For an NTT INDYCAR SERIES race with a single driver leading 81 of the 85 laps and winning from the pole while his teammate helped deliver a 1-2 finish for their organization, there is much to unpack from the weekend’s Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto.

There is Alexander Rossi’s broken right thumb, Theo Pourchaire’s wild travels, Colton Herta’s domination, Team Penske’s crushing 77th lap, Santino Ferrucci’s flight and Pato O’Ward’s sight – just to name a few.

And then there’s Alex Palou, who continues to deliver championship days.

Race 12 of this NTT INDYCAR SERIES season certainly was memorable.

Start with Herta, who deserved a weekend like this. He hadn’t scored a win in the past 40 races despite earning five poles and three other front-row starts. Have you realized he has started in the top four of the past seven races? But finally, he reached victory lane, giving him eight career series wins, which is tied for fifth among the 27 drivers in the Toronto field.

James Hinchcliffe offered this interesting statistic on the broadcast: Will Power is the sport’s standard for earning poles with 70 in his career. But Herta already has 14 before reaching the age Power was when he joined the series.

For as strong as Herta was over the weekend, teammate Kyle Kirkwood was nearly his equal. Kirkwood literally shadowed Herta throughout the event, especially in the race when it was clear “teamwork” was Michael Andretti’s instruction. Kirkwood all but conceded he ran the 85-lap race as Herta’s wingman, protecting him from all challenges, including the late charge of four-time Toronto winner Scott Dixon, who finished third.

The 1-2 finish was Andretti Global’s first since Kirkwood and Romain Grosjean pulled it off last year in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. The organization now has 73 career wins, a total which ranks fourth in history behind Team Penske (241), Chip Ganassi Racing (136) and Newman/Haas Racing (107). Dixon had his own historical footnote, tying Mario Andretti for the most top-three finishes in a career (each stands at 141).

Behind those three drivers were a series of mishaps, beginning with the four-wide drive through Turn 1 of Lap 1 that pushed rookie Christian Rasmussen to the left-side wall and Ferrucci to the right-side wall. The contact ended Rasmussen’s race; Ferrucci’s crew gave him a new front wing and a fresh set of Firestones and sent him on his way.

Ferrucci was in the middle of the pack when O’Ward looped his car in Turn 1. One can’t imagine the anxiety O’Ward must have felt staring at the oncoming traffic at the exit of a blind corner. Marcus Ericsson did well to avoid a big hit, but Pietro Fittipaldi, Ferrucci and rookie Nolan Siegel were not as fortunate as it was a chain reaction. Fortunately, no one was injured.

The ride Ferrucci took was notable for a lot of reasons, foremost were the numerous safety features that offered elite protection. Ferrucci’s Aeroscreen should be lauded as it bore a significant scrape. Toronto’s fence also admirably did its job.

The weekend’s lone injury came on Friday when Rossi couldn’t get his hands out of the steering wheel’s way ahead of the impact with the Turn 8 wall. The broken right thumb kept the 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner out of this event, but he will have had 28 days before the next official on-track session, which features practice and qualifying for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway. Rossi reported on social media that he had successful surgery on the thumb Sunday in Indianapolis.

Rossi’s situation led to a hurried trans-Atlantic trip for Pourchaire, who was at home in France when he got the offer to resume driving for Arrow McLaren. One overnight excursion later he was racing around an 11-turn, 1.786-mile street circuit that he had never seen before.

Team Penske would try to forget Lap 77. With three cars running in the top seven, Power pushed Scott McLaughlin into the Turn 5 wall and Josef Newgarden’s car suffered a tire puncture. Power’s action drew McLaughlin’s ire and a drive-through penalty, and the threesome finished 11th, 12th and 16th.

Which brings us to Palou. How does he continue to deliver outstanding results? He started 18th after being penalized in qualifying, but he cut through the field and was positioned to capitalize on the late-race issues of O’Ward, Power and McLaughlin to finish fourth. With five races remaining, Palou owns a 48-point lead, which is nearly a full race.

There are a few weeks to regroup. INDYCAR and its competitors can take a breath.