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Tag: Kyle Kirkwood

  • Kirkwood retained by Andretti Global in new multi-year extension deal

    Kirkwood retained by Andretti Global in new multi-year extension deal

    Kyle Kirkwood has inked a multi-year contract extension to remain with Andretti Global in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, beginning in 2024.

    The news comes as the 24-year-old Kirkwood from Jupiter, Florida, is coming off his second full-time campaign in the IndyCar Series and first with Andretti, where he notched his first two career victories in the series, the first occurring in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach at the Streets of Long Beach, California, in April and the second occurring in the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Street Circuit in August. Coupled with five additional results in the top 10, Kirkwood finished in 11th place in this year’s driver’s standings with 352 points.

    “I am thrilled to be able to continue with Andretti Global for years to come,” Kirkwood said. “We have built something special within the team this year and I’m excited to see what we can do next season in the No. 27 AutoNation Honda. It’s fantastic that I will now have the opportunity to work with the same group – it’s a luxury I haven’t had the privilege of having since my karting days. Now we can put our heads down and fully focus on winning races and becoming a strong Championship contender. I have such a huge respect for this team and it will be an honor to continue to call myself an INDYCAR driver for Andretti Global.”

    Kirkwood, whose racing career started with karts, is the first competitor to win a championship across every Road to Indy series, a program that provides a scholarship-funded path for aspiring competitors to compete in IndyCar and the Indianapolis 500. He accomplished this feat by winning the U.S. F2000 National Championship in 2018, the Indy Pro 2000 Championship in 2019 and the Indy Lights Championshp in 2021. He also recorded the Formula 4 United States Championship in 2017.

    A year after winning the Indy Lights title with Andretti Global, Kirkwood joined A.J. Foyt Enterprises for his first full-time stint in the IndyCar Series in 2022. During the season, his best on-track result was a 10th-place run at the Streets of Long Beach. He concluded the season with an average-finishing result of 20.2 and a 24th-place finish in the final standings with 183 points before joining Andretti Global.

    Through 34 career starts in the IndyCar Series, Kirkwood has achieved two victories, two podiums, one pole, 93 laps led and an average-finishing result of 16.6.

    With the announcement, Kirkwood becomes the third Andretti Global competitor to be locked into a multi-year contract with the organization alongside teammates Colton Herta, whose contract runs through 2027, and Marcus Ericsson, who joins Andretti after spending thre previous four seasons at Chip Ganassi Racing.

    “Kyle’s dedication and talent have been instrumental in our team’s success this past season, and he has continued to show that he has what it takes to compete at the highest level in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES,” Michael Andretti, Andretti Global CEO & Chairman, added. “Our goal has always been to consistently compete for wins and Championships and we felt that solidifying Kyle’s future at Andretti was key to making that happen. Bringing Kyle into the multi-year plans along with Colton [Herta] and Marcus [Ericsson] will only strengthen the continuity we’ve been looking for in our INDYCAR program.”

    With his future plans set, Kirkwood and Andretti Global will return to action at the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, on March 10, 2024, for the start of a new NTT INDYCAR season.

  • Christian Lundgaard dominates for first IndyCar career victory in Toronto

    Christian Lundgaard dominates for first IndyCar career victory in Toronto

    In his 28th career start in the NTT IndyCar Series, Christian Lundgaard etched his name as an IndyCar Series race winner after capping off a dominant run from pole position to win for the first time in the Honda Indy Toronto at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Canada, on Sunday, July 16.

    The 21-year-old Lundgaard from Hedensted, Denmark, commenced the sport’s lone visit north of the border in Canada by notching his second IndyCar career pole on Saturday, July 15, amid mixed weather conditions. Amid a multi-car incident in the opening lap, Lundgaard proceeded to lead the first 18 laps before surrendering the lead to pit amid alternate strategies ensuing within the field. Through more on-track chaos and mixed strategy, Lundgaard, who briefly led from Laps 37 to 48, assumed the lead for good on Lap 62 after Scott Dixon surrendered the lead to pit under green. For the remainder of the event, Lundgaard methodically stretched his advantage while navigating his way around the 11-turn circuit and beat runner-up and championship points leader Alex Palou by more than 11 seconds to achieve his first checkered flag in the IndyCar circuit.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, July 15, Christian Lundgaard captured his second IndyCar career pole after posting a pole-winning lap at 100.217 mph in 1:04.1567. Joining him on the front row was Scott McLaughlin, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 99.716 mph in 1:04.4790.

    When the green flag and the race commenced, Lundgaard rocketed ahead with the lead while McLaughlin veered right to defend the runner-up spot ahead of Pato O’Ward and his No. 5 Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet through Princess Blvd. and entering the first turn. The field then fanned out to multiple lanes through the first two turns as Lundgaard continued to lead.

    Then as the field entered Lake Shore Blvd., the first caution of the event flew when Tom Blomqvist, the reigning two-time Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona winner who was making his IndyCar debut for Meyer Shank Racing and as an interim competitor for the injured Simon Pagenaud, got pushed and squeezed into the wall amid a three-wide battle involving Ryan Hunter-Reay and Jack Harvey. With Blomqvist hitting the wall, Harvey and Hunter-Reay were also involved as they squeezed into one another and veered sideways and into the wall, thus igniting a stack up towards the rear of the field as Alexander Rossi, Santino Ferrucci, Sting Ray Rob, Benjamin Pedersen and Graham Rahal were also involved.

    Following an extensive caution period, the race resumed under green flag conditions on the ninth lap. At the start, Lundgaard retained the top spot ahead of McLaughlin as the field navigated its way through Princess Blvd. before navigating through the first two turns and entering Lake Shore Blvd. The field proceeded to navigate its way through Turns 3 and 4 before entering Ontario Dr. before navigating back on Princess Blvd. and Manitoba Dr. Following another series of turns from Turns 5 to 11 and back to the frontstretch, Lundgaard continued to lead and he would retain the top spot through the Lap 10 mark while McLaughlin, O’Ward, Marcus Ericsson and Scott Dixon were battling in the top five.

    Through the first 15 scheduled laps, Lundgaard was leading by more than three seconds over McLaughlin while O’Ward retained third. Behind, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Ericsson and Dixon were running in the top five while Kyle Kirkwood, Flex Rosenqvist, Will Power, Josef Newgarden and Colton Herta were running in the top 10. Behind, Marcus Armstrong was in 11th while Romain Grosjean, Alex Palou, Rinus VeeKay and Helio Castroneves were mired in the top 15.

    A lap later, Armstrong, who was battling Grosjean for 11th, pitted under green. Rosenqvist and David Malukas would pit during the following lap under green as Lundgaard was leading by more than four seconds over McLaughlin. More pit stops would then ensue the proceeding lap as Kirkwood and Newgarden pitted.

    Then on Lap 19, McLaughlin cycled into the lead as Lundgaard pitted under green. Once Lundgaard returned to the track, he was mired in 12th in between Juncos Racing’s Callum Ilott and Agustin Canapino while McLaughlin, O’Ward, Ericsson, Dixon and Power were running in the top five. O’Ward would then surrender third place to pit at the Lap 20 mark, where he would blend back on the track in 14th.

    At the Lap 25 mark, McLaughlin was leading by more than two seconds over Ericsson while Dixon, Power and Herta were running in the top five. With Grosjean, Palou, VeeKay, Castroneves and Lundgaard running in the top 10, O’Ward was still mired in 14th while Newgarden was back in 17th in between Rosenqvist and Marcus Armstrong.

    Five laps later, McLaughlin continued to lead by more than four seconds over Ericsson while third-place Dixon trailed by more than five seconds. With Power and Herta running in the top five, Palou navigated his way around Grosjean for sixth while Lundgaard was up in eighth ahead of VeeKay and Castroneves. Another two laps later, Grosjean pitted from the top 10 under green while McLaughin retained the lead by more than five seconds over Ericsson. Herta would also pit from the top five followed by Augustin Canapino.

    Then on Lap 30, McLaughlin navigated his No. 3 Gallagher Dallara-Chevrolet onto pit road for his first pit service of the day as Ericsson cycled his No. 8 Huski Chocolate Dallara-Honda into the lead. Ericsson would then pit during the following lap followed by Castroneves and Callum Ilott. With Dixon cycling his No. 9 PNC Bank Dallara-Honda into the lead, McLaughlin was scored in fifth behind Lundgaard. On Lap 37, however, the top-three competitors that included Dixon, Power and Palou pitted under green as Lundgaard cycled back into the lead. Following their pit stops, Power managed to muscle ahead of Dixon and Palou on the track and within the top 10 while Ericsson was in fifth following his pit service.

    Then as the event was approaching its halfway mark on Lap 41, the event’s second caution flew when Grosjean lost control of the steering of his No. 28 DHL Dallara-Honda and veered straight into the wall just past Turn 10 as his strong run came to an end. At the moment of caution, Lundgaard was leading ahead of McLaughlin, O’Ward, Kyle Kirkwood and Ericsson while Newgarden, Power, Dixon, Palou and Rosenqvist were in the top 10.

    During the caution period, some names including Kirkwood, Rosenqvist, Palou, Herta, Malukas, Graham Rahal and Callum Ilott pitted while the rest led by Lundgaard remained on the track. Not long after and prior to a restart on Lap 46, the event quickly returned under a caution period when Kirkwood ran into the rear of Castroneves’ No. 06 SiriusXM Dallara-Honda and sent him spinning in Turn 11, thus ending his race, as Palou sustained damage to his front wing after hitting the wall while trying to avoid Castroneves. Despite the contact, Palou continued to run on the track despite concerns of his front wing being damaged.

    Amid the extensive caution period, a majority of the field led by Lundgaard pitted for fresh tires and fuel while some including McLaughlin, Dixon, VeeKay, Kirkwood, Herta and Palou remained on the track with alternate strategies ensuing.

    When the race restarted under green with 34 laps remaining, McLaughlin jumped ahead of Dixon to retain the lead through the first two turns and entering Lake Shore Blvd. With the field fanning out, a series of battles ensued as Lundgaard and O’Ward were trying to navigate their way towards the front from the top 10. Amid the battles, Kirkwood, who was running within the top five, pitted after being assessed a stop-and-go penalty from the contact with Castroneves while VeeKay, Palou and Herta were in the top five.

    With 30 laps remaining, McLaughlin was leading by eight-tenths of a second over fellow Kiwi competitor Dixon while VeeKay and Palou were in the top four. Behind, Lundgaard moved up to fifth and was trailing the lead by more than seven seconds while Herta, O’Ward, Power, Ericsson and Newgarden were in the top 10.

    Four laps later, VeeKay pitted from third place, which allowed Palou, Lundgaard and Herta to move up one spots respectively into the top five while McLaughlin was leading by more than a second over Dixon. McLaughlin would then surrender the lead to pit with 25 laps remaining as Dixon cycled into the lead followed by teammate Palou and Lundgaard.

    Then with 24 laps remaining, Lundgaard, who pulled a bold overtake on Palou through Turns 3 and 4 to take second place, cycled back into the lead after Dixon pitted under green. In the ensuing laps, Power overtook O’Ward for fourth while Palou, who continued to proceed at full pace despite his damaged front wing, retained second ahead of Colton Herta.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Lundgaard was leading by more than two seconds over Palou while Herta, Power and O’Ward were running in the top five. With Ericsson in sixth, Newgarden, Marcus Armstrong, Rosenqvist and Agustin Canapino were in the top 10 while Dixon and McLaughlin were mired back in 14th and 15th, respectively.

