RACE: It was going to be nearly impossible to top Cleveland, but Toronto was certainly an exciting race of its own thanks to some differences in pit strategy and a lot of aggressive driving.

TRACK: More and more, Toronto is becoming a very racy track for a street circuit.

THE BIG PICTURE: The new promoter appeared to be working within a stricter budget compared to the days when Molson just wrote off the losses as a sponsorship expense. And, it showed. The question is whether it will affect the long term health of the event.

START: This time, the Atlantics couldn't pull it off, in both turn 1 and turn 3, while Champ Car was nice and clean for a whole lap.

QUALIFYING: Saturday was the most exciting qualifying session this season.

ALLMENDINGER: The story keeps getting better and better.

TRACY: Nothing like his hometown race to get his groove back.

FORSYTHE: The forgotten team at the beginning of the season, they are now making everyone forget about Newman-Haas and RuSport.

RUSSO: The question becomes louder every race -- just what is Carl thinking now?

BOURDAIS: The stuff Sebastien is allowing to get into his head is going to do nothing but destroy his championship hopes.

WILSON: His car number matched the date, but his luck from last year just wasn't there. One has to wonder even though they blamed the tires, did the hit Bourdais deliver ultimately cause damage that messed up his handling?

DA MATTA: Not even coming close to matching Allmendinger's performance, when he was on RuSport.

TAGLIANI: Maybe they should have started the weekend with the backup car.

POWER: Now Will leads the Rookie of the Year standings.

JUNQUIERA: Just another Sunday afternoon cruise for Bruno.

ZWOLSMAN: Clearly did not know where Dan Clarke was.

RANGER: Once again, despite his position in the standings, what performance this year stands out?

DOMINGUEZ: No Cleveland magic this weekend.

SERVIA: Ironic that the two drivers who desperately did not want a late race yellow are the ones who caused it.

PHILIPPE: Got brakes?

LEGGE: Surprising that Katherine got the fourth fastest lap of the race considering she was clearly struggling in Turn 3 throughout the race and was holding up Clarke in the early going.

KASEMETS: Just not Tonis' weekend.

HEYLEN: Definitely has a case against Legge.

CLARKE: Even though none of the weekend crashes were his fault, it still was Crashing Dan in Toronto.

HILDEBRAND: Two more convincing victories in the Cooper Tires Formula Ford 2000 series, for nine wins in ten races. Simply incredible.

MONTOYA: What the...?!?!

KROSNOFF and AVRIN: Ten years. Stay hungry.

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Hat trick.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 16 -- The number of times the Atlantic series has run at Toronto, and the number of times an American or Canadian won there. It is now split evenly, with eight wins apiece. However, it's the first time a Canadian has not been on the podium.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: The fastest race held at Toronto in terms of speed was a tick under 100 mph. Michael Andretti won the 1991 event with an average speed of 99.143 mph. That race ran for 103 laps.

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Paul Tracy on his teammates' former team's decision making, "He got let go from Carl's team because they felt they needed to find a guy who can challenge Sebastien. Now, he's going to need to find a guy to challenge the guy he fired. I think it's poetic justice. I get a laugh out of things like that."

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: What A.J. Allmendinger was thinking getting ready for the last restart, "Edmonton, last year."

SCHEDULE: On to Edmonton, and the most enthusiastic crowd of the season last year. Even with the city having a hangover from Stanley Cup fever, it's still going to be a rip roaring town. And, a great race.

Copyright © 2006 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.