INDYCAR: DETROIT BELONGS TO KYLE KIRKWOOD AGAIN

Kyle Kirkwood continues to prove that when it comes to street circuits, he’s in a league of his own. On the tight, bumpy layout of Detroit, the Andretti driver claimed his second win of the season—and fourth career victory in IndyCar, all of which have come on urban tracks. The result is even more meaningful considering Alex Palou, the dominant force in early 2025, was taken out after contact with David Malukas and forced to retire after hitting the wall.

While Palou remains the runaway leader in the championship, Kirkwood has emerged as the only driver to win more than once this year. Starting from the second row, the Long Beach winner capitalized on a key moment early on, passing teammate Colton Herta after the first round of pit stops, as Herta found himself in a tight battle with Nolan Siegel.

Herta, who started from pole, couldn’t match Kirkwood’s pace in the second half of the race and had to fight hard just to secure a spot on the podium. He eventually crossed the line in third, holding off late-race pressure from Santino Ferrucci and Will Power in a frantic final dash.

The race was marked by multiple interruptions, including a red flag with 13 laps to go following a nasty crash between Louis Foster and Felix Rosenqvist. Foster’s right front suspension failed at high speed down the straight, sending his Rahal Dallara out of control and into Rosenqvist’s car. The impact was violent, but thankfully, both drivers walked away unharmed.

Once the race resumed, Kirkwood had no trouble pulling away from the pack. Power made quick work of Ferrucci and Herta to move into second, but never posed a real threat to the leader.

Ferrucci delivered a standout performance, thanks in part to a well-timed caution just past the halfway mark triggered by Callum Ilott. The Prema driver, running a solid race in 13th, suddenly lost his left front wheel and slammed into the wall, ending his day and a chance to bounce back from Indy 500 disappointment. Still, Prema had a silver lining in Robert Shwartzman’s 16th-place finish. The rookie kept it clean in a race where that’s often the biggest challenge.

Ferrucci wasn’t the only one to benefit from pitting just before Ilott’s crash. Kyffin Simpson and Marcus Armstrong also timed their stops perfectly, catapulting themselves up the order. Simpson finished fifth, Armstrong sixth—both just behind Power in fourth and ahead of the Arrow McLaren duo of Pato O’Ward and Christian Lundgaard in seventh and eighth.

Josef Newgarden recovered to ninth, followed closely by Alexander Rossi, who rounded out the top ten.

Scott McLaughlin had a race to forget. He gained ground early by pitting during the first caution and briefly found himself in a virtual lead. But all of it unraveled after he rear-ended Nolan Siegel, earning a stop-and-go penalty that dropped him to 12th at the finish.

A similar fate befell David Malukas, whose contact with Palou not only took out the points leader but also earned him a drive-through penalty. He eventually crossed the line in 14th, carrying the weight of a race-altering mistake.

© Cavalieri Garage & Co.