Paddock Buzz: Kyle Kirkwood Laments Missed Chance for Pole

Fox Sports

a day ago

INDYCAR
Kyle Kirkwood rued what could have been an NTT P1 Award performance for Sunday's Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear, but he instead starts third in the No. 27 Siemens AWS Honda after making wall contact in Turn 3 during qualifying Saturday.
His fastest lap, 1 minute, .7312 of a second, was compromised when he broke a toe link during the Firestone Fast Six, relegating him to the second row for Sunday's 100-lap race airing at 12:30 p.m. ET on FOX, FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio Network.
His lap was trending toward pole.
'I've never been more disappointed with a third in my life,' Kirkwood said. 'I know I threw away a pole, without a doubt.'
His frustration is amplified by his pattern of near-misses on this track, but he remains optimistic. His teammate Colton Herta snagged the NTT P1 Award in his No. 26 Gainbridge Honda, giving Andretti Global the top starting spot.
Kirkwood, while disappointed, found some consolation.
'I'm glad one of us got it because it would have been very disappointing if none of us got it,' Kirkwood said.
Despite the qualifying hiccup, Kirkwood is poised for a strong showing. His street course record backs it up. All three of his NTT INDYCAR SERIES victories have come on street circuits, including twice at Long Beach (2023, 2025) and once in Nashville (2023). He led 46 of 90 laps from the pole in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 13.
He's also steadily climbed around the 1.645-mile downtown Detroit street circuit, improving from eighth in 2023 to fourth last year.
'The car is fast,' he said. 'We're really good for the race. We're starting in a good spot.'
Andretti Global Best Positioned To Top Palou?
Runaway NTT INDYCAR SERIES leader Alex Palou qualified sixth in his No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. He shifts to fifth due to Graham Rahal's six-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change before last Sunday's 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
2023 Detroit race winner Palou has three consecutive wins in a Month of May sweep of the Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix presented by AmFirst on May 4, the Sonsio Grand Prix on May 10 and the '500' on May 25.
Most drivers believe Palou's reign will end, maybe even Sunday. Last year, Palou started second but finished 16th.
'He can't win them all,' Arrow McLaren rival Christian Lundgaard said.
Lundgaard is third in points and starts fourth in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. He finished eighth on the streets of St. Petersburg and third at Long Beach this season.
Lundgaard and Palou may have to beat Andretti Global. It's the only organization to beat Palou this season with Kirkwood's Long Beach victory.
Looking ahead, Andretti drivers believe they have among the strongest cars on both street circuits and short ovals. Those disciplines of tracks comprise five of the next seven races.
The series races July 20 on the streets of Toronto, where Herta beat Kirkwood in an Andretti Global 1-2 finish last year.
Between Detroit and Toronto is World Wide Technology Raceway (June 15), Road America (June 22), Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (July 6) and an Iowa Speedway doubleheader (July 12-13).
Andretti Global earned an oval victory with Herta in the season finale last year at Nashville Superspeedway. Kirkwood started on the pole there and led the most laps.
'I know we can beat him,' Herta said of Palou. 'If we do the right stuff, we have a really good chance here to beat him. We should beat him if we do everything the right way.
'We do have the speed to win. I think we've made mistakes this year and it's been disappointing, but I think if we focus on us and do what we need to do, we should be able to beat him.'
RLL Eyeing Momentum in Motor City
Rahal enters Sunday's race with cautious optimism, hoping to convert recent progress into long-awaited results on the downtown street circuit. He swept the 2017 doubleheader on the Belle Isle circuit, marking his most recent INDYCAR SERIES victory – 131 races ago.
Rahal believes he had a chance to end that drought. He qualified fifth in his No. 15 JJ Curran Crane Company Honda but will drop six spots due to an unapproved engine change penalty stemming from his mechanical failure on Miller Lite Carb Day, prompting an engine change before the '500.'
'I feel pretty good even starting 11th,' Rahal said. 'The car has been really shocking to drive all weekend. I say shocking because we've not been good here at all.'
Rahal finished 15th at Detroit last year and 25th in 2023.
Starting in Row 6 on a bumpy, tight Detroit street circuit, Rahal believes this car allows him the aggression and confidence to march through the field.
Rahal also points to tangible evidence the entire organization is on the rise.
All three RLL cars reached the Firestone Fast Six in the Sonsio Grand Prix, including Rahal starting second. Then, all four RLL entries finished in the top 17 in the '500,' including part-time driver Takuma Sato, who led the most laps (51) in a ninth-place effort, and a career-best finish from Devlin DeFrancesco (11th). Rookie Louis Foster (12th) was one-spot off his career best finish, which happened in the previous race, the Sonsio Grand Prix, in which he finished 11th.
Foster was eighth and fifth quickest, respectively, in practice this weekend in his No. 45 Mi-Jack Honda and starts 14th. He was .0081 away from advancing to the Top 12.
DeFrancesco was 14th on Saturday morning but starts 23rd in the No. 30 EVTEC Honda.
'I feel like we are getting better, period,' Rahal said. 'I think we are a team on the rise. I know people don't like to believe that, but I think it's true. I feel like this is a sign because all of us, Louis and I, in particular, and even Dev, have been quite fast.'
VeeKay Thinks DCR Changes Will Boost Results
Rinus VeeKay already noticed Michael Cannon's effect in the first weekend of Cannon returning to Dale Coyne Racing. Cannon spent six years (2014-19) engineering for the organization. He served as an engineer in recent seasons for Chip Ganassi Racing and AJ Foyt Racing.
Cannon is VeeKay's engineer on the No. 18 askROI Honda and was part of a personnel shakeup after the '500' that also saw Mike Colliver return to the team to lead engineer Jacob Abel's No. 51 Blue Oval SK Honda.
VeeKay was ninth in opening practice Friday and qualified a season-best seventh Saturday.
'The car was on rails out there,' VeeKay said. 'I could really drive the car. The car wasn't driving me this time. We've got the Albert Einstein (Cannon) of INDYCAR on the pit stand right now. The experience that Michael Cannon has right now is insane.'
VeeKay is 12th in points with three top-10 finishes this season. His best Detroit finish on this street circuit is 14th for Ed Carpenter Racing last season.
Odds and Ends Following Friday's practice mishap between Will Power and Kirkwood, the two shared many laughs before Saturday morning practice and admitted to no animosity. Five drivers have completed all 630 laps this season: Kirkwood, Lundgaard, Pato O'Ward, Palou and Felix Rosenqvist. Herta earned his 15th career pole. He has converted five of those previous 14 poles into victories, including last July on the streets of Toronto. He finished 18th from the pole here last year. Defending Detroit winner Scott Dixon qualified 10th, but like Rahal, faces a six-spot grid penalty for an engine change before the '500.' He will start 16th. Tony Kanaan will be the guest analyst for Sunday's INDY NXT by Firestone race airing at 10:30 a.m. ET on FS1. Andretti Global rookie teammates Dennis Hauger and Lochie Hughes share the front row.
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