IndyCar Photo
DETROIT (Sunday, June 1, 2025) – 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.
It was the second victory of the season and fourth career NTT INDYCAR
SERIES victory for Kirkwood, who also won the Acura Long Beach Grand
Prix on April 13, also on a temporary street circuit.
“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 the No. 14
Sexton Properties/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet of Santino Ferrucci. It was a
career-best finish for Ferrucci and the best road- or street-course
result for the team owned by legendary four-time Indianapolis 500 winner
A.J. Foyt since Takuma Sato also finished second in 2015 at this event
when it took place on Belle Isle.
Colton Herta finished a season-best third in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda
as Andretti Global put two drivers on the podium for the first time
since Herta and Kirkwood went 1-2, respectively, last July on the
streets of Toronto.
Two-time series champion Will Power finished fourth in the No. 12
Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, while Kyffin Simpson rounded out the top
five with a career-best finish in the No. 8 Ridgeline Chip Ganassi
Racing Honda.
This 100-lap race on the notoriously bumpy and tight nine-turn,
1.645-mile circuit on the streets of downtown Detroit came down to
strategy and survival.
The 27-car field divided into two strategic camps at the start, with 12
cars beginning the race on Firestone’s grippier but less durable
Firehawk alternate tires and 15 on the slower but more durable primary
tires. The top nine starters, which included pole sitter Herta and
teammate Kirkwood, opted to start on the softer alternate tire and shed
it as soon as possible for the durability of the harder tire. INDYCAR
rules require that all drivers must use both tire compounds for at least
two laps per race.
That divided the field into separate pit cycles, with drivers on both
strategies being forced to fight their way through the field after each
stop while waiting for drivers on alternative tactics to pit.
Kirkwood first got to the front on Lap 39 when Scott Dixon, who started
on the primary tire, made his first pit stop in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip
Ganassi Racing Honda. Kirkwood stayed in the lead until the end of Lap
50, when he made his second stop.
The race’s complexion changed on Lap 67 when Callum Ilott crashed into
the barrier in Turn 1 in the No. 90 PREMA Racing Chevrolet.
Ferrucci and Simpson were among the drivers who started on the primary
tires and had just pitted for the third time at the end of Lap 65.
Kirkwood, Power, Herta, championship leader Alex Palou and David Malukas
of AJ Foyt Racing all pitted under caution at the end of Lap 70,
dropping them down the field while Ferrucci assumed the lead after
starting 21st.
The restart at the end of Lap 72 also turned the race – and perhaps
the championship fight – on its head when Palou’s No. 10 DHL Chip
Ganassi Racing Honda made hard contact with the barrier in Turn 1 after
being tapped in the rear by the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet
of Malukas, who received a penalty for avoidable contact.
Palou was out of the race, credited with 25th place, his first result
outside of the top three this season and worse result since he finished
27th in 2022 at Road America. Three-time series champion Palou entered
the race with five victories in six starts this season, including the
109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge last Sunday. His points
lead was trimmed to 90 over second-place Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren.
On the restart at the end of Lap 76, Kirkwood started fourth but dove
under Marcus Armstrong in the No. 66 SiriusXM/Root Insurance Honda of
Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian in Turn 3 for third on Lap 77. One
lap later, Kirkwood passed Simpson for second on the back straightaway,
but he slightly misjudged the maneuver, with his left front wing
clipping the right rear wheel of Simpson’s car and damaging the wing.
Then on Lap 79, Kirkwood drove under Ferrucci in his favorite passing
spot – Turn 3 at the end of the back straight – for a lead he would
not relinquish.
But nothing came easily over the last 21 laps.
On Lap 84, a frightening crash between Felix Rosenqvist in the No. 60
SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian and rookie Louis
Foster in the No. 45 Mi-Jack Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan triggered
the last of five caution periods and a red flag for barrier repair that
lasted 12 minutes, 25 seconds.
“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.’”
Kirkwood got a great jump on the restart at the end of Lap 89 and was
never threatened. Ferrucci dove under Power in Turn 3 on Lap 91 and then
parried Herta’s attempts to pass for second numerous times over the
last eight laps.
“The stand was amazing,” Ferrucci said of his strategists and
engineers. “Perfect strategy. Obviously got lucky with that yellow (on
Lap 67), and man, I don’t think I”ve ever been so happy to see a red
flag. I was really struggling. I don’t know what I did with the tires,
but I couldn’t get them to come back to life.
“Kyle was so fast today. Congratulations to him and his team on this
win.”
The race featured 261 on-track passes, a record for this downtown
circuit and the second-highest total in the history of the event,
including races on Belle Isle.
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, just across the
Mississippi River from St. Louis.