st (2010)
Breakdown: Kimball had three straight eighth-place finishes before falling into a minor sophomore slump recently. It's hard to count out one of Chip Ganassi's drivers though.
No. 98 -- Alex Tagliani
Team: Team Barracuda/BHA
Hometown: Lachenaie, Que.
Position in standings: 20th, 142 points
Best finish in Toronto: Second (2001)
Breakdown: Tagliani struggled with the Lotus engine at the start of the season and a switch to Honda saw immediate results, with a 12th place finish at the Indy 500. Tagliani followed that up with his first top-10 of the year at Detroit and then captured pole position at Texas. He was an annual contender in Toronto during his Champ Car/CART years.
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