    With 10 laps remaining, Lundgaard retained the lead by nearly seven seconds over Palou while Herta, Power and Ericsson were scored in the top five. In the process, Newgarden, Armstrong, O’Ward, Rosenqvist and Dixon were in the top 10. By then, David Malukas retired four laps earlier after making contact with the wall and damaging his suspension.

    Five laps later, Lundgaard extended his advantage to more than nine seconds over Palou, who was being pressured by Herta amid his front wing damage as Power and Ericsson started to close in on the battle.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Lundgaard remained as the leader by more than 10 seconds over Palou, who continued to run strong on the track amid his front wing damage in front of Herta. By then, Power and Ericsson both pitted after coming up short on fuel, which allowed Newgarden and Dixon to move into the top five. With no competition lurking behind him, Lundgaard, driving the No. 45 Vivid Clear Rx Dallara-Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, was able to navigate his way around the 11-turn circuit smoothly for a final time and cycle back to the frontstretch to claim his first career checkered flag in the IndyCar circuit.

    With the victory, Lundgaard, who is currently campaigning in his second full-time season in the IndyCar circuit and whose previous best result was second place that occurred at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course last August, became the first competitor to achieve a first IndyCar race victory since Kyle Kirkwood won at the Streets of Long Beach, California, this past April. He also recorded the first victory for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing since the team last won the 2020 Indianapolis 500 with Takuma Sato. Lundgaard also joined Adrian Fernandez and the late Justin Wilson as competitors to achieve a first IndyCar victory at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Canada.

    With the victory, Lundgaard, who celebrated his first IndyCar win with his friend, Victor, vowed to shave his mustache he grew during the offseason amid the promise that he would do so once he would win an IndyCar race.

    Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “I’m pretty drained from energy right now,” Lundgaard, who led a race-high 54 of 85 laps, said on Peacock. “The Hy-Vee VIVID car has just been fast all weekend. I said it before the race [that] we had a car that was fast enough to win. We pulled it off and I think we did by 10 seconds. This team, they do deserve this because if we look at where we were early this season and even last year at this point, we were nowhere near this, so I’m just extremely happy for everybody right now. Everything [the owners] are doing for this team, we’re moving forward.”

    “[This win]’s huge for us,” Bobby Rahal, co-owner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, added. “Any win’s big. We were knocking on the door at Mid-Ohio with Graham’s [Rahal] qualifying run and Christian’s for that matter. This weekend, it wasn’t easy. We didn’t start out really super great, but we kept working at it. Christian was hooked up. I think he just was kind of like on a mission this weekend. You saw that on that race. He just drove away from everybody. The crew did a great job. That strategy in the No. 45 pit was the right strategy and Christian just didn’t put a foot wrong. A great weekend for us. “

    While Lundgaard celebrated a first victory, Palou, who started the lowest of this season in 15th, was left relieved on pit road after having enough power to nurse his No. 10 Journie Rewards Dallara-Honda with the damaged front wing home in the runner-up spot, one spot shy of achieving four consecutive IndyCar victories following recent victories in Detroit, Road America and Mid-Ohio, while Colton Herta achieved his first podium result of the season by finishing third just as he ran out of fuel.

    “We knew it was going to be an eventful race,” Palou said. “I had a lot of ups and downs. We had a really fast car. I don’t know how we made it with this wing. The car was still handling OK, and then we just had to save a ton of fuel, a ton of tires. But we made it. Glad we finished P2 today. A win could have been possible, but I did a bad qualifying yesterday. As long as we have fast cars like we’ve been doing, we’re going to be OK. The guys did an amazing strategy call. It was tough to save that much fuel, but they just put me on that position. Kudos to the No. 10 car.”

    Dixon, who won last year’s IndyCar event at Toronto, came home in fourth while Newgarden settled in fifth. McLaughlin, Armstrong, Pato O’Ward, Graham Rahal and Rosenqvist completed the top 10 on the track. Notably, Ericsson and Power ended up 11th and 14th, respectively, while Kirkwood ended up 15th.

    There were seven lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured three cautions for 16 laps. In total, 15 of 27 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 10th event of the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series season, Alex Palou continues to lead the championship standings by 117 points over teammate Scott Dixon, 126 over Josef Newgarden, 142 over teammate Marcus Ericsson and 143 over Pato O’Ward.

    Results.

    1. Christian Lundgaard, 54 laps led

    2. Alex Palou

    3. Colton Herta

    4. Scott Dixon, two laps led

    5. Josef Newgarden

    6. Scott McLaughlin, 28 laps led

    7. Marcus Armstrong

    8. Pato O’Ward

    9. Graham Rahal

    10. Felix Rosenqvist

    11. Marcus Ericsson

    12. Agustin Canapino

    13. Rinus VeeKay

    14. Will Power

    15. Kyle Kirkwood

    16. Alexander Rossi

    17. Santino Ferrucci

    18. Callum Ilott – OUT, Contact

    19. Sting Ray Robb, three laps down

    20. David Malukas – OUT, Contact

    21. Helio Castroneves – OUT, Contact

    22. Romain Grosjean – OUT, Contact

    23. Devlin DeFrancesco – OUT, Mechanical

    24. Jack Harvey – OUT, Contact

    25. Tom Blomqvist – OUT, Contact

    26. Ryan Hunter-Reay – OUT, Contact

    27. Benjamin Pedersen – OUT, Contact

    Next on the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series schedule is the series’ doubleheader weekend feature at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. The first event of the doubleheader weekend feature, Hy-Vee Homefront 250, is set to occur next Saturday, July 22, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC while the second event, Hy-Vee One Step 250, will follow suit next Sunday, July 23, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Palou capitalizes late for third IndyCar victory of 2023 at Road America

    Palou capitalizes late for third IndyCar victory of 2023 at Road America

    After spending a majority of the event trailing dominant pole-sitter Colton Herta, Alex Palou executed a late pit strategy to his advantage and emerge ahead of Herta and the competition before cruising to a late victory in the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America on Sunday, June 18.

    The 2021 NTT IndyCar Series champion from Sant Antoni de Vilamajor, Spain, led three times for 10 of 55-scheduled laps in an event where he started in third place and spent the bulk of the event battling within the top five amid mixed pit strategies and full-contact racing. The key moment for Palou occurred with 15 laps remaining when Herta pitted under green for fresh black tires. Instead of pitting with Herta, Palou opted to wait during the proceeding lap to pit for fresh tires. By the time he returned to the track, he was methodically gaining ground on Herta, who was in fuel conservation mode. Then with seven laps remaining, Palou executed his winning pass on Herta entering Turn 1. From there, the Spaniard was able to pull away from the field and proceed to claim his third IndyCar Series victory of the 2023 campaign.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, June 17, Colton Herta notched his first IndyCar pole of the season and the 10th of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 144.223 mph in one minute, 40.1945 seconds. Joining Herta on the front row was Pato O’Ward, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 143.979 mph in one minute, 40.3643 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced amid a fanned-out restart, Herta rocketed ahead with the lead entering the first turn as Alex Palou made an early move on Pato O’Ward for second. Then in Turn 1, early trouble struck for Kyle Kirkwood after he ran into the rear of O’Ward and spun in Turn 1, which sent O’Ward’s No. 5 Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet briefly off the course while Kirkwood’s No. 27 Andretti Autosport Dallara-Honda was stalled backwards.

    With the event remaining under green flag conditions, the field continued to bump and jostle for positions throughout the 14-turn circuit. At the front of the pack, Herta was leading ahead of the new runner-up competitor Alex Palou followed by teammate Marcus Armstrong, Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi while O’Ward was back in seventh behind Christian Lundgaard. As the field was making its approach back to the start/finish line, the first caution of the event flew for Kirkwood, who was still stalled in Turn 1 as the on-track safety workers came to his assistance before he was eventually able to re-fire his car and drive away.

    During the event’s first caution period, a majority of the field running within the bottom half of the pack that included Kirkwood, Felix Rosenqvist, Romain Grosjean, Scott Dixon and Will Power made a pit stop while the rest led by Herta remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on the third lap, Herta maintained the lead ahead of Palou and Armstrong, with Armstrong making an early attempt in battling teammate Palou for second, but the latter prevailed in retaining the spot as Newgarden was in fourth. Behind, Lundgaard was in fifth while Rossi settled in sixth in front of teammate O’Ward, who would be assessed a penalty and forced to yield two spots for blocking during the start of the event. Amid more bumps and jostling for spots in the middle of the pack, the field led by Herta managed to navigate its way through the 14-turn circuit under green for the following lap.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Herta was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Palou while Armstrong trailed in third place by more than a second. Meanwhile, Newgarden, who forced Lundgaard off the course in Turn 5 during the previous lap, retained fourth ahead of Rossi while Lundgaard slipped back to sixth. Behind, Devlin DeFrancesco was in seventh followed by Santino Ferrucci, O’Ward and Marcus Ericsson while Scott McLaughlin, Callum Ilott, Rinus VeeKay, Felix Rosenqvist and Graham Rahal rounded out the top 15.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Herta extended his advantage to more than eight-tenths of a second over Palou while third-place Armstrong trailed by more than a second in his No. 11 Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda. Newgarden and Rossi continued to run in the top five while Lundgaard, O’Ward, DeFrancesco, Ericsson and McLaughlin, who made a bold overtake on Ferrucci through the frontstretch, were running in the top 10. Meanwhile, Rosenqvist, who received a bump from Rinus VeeKay’s No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara-Chevrolet in Turn 3 two laps earlier, had plummeted to last place in 27th after battling for a top-15 spot and while trying to carve his way back to the front on his fresh tires while pitting during the first caution period.

    Two laps later, a host of competitors led by the race leader Herta pitted under green while Rosenqvist cycled into the lead. Shortly after, however, the event’s second caution flew when Grosjean, who snapped sideways and spun his No. 28 Andretti Autosport Dallara-Honda off the course in Turn 3 on Lap 11, had stalled his car on the gravel trap and needed the on-track safety crew to tow his car back onto the course and re-fired. Amid the pit stops, more trouble struck for Kirkwood, who stalled his car while trying to enter his pit box, but had to take evasive action to avoid being hit by Rinus VeeKay, who was exiting his pit stall. In addition, Armstrong was assessed a one-spot penalty for an unsafe release after he nearly hit Simon Pagenaud, who was trying to enter his pit stall at the same time when Armstrong was exiting his pit stall. VeeKay would also be assessed the same penalty as Armstrong for nearly colliding into Kirkwood.

    Just as the event was ready to restart under green on Lap 15, the caution quickly returned when Jack Harvey, who was running in the middle of the pack went off the course and dead straight towards the tire barriers in Turn 14.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 19, Herta maintained the lead ahead of Palou and Newgarden while Armstrong was intimidating Rossi for fourth place. With the field behind bumping and jostling for spots, including some going off the course, Herta maintained his advantage over Palou and Newgarden while Armstrong trailed in fourth by more than two seconds.

    Then four laps later, Palou, who came under pressure from Newgarden, slipped and went off the course in Turn 5. This allowed Newgarden to move his No. 2 Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet into second place as Rossi, Armstrong and O’Ward joined the battle. Meanwhile, Herta stabilized his advantage to more than a second while Newgarden maintained second place over Palou. Behind and during the following lap, Rossi and Armstrong continued to fight fiercely for fourth as O’Ward tried to close in. Then in Turn 5, O’Ward gained a strong run on Armstrong in Turn 5 and survived a side-by-side battle on Armstrong for a top-five spot in Turn 6 as O’Ward overtook Armstrong while Lundgaard tried to challenge Armstrong for sixth.

