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Indianapolis Star
2 hours ago
- Automotive
- Indianapolis Star
'We should beat him': Kyle Kirkwood's win gives Andretti Global confidence it can beat Alex Palou
DETROIT — Kyle Kirkwood started to crack a wide smile, but the Andretti Global driver quickly caught himself. A driver sailing into the wall on a late-race restart while trailing the car that would eventually finish third isn't a laughing matter, but then again, being on the wrong side of the better part of three months of Alex Palou's nearly unceasing domination of the 2025 IndyCar campaign has left the championship leader's rivals with in peculiar emotional spot. Do you step back and appreciate the history you're witnessing — a start to an IndyCar season not duplicated since 1979? Do you let the Chip Ganassi Racing Driver's five wins in six starts, including his first Indianapolis 500, agitate you to no end? Do you do your best to ignore it and shrug off references to a triple-digit championship gap while nearly every week getting asked questions about it again and again? And so when Kirkwood was asked whether his strategist Bryan Herta told the eventual Detroit Grand Prix race-winner over the radio that Palou had crashed out of Sunday's action on a Lap 72 restart — to no fault of the Ganassi driver's own — Kirkwood began to smile, as he said, 'No he didn't, but I knew it.' 'I shouldn't be smiling thinking that, but I knew that he crashed, and I knew we needed to capitalize on some points today, given the outcome for him,' Kirkwood continued. 'I feel bad for him, but this also does help us a lot with the points.' For weeks, if not months, Palou's rivals had been trying their darndest to speak into the existence of Palou's IndyCar reign — frankly not knowing what else to do as the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 10 team, led by lead engineer Julian Robertson, crew chief Ricky Davis and strategist Barry Wanser, made the right calls at every turn, executed flawless pit stops at every opportunity and engineered a speedy race car at all sorts of circuits — all with a three-time series champion in the cockpit to boot. And yet, as Palou learned the hard way during his first championship run at World Wide Technology Raceway, sometimes chaos can creep up behind you and tag you at a moment's notice with a simple lock of a trailing car's tires. 'Time will tell. You don't know if this run ends this weekend or next weekend or the weekend after. You have no idea,' fourth-place championship challenger Christian Lundgaard said Friday in Detroit. 'But you guys know as well as we do that (Palou's) run is going to end at some point. He can't win the rest of the races for the rest of this life. 'But the smallest little bit of contact, and he's out of the race. It could be his fault or not, and that can end his streak.' That's precisely how Palou's 112-point championship lead on Pato O'Ward, who finished third in the Indy 500 but lost 15 points on the runaway championship leader, shrunk back to double digits at 90 points at the checkered flag of the Detroit Grand Prix, despite a rather lackluster race weekend from the young Mexican driver that saw O'Ward only finish seventh. And it's how Kirkwood, who at the checkered flag of last weekend's 500 appeared to be trailing Palou by 126 points, only for a post-race tech inspection failure to widen that gap to 150, now sits 102 points back after his second win of the year, still as IndyCar's only non-Palou race winner through seven of 17 events this year. A race that had featured two instances of loose wheel-induced crashes and a beef-sparking spin was set to restart with just under 30 laps to go, following a caution to clear Callum Ilott's mangled No. 90 Prema Racing Chevy off the track. To their incredibly good fortune, Santino Ferrucci, Kyffin Simpson and Marcus Armstrong had pitted from 15th, 16th and 19th, respectively, just a couple laps before Ilott's day would come to an end, leaving the trio in the catbird seat as the other 22 cars dove into the pits, leaving them suddenly running 1-2-3 on equal strategy to the rest of the field, forced to fend off a hard-charging pack of five cars that had run up at the front virtually the entire day, but instead of first through fifth, now occupied fourth through eighth. Back to the Motor City: IndyCar to return to Detroit Grand Prix for at least 3 more years Whether or not they leapfrogged the new cars ahead or not, Kirkwood, Will Power and Colton Herta (who ran 1-2-3 before the caution and 4-5-6 at the time of the restart) were in line at the moment to make up some chunk of points on Palou, who sat seventh in line at the time of the return to green flag racing, but whether that bite out of Palou's lead would be meaningful or marginal would depend on how effective a sprint to the finish they'd go on to make. 