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The Indy Racing League is expected to confirm the return of racing to Toronto's Exhibition Place next summer when it unveils its 2009 schedule today.
It is thought the 2009 IRL race calendar will have 18 dates, with Canadian stops in Edmonton and Toronto in July. The Canadian races will be two of eight road or street races on the calendar, with the remaining 10 on oval tracks.
"I have not seen the schedule, but it would not be strange to assume the Toronto race would return for its usual early July date," IRL boss Tony George said during his series' Canadian debut at Saturday's Rexall Edmonton Indy.
"I am impressed by the Canadian fans and we are excited to go to Toronto."
Despite being the corporate home of IRL tire supplier Firestone, Nashville's oval race may be bumped from the calendar to make room for Toronto. The Champ Car (formerly CART) race on the 11-turn, 2.825-kilometre temporary street circuit at Exhibition Place was one of that series' most successful venues. CART first raced in Toronto in 1986.
But Toronto's race went into limbo after Champ Car folded in February and its date could not be added to the 2008 IRL schedule because it conflicted with another event.
Its return on the 2009 IRL schedule became more likely when the race-promotion subsidiary of the IRL's Andretti Green Racing (AGR) bought the assets of the Champ Car Grand Prix of Toronto in May. Terms of the deal were not announced.
"They are going to announce the schedule and I think everyone will be happy. We are set to do the race next year and we are working flat out," said co-owner Michael Andretti, whose outfit organized the IRL's first street race in St. Petersburg, Fla.
"We are very close to getting something done for a title sponsor and we hope to announce something in a week or two. Everyone we talk to gets excited about the race and the things we want to do with it."
Andretti has a long history of success at the Toronto track, winning there seven times in 15 starts as a driver.
The field for the IRL's first Toronto event also promises to be much larger than race fans have seen in recent years. The new unified series had 27 cars on track in Edmonton, which is 10 more than Champ Car could muster in 2007.
Last weekend's Edmonton race was the first of a three-year deal signed earlier this summer.
The Alberta capital held three Champ Car races since 2005.
Special to The Globe and Mail
