Kyle Kirkwood survived front wing damage and pulled away on a late restart to win the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on Sunday, securing his second victory of the season and fourth career NTT INDYCAR SERIES win.
“For some reason, the wing was damaged, but it wasn’t really causing that much of an issue,” Kirkwood said. “This AWS Honda was on rails all weekend long. There were some challenges out there, that’s for sure. We had to pass our way back through a handful of times, and it was definitely not a walk in the park, especially with that front-wing damage at the end. We did lose a little bit of performance, but the car actually felt fine.”
“Epic pit stops. Epic strategy. We were definitely the fastest.”
Kirkwood, who started third in the No. 27 Siemens AWS Honda of Andretti Global, crossed the finish line 3.5931 seconds ahead of Santino Ferrucci in the No. 14 Sexton Properties/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet. Ferrucci’s second-place finish was a career-best and the best road- or street-course result for A.J. Foyt’s team since 2015.
Colton Herta finished a season-best third in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda, giving Andretti Global two drivers on the podium for the first time since last July in Toronto.
The 100-lap race on the notoriously bumpy and tight nine-turn, 1.645-mile circuit came down to strategy and survival, with the 27-car field divided into two strategic camps at the start based on tire choice.
The race’s complexion changed on Lap 67 when Callum Ilott crashed, leading to a caution period that shuffled the running order. The restart at the end of Lap 72 also turned the race – and perhaps the championship fight – on its head when points leader Alex Palou made hard contact with the barrier after being tapped by David Malukas, who received a penalty for avoidable contact.
Palou’s 25th-place finish, his worst result since 2022, trimmed his points lead to 90 over second-place Pato O’Ward.
On the restart at the end of Lap 76, Kirkwood started fourth but quickly moved up to second, slightly damaging his front wing in the process while passing Kyffin Simpson. Two laps later, Kirkwood overtook Ferrucci for the lead in Turn 3, a position he would not relinquish despite a late red flag and restart.
“The car was flawless, and on restarts, man, the car just came alive,” Kirkwood said. “I was actually super comfortable after that red flag came out. I was like, ‘This is going to work out in our favor here.'”
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES event is the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline on Sunday evening, June 15 at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois.
