INDYCAR: Christian Rasmussen’s brutal rookie season continues at Toronto
by William Soquet / LASTCAR.info Staff Writer
PHOTO: Ed Carpenter Racing
Christian Rasmussen finished last for the third time in his NTT IndyCar Series career in Sunday’s Ontario Honda Dealers Race on the streets of Toronto when his #20 GuyCare Chevrolet crashed out of the race without completing any of the 85 laps.
The finish came in Rasmussen’s 10th series start and was his first since Detroit, six races ago. Across IndyCar Series history, it was the 16th for the #20, the 116th for Chevrolet, and the 231st due to damage-related reasons.
Following the engine failure at Detroit, Rasmussen’s rookie season was really starting to turn around. After a Road America race where he was just there in the midfield, Laguna Seca brought a pedestrian 21st-place qualifying effort but improvement up to 13th by the checkered flag. The real coming-out party was at Mid-Ohio, where he made the second round of qualifying for the first time, securing eighth on the grid. In a caution-free race, he held steady on pace, finishing only one spot lower than he qualified. Most importantly, this was a full ten positions ahead of veteran teammate Rinus VeeKay and a breath of fresh air for the entire Ed Carpenter Racing team. At the end of that race, Rasmussen had climbed to 19th in the standings, a single spot behind VeeKay. The Iowa oval doubleheader was the first weekend where Rasmussen was out of the car - unfortunate, as last season he’d won at Iowa in Indy NXT to firmly take control of the championship.
The mid-season driver carousel continued to spin in advance of Toronto. First was Hunter McElrea, runner-up to Rasmussen in Indy NXT last season. McElrea has competed in sports cars this season, but his backers found the budget for him to sneak into Dale Coyne Racing’s #18 car, which was vacated for Toronto when Nolan Siegel signed with McLaren. Toby Sowery, who had a breakout debut at Mid-Ohio, was confirmed back in the #51 for Toronto and Portland.
First practice proved eventful. The field was split into two groups due to the short track layout and continued complaints about not enough space to get a clean lap. Sowery ranked slowest of 15 cars, trailing Sting Ray Robb by a couple tenths. Linus Lundqvist was slowest of the 14 cars in the second group, as a couple cars participated in both groups. However, the big story was the Alexander Rossi. The #7 crashed in Turn 8 and the driver broke his thumb. Saturday morning, McLaren announced that previously cut driver Theo Pourchaire would return to the team, driving the #7 car as Rossi’s sub.
Second practice came and went with Pourchaire still on a plane from France to Toronto. Pietro Fittipaldi, who has not had the best season in Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s #30 car, slipped to the bottom of the speed charts. Pourchaire arrived for qualifying but had no seat time before that. He wound up 13th in Group 2, narrowly beating Robb, who took 14th in the group and 27th on the grid.
The mere fact that Robb was on the entry list was, in some ways, incredible. A scary crash at the end of the second Iowa race sent him flipping several times after he launched over the back of Rossi, who ran out of fuel on the last lap. Although the car was mangled, Robb was cleared to drive Toronto only a couple of days after Iowa.
Meanwhile, Rasmussen was having a weekend that was in line with some of his other recent performances. He was second of the second group in opening practice, slotted in 18th during second practice, and made the second round of qualifying for the second time this year. His starting position of 12th was ten spots higher than teammate VeeKay.
Robb’s stint at the back of the field did not last long. Heading into the opening turn, Toronto defending winner Christian Lundgaard lunged to the outside to make it four-wide. Rasmussen was initially third to the outside in that stack of four but was to the far outside after Lundgaard backed out. The shuffling in the corner forced him to the outside, barely escaping the tire barriers as they came to a finish on corner exit. However, the good fortune didn’t last, as the car caromed into the concrete wall at an odd angle as the corner completed. This bent the left-front axle and suspension, making the car so undriveable it ended Rasmussen’s day.
On the ensuing Lap 4 restart, another surprise second-round qualifier met an early exit. Agustin Canapino took Scott Dixon two wide through The Esses and ran out of room, smashing the right-front of his car against the wall. Robb was done soon after that, victim of a clutch problem. McElrea saw his series debut cut short by contact. Felix Rosenqvist rounded out the Bottom Five, retiring with what his team tentatively diagnosed as a potential problem with the hybrid.
The hybrid failure would have been a bigger story had there not been yet another crash with airborne cars. This time, a late-race crash involving several cars started when Pato O’Ward spun in turn one, but stopped perpendicular to the racing line. Several cars hit him, and this time it was Robb’s teammate Santino Ferrucci who wound up upside down. That carnage, along with multiple other incidents, left only 15 of 27 starters running by the finish.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*The most recent Toronto last-place finisher to complete a full lap was Takuma Sato, who completed 67 laps before a fire on July 14, 2019.
*Rasmussen now holds three of the #20’s four last-place finishes on street circuits with his three this year. The only other one belongs to Ed Carpenter, who crashed out of St. Petersburg in 2007.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
27) #20-Christian Rasmussen / 0 laps / crash
26) #78-Agustin Canapino / 4 laps / crash
25) #41-Sting Ray Robb / 13 laps / clutch
24) #18-Hunter McElrea / 57 laps / contact
23) #60-Felix Rosenqvist / 63 laps / hybrid
2024 LASTCAR INDYCAR SERIES MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet, Honda (6)
2024 LASTCAR INDYCAR SERIES OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Ed Carpenter Racing (3)
2nd) Chip Ganassi Racing, Dale Coyne Racing (2)
3rd) A.J. Foyt Racing, Andretti Global, Juncos Hollinger Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Team Penske (1)
2024 LASTCAR INDYCAR SERIES DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP
