A hot Saturday at the Honda Indy Toronto saw Will Power push his Verizon Team Penske IndyCar to the absolute limit to record his 41st career pole position. Power, with just five seconds left in final qualifying, had brushes with the concrete barriers around the tight confines of Exhibition Place. The streets of Toronto can be punishing for drivers, but not for Power who overtook Rick Mears for fifth on the all-time IndyCar list for pole positions.

"Starting on pole is great to keep out of any messes, and obviously IndyCar races are never straightforward. Said Power, "It's a long race and we'll see what we can do, I need to have a good day tomorrow, I've had some rough races recently so I want to really get it done."

It could be difficult for the reigning Verizon IndyCar series champ, with rain predicted for Sunday's race adding just another challenge to this already difficult race track. Concrete patches line the middle of the corners in Toronto. Most race tracks are made out of asphalt. But with this particular track it is a mix of asphalt and concrete.

Transitioning an IndyCar from two different types of pavements can be very exciting, requiring a driver to change his driving style and how he attacks the corners. The concrete patches can be quite slippery in the dry, but are worse in the wet. Sebastien Bourdais, who qualified fifth for Sunday's race, thinks that it adds to the challenge of the street circuit.

"It's very much like a polished concrete, if the sun is at the right angle it shines, which tells you how slick it is," said Bourdais. "When you throw some water on it, it's definitely exciting. It's very un-predictable, you go into the corner and you catch the car, you lose the car, catch the car again."

Bourdais, a race winner on the city streets of Toronto in 2014, knows all too well what the race track can be like in the wet. "The visibility can be very treacherous on the back straightaway, it's a lot of things to overcome and it would be a shame if it was raining and wet during tomorrow's race.

"We all know how tough it will be to race in; it's more about survival at that point."