'We had to pass some cars out there,' Kirkwood said. 'It was some low-percentage moves, I'm not going to lie, that I made. But you have to on street courses.' One corner after a return to green-flag racing, not a low-percentage move, but locked up tires from the car trailing behind of AJ Foyt Racing's David Malukas sent the No. 4 Chevy skidding into the back of Palou and ended with the No. 10 in the tires and Palou's day done down in 25th. 'It's very unfortunate after an amazing recovery this weekend when we didn't have much pace,' Palou told the Fox broadcast after being released from the infield care center. 'It doesn't feel great, but there's not much we could've done there.' As he cycled around and saw the AMR Safety Team trucks flanking the yellow and red machine of the championship leader, Kirkwood said he didn't so much change his focus, but he realized this even deeper: 'I need to win this race," he said. 'I'd known that anywhere we ended up toward the front that we were going to have a good points day, and that was going to help us a lot.' Notably, O'Ward, Lundgaard (fourth in the championship, eighth in Sunday's race) and Felix Rosenqvist (sixth in the championship, 21st in Sunday's race after a late crash) weren't his direct late-race competitors, which made the precise spot Kirkwood finished less of a major hang-up. And yet, IndyCar's proverbial street course king — winner of four of IndyCar's last 11 street races — motored up to the front for what was a relatively comfortable victory by the checkered flag, even after weathering a late-race red flag that bunched back up the field behind Kirkwood with 12 laps to go. 'I'm fine with that,' Kirkwood said, when asked about the importance of both his win and Palou's DNF that handed the championship leader just five points compared to Kirkwood's 53. 'It's super important, but we've got to keep doing it. 'As we know (Palou) can skip out on still a handful more races and be absolutely fine. It's unfortunate for him that he ended up in the wall, but it actually helps us a lot in the championship. It puts us …' And then reality set in for Kirkwood, as he was clarified of the massive undertaking that still lies ahead with 10 races to go. '102 points? That's still a mile away, but it puts you back in a position where you feel like you might be able to get that back,' he continued. 'But I'm sure we're going to go to road courses, and Palou is going to do his thing. So we'll see what happens.' First is a stop at World Wide Technology Raceway, perhaps a proving ground for an Andretti Global group that increasingly over last year has found race-winning short oval pace that had been missing from the team for years. Down the stretch a year ago, Herta found himself in the thick of the fight during a late-race restart, and at the next couple ovals on the calendar, the No. 26 driver would log a podium (The Milwaukee Mile) and his first oval win (Nashville Superspeedway), while Kirkwood took pole in the Nashville finale and found himself disappointed in fourth place by race's end. Palou, though, finished 3-for-6 on short oval top 5s in 2024 and now can call himself an IndyCar oval winner after the 500, and at the two races that follow next on the calendar, Road America and Mid-Ohio, the Spaniard has logged seven top-4 finishes in eight combined starts during his CGR tenure, including three wins and a sweep of the two-race stretch in 2023. As Kirkwood pointed out, super-abrasive road courses like The Thermal Club, Barber Motorsports Park and the IMS road course, a trio that Palou swept in 2025, are done for 2025, and the Andretti Global camp feels relatively confident in their increasingly competitive traditional IndyCar road course package. But already with five wins in seven starts in 2025, with four tracks left where Palou has won before in his still relatively young IndyCar career, it's pertinent to capitalize massively on any other days like Sunday. 'We've just got to get back to our winning ways,' Kirkwood said. 'Because we can't let him win any more races.' Added Herta earlier this weekend: 'I know we can beat (Palou). I know if we do all the right stuff, we have a really good chance to beat him, and we should beat him if we do everything the right way.
Fox Sports
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Practice Shots: Drivers Waste Little Time Finding Limit in Detroit
INDYCAR With the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge in the mirrors of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, the road ahead features 11 races at 10 venues to end the season. The pursuit of the Astor Challenge Cup is in high gear. Up next: Sunday's Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear. Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood turned the fastest lap of the first practice on the downtown street circuit, but the No. 27 Siemens AWS Honda sat quiet on pit road for most of the session after taking rear contact from Team Penske's Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet) in a two-corner shove that might foreshadow another chaotic race. Mid-race rain and eight cautions slowed last year's 100-lapper, and there was additional car-to-car contact that didn't necessitate a yellow flag. Here are three takeaways from what has transpired in this event after one on-track session: An Adventurous First Practice The 27 car-and-driver combinations have already pushed the limits of the nine-turn, 1.645-mile street circuit. If the contact between Power and Kirkwood wasn't enough, Juncos Hollinger Racing's Sting Ray Robb (No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet) nosed into the tire barrier, and a slew of other drivers directed their cars to run-off areas to avoid wall contact. The question was, who didn't have a tire lockup on the bumpy streets? One of those who scooted off course was Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet). He finished second on the speed chart, which is a morale boost after the New Zealander crashed out of the '500' before the race even started. Indy's top two finishers, Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou (No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) and AJ Foyt Racing's David Malukas (No. 4 Clarience Technology Chevrolet), went off course in this weekend's first practice session without contact. Basically, no harm no foul. But again, maybe it's a preview of what's to come for the third race held on this circuit. The drivers will get more track time Saturday in the form of a second practice (9 a.m. ET) and qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (noon ET). Both sessions will air live on FS1, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network. Sunday's 100-lap race is on FOX at 12:30 p.m. ET. The Race for Second With Palou clutching a staggering 112-point lead after winning five of the season's first six races, the standings reflect a battle for second place. As it stands, it's Arrow McLaren teammates Pato O'Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet) and Christian Lundgaard (No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet) tussling for that position. O'Ward leads Lundgaard by 13 points. The battle for second applies to races, as well. Five different drivers have finished second in the season's first six races. That's Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding, O'Ward in The Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix at The Thermal Club, Palou in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, Lundgaard in the Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park, O'Ward in the Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and Malukas in the '500.' Andretti Global's Marcus Ericsson (No. 28 Siemens Honda) finished second to Dixon in last year's Detroit race, and he considers this his best track on the schedule, which is saying a lot since he has had three outstanding drives in the '500,' including a win in 2022. Dixon, who has 58 career race wins, has 52 career runner-up race finishes. Both totals rank second all time in their respective categories. Chip Ganassi's Honda-powered team has won both downtown street races in Detroit – Palou in 2023, Dixon last year. Lundgaard: Palou Can't Win 'for the Rest of His Life' Lundgaard scored his best finish in the '500' – he was seventh – and continues to be one of the drivers on the upswing. Lundgaard believes he is having a championship-worthy season, but there's not a lot more he can do until Palou bobbles. 'He can't win the rest of the races for the rest of his life,' Lundgaard said of the Spaniard who was a surprising 15th on Friday's speed chart. 'They're doing everything extremely well. They're executing every opportunity they have, and even if they do make a mistake, they make up for it at the next opportunity they have. It's just a really strong group, and they're just good at every (type of circuit). There is no real weakness. 'But it doesn't take much (to slip up). A small bit of contact, and he's out of a race, you know? It could be (not) his fault, and that could end the streak.' Lundgaard had the fifth-best lap in Friday's practice. O'Ward was seventh. Both hope to be in position to capitalize on Palou's misfortune, if or when that ever comes. recommended
Fox Sports
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Favorites and Sleepers: Detroit
INDYCAR Andretti Global driver Kyle Kirkwood won the last street-circuit race of the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 13. Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing won the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding on March 2. Palou's teammate Scott Dixon is the defending winner of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear. Given Honda's dominance on street courses, scoring 10 wins in the last 11 tries since the start of the 2023 season, this could signify a Chip Ganassi Racing vs. Andretti Global battle for Sunday's Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear (12:30 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). Pato O'Ward's 2024 St. Petersburg win, driving the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, was the lone exception. Kirkwood, Dixon, Palou, Felix Rosenqvist, Scott McLaughlin and Christian Lundgaard are the six drivers to finish in the top 10 at both street course races this season. How many will remain on that list after an action-packed weekend around the 1.645 mile, nine-turn street circuit? Favorites Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet) McLaughlin finished seventh in 2023 and 20th last year in Detroit but placed fourth in St. Petersburg on March 2 and sixth on April 13 at Long Beach this season. He has three top-six finishes in the last four races on the season, too. Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) Over Dixon's last 16 street course starts, the Chip Ganassi Racing driver has four wins and nine top-six results, including a victory here last year and runner-up in this year's St. Petersburg season opener and eighth in Long Beach. He also finished fourth at Detroit in 2023. Alex Palou (No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) Palou has one finish worse than eighth in his last 17 street course starts. He has nine podium finishes and 14 top-six results on these tracks during that span, including a victory March 2 in St. Petersburg and runner-up April 13 at Long Beach. Palou won at Detroit in 2023 but placed 16th last year. On the season, Palou has five wins and a runner-up finish in six starts. Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet) Power finished fifth in Long Beach, runner-up and sixth, respectively, at Detroit, and produced seven top-seven finishes in his last 11 street course starts. He has four top-six finishes in the last five races. Kyle Kirkwood (No. 27 Siemens AWS Honda) All three of Kirkwood's NTT INDYCAR SERIES victories came on street courses for Andretti Global. He led 53 of 85 laps in his Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach triumph in 2023 and 46 of 90 in April, both from the pole. Kirkwood also earned his second career victory in August 2023 on the streets of Nashville. He finished fifth in St. Petersburg this season and sixth and fourth, respectively, in his last two Detroit starts. Sleepers Christian Lundgaard (No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet) Lundgaard finished eighth and third, respectively, on street courses races this season. His only NTT P1 Award and victory occurred in July 2023 on the streets of Toronto. This car has placed fifth in the last two Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix races. Lundgaard was 11th for Arrow McLaren last season. Alexander Rossi (No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet) Rossi finished fifth at Detroit the last two years driving for Arrow McLaren and was 10th in the season opener at St. Petersburg. Marcus Ericsson (No. 28 Siemens Honda) Three of Ericsson's four career NTT INDYCAR SERIES victories have come on street circuits. All three came at different venues, St. Petersburg, Nashville and Belle Isle. While he hasn't won on this Detroit circuit, finishing ninth in June 2023 for Chip Ganassi Racing and runner-up last year for Andretti Global, watch out. At the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding, Ericsson finished sixth. Ericsson has qualified seventh and fifth in the pair of street races this season, too. Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 SiriusXM Honda) Rosenqvist came from ninth in the 2023 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear to finish third and was eighth last June. This season, Rosenqvist finished seventh at St. Petersburg and fourth in Long Beach. He has five top-10 finishes in six races this season. Marcus Armstrong (No. 66 SiriusXM/Root Insurance Honda) Armstrong had four top-11 finishes in five street-course starts in 2023. Last season, he finished 12th in Long Beach, third in Detroit and fifth at Toronto. This year, he moved to Meyer Shank Racing and qualified fourth in St. Petersburg and seventh at Long Beach. If he can stay out of trouble, Armstrong could surprise everyone this weekend. recommended
Indianapolis Star
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Indianapolis Star
IndyCar working to implement partial scanning into tech inspection process
DETROIT — With the assistance of Chip Ganassi Racing, Andretti Global, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Arrow McLaren and Dallara, IndyCar president Doug Boles said the series has begun to explore a partial scanning process for its tech inspection process that will "advance" IndyCar's ability to ensure all cars are competing on a level playing field. A week ago, in the wake of Team Penske's pair of Indianapolis 500 pre-Fast 12 tech inspection failures and the ensuing firestorm of penalties, firings and paddock-wide controversy, Boles was asked whether implementing scanning in IndyCar's pre- and post-session tech inspection process, something that both IMSA and NASCAR use, could offer an easy fix to ensure something like Penske's out-of-compliance attenuators that have existed for well over a year wouldn't get missed. At the time, the series president said that due to the fact the cars in use have been made over such a long period of time, it might prove ineffective until a new car came online in 2027 at the earliest. Boles said Friday that IndyCar in recent days made progress in at least a partial-scanning process the series hopes to validate over a couple more races the rest of this season. "(Chip Ganassi Racing, Andretti Global, A.J. Foyt Enterprises and Arrow McLaren) provided their Indianapolis 500 cars for us to use this week for scanning verification. This was extra work for their crews after a very busy weekend, and Iappreciate their support," Boles said. "We learned quite a bit in the exercise and are targeting at least two more events this year where we can validate the process and our learnings and continue to advance our technical inspection process in the future." Additionally, Boles noted that IndyCar had had "productive dialogue" with Andretti Global and Prema Racing in the wake of the post-race tech inspection penalties levied against both teams less than 24 hours after the completion of the 500. Andretti's Nos. 27 (Kyle Kirkwood) and 28 (Marcus Ericsson) cars that finished sixth and second were found to have modified the Dallara-supplied Energy Management System covers and cover-to-A-arm mounting points with unapproved spacers and parts. Prema's No. 90 car (Callum Ilott) was found post-race to have a left side front wing endplate that didn't reach minimum height. Prema noted immediately on Monday that it accepted the penalties, while Andretti Global triggered a review process this week before saying Friday that it accepted IndyCar's penalties "after careful analysis with IndyCar" and wouldn't pursue any further review or appeals. Along with the cars being shifted to the back of the finishing order for the 500 (31st through 33rd) and seeing their prize money and championship points from the event shift to correspond with their final finishing spots, each of the three penalized cars were fined $100,000, and team managers on the cars were suspended for the Detroit Grand Prix. Insider: Indy 500 broadcast hit 17-year high. What comes next is important for IndyCar's growth In his Friday statement, Boles thanked both teams for sharing in "transparent and open conversations regarding how the mistakes were made."
Fox Sports
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Gearing Up: Can Anyone Slow Palou in the Motor City?
INDYCAR Before moving on to the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear, consider the impact Alex Palou's victory in the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge had on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season standings. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver who won the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval race from the sixth starting position grew his series lead to a staggering 112 points. The win was his fifth in six races this season, and he has won the past three races. SEE: Detroit Event Details At Monday night's '500' awards ceremony, teammate Scott Dixon offered Palou a five-week family vacation beginning Thursday, with all expenses paid. As moderator Allen Bestwick joked, the Spaniard would still likely return with the points lead. That might be right. Assuming Palou participates in each of the remaining 11 races and only scores a minimum number of points, he will finish with 361 points. That total would have ranked 11th last year. But of course, Palou has won races at five of the circuits left on the schedule, including two wins each at three of them, so he might have his third consecutive series championship and fourth in five years wrapped up in July. Since the maximum a driver can score in an NTT INDYCAR SERIES weekend is 54 points, the Indy winner has more than a two-race lead. Arrow McLaren drivers Pato O'Ward and Christian Lundgaard are second and third in the standings, 112 and 125 points in arrears, respectively. Those drivers finished third and seventh, respectively, in the '500.' Palou's dominance is evident in virtually every category, and here's another to digest: In leading the final 14 laps of the '500,' he pushed his season total to 163 laps led. Drivers in the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth spots in the standings have combined to lead 157 laps. It will be interesting to see how Palou fares in Detroit after several days celebrating his first Indy win. The past three '500' winners have had an average finish of 14.3 in the Motor City, perhaps distracted or fatigued by the whirlwind of sponsor and media functions in the days between the two races. Last year, Palou finished 16th, leading only a single lap. However, he won the 2023 race there, the first held on the 10-turn, 1.645-mile downtown street circuit. Dixon won last year's Detroit race with Marcus Ericsson finishing second in his best result of the season with Andretti Global. Marcus Armstrong, then driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, finished third. Andretti Global's Colton Herta won the NTT P1 Award but finished 19th, one lap off the pace. This weekend's action kicks off with the first practice Friday at 3 p.m. ET (FS2, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). Saturday's on-track activity shifts to FS1 for the second practice at 9 a.m. and qualifying for the NTT P1 Award at noon. Sunday, the pre-race warmup is at 9:30 a.m. on FS1 with the 100-lap race at 12:30 p.m. on FOX. recommended