    Then during the event’s third caution period on Lap 25 for David Malukas, who pulled his car off the course in Turn 8 and became the first retiree of the event, a majority of the field led by Herta pitted while Armstrong remained on the circuit to inherit the lead. With the event surpassing its halfway mark under the caution period, Herta now found himself strapped behind Palou and Newgarden, both of whom managed to exit pit road ahead of Herta, while Armstrong was the leader.

    With the race restarting under green on Lap 28, Armstrong maintained the lead ahead of Will Power, both of whom were off sequence amid pit strategy, while Newgarden was overtaken by Herta and O’Ward entering the first turn. As the field continued to fan out and jostle for late spots, Power, who was running in second and trying to fend off Grosjean, who was a lap down, briefly touched the gravel and went off the course in Turn 6 as Grosjean overtook him. Behind him, Palou maintained third ahead of Herta and a hard-charging O’Ward while Newgarden fell to sixth.

    During the following lap, Herta overtook Palou for third place in Turn 6 as O’Ward closed in on Palou for a top-five spot. As the battles behind continue to ignite, Armstrong maintained the lead ahead of Power, who was trailing by more than two seconds and trying to navigate around the lapped competitor of Grosjean.

    Then with 24 laps remaining, Armstrong surrendered the lead to pit as Power cycled into the lead. Herta, Palou, O’Ward and Newgarden each moved up spots within the top five while Dixon, Rossi, Rosenqvist, McLaughlin and Ericsson were in the top 10. Herta would then manage to reassume the lead two laps later as Power pitted.

    With 20 laps remaining, Herta was leading by six-tenths of a second over Palou while third-place O’Ward trailed by more than a second. Newgarden and Dixon were scored in the top five while Rossi, Ericsson, Rosenqvist, McLaughlin and Lundgaard were in the top 10. Behind, Rahal was in 11th ahead of Kyle Kirkwood while VeeKay, Pagenaud, Ilott, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Helio Castroneves, Benjamin Pedersen, Devlin DeFrancesco and Agustin Canapino were in the top 20.

    Then with 15 laps remaining, Herta surrendered the lead to pit under green. Lundgaard, Rahal, Pagenaud and Ryan Hunter-Reay would also pit while Palou inherited the lead. Palou would then pit during the following lap under green as he was pursued by O’Ward, Newgarden, Dixon, Ericsson, Rossi, McLaughlin, Kirkwood, VeeKay, Castroneves, Ilott, Pedersen, Canapino and Ferrucci. Amid the pit stops, Herta managed to overtake all of them on the track, but he found himself mired by Will Power as Power returned to the lead.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Power, who last pitted on Lap 33 and has yet to make another pit stop amid a differing pit strategy, was leading by more than 10 seconds over Herta while Palou, Newgarden and O’Ward trailed under 15 seconds.

    Then a lap later, Power pitted under green. This enabled Herta, who was trying to conserve fuel to finish, to reassume the lead, but he was only three-tenths of a second ahead over Palou, who was trying to close in while third-place Newgarden trailed by nearly three seconds. Palou would then trail the race leader Herta by four-tenths of a second during the following lap as Palou continued to put pressure on Herta for the lead.

    Then with seven laps remaining, Palou, who was within a tenth of a second trailing Herta, overtook Herta’s No. 26 Andretti Autosport Dallara-Honda with a bold move to the outside lane entering Turn 1 as he assumed the lead in his No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda. As Palou tried to pull away with the lead, Herta maintained second in spite of being under fuel conservation mode as Newgarden closed in for the runner-up spot.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Palou was leading by more than two seconds over Newgarden, who overtook Herta for the runner-up spot. O’Ward would then overtake Herta for the final podium spot along with Dixon as Herta continued to run under a cautious pace on the track while trying to save fuel for the finish.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Palou remained as the leader by more than five seconds over Newgarden and more than seven seconds over O’Ward. With close competition lurking behind him, Palou, who wrecked a day ago during the event’s practice session but rallied with a repaired car, was able to cycle his way around the 14-turn circuit smoothly for a final time as he returned to the finish line and claimed his third checkered flag of the 2023 season.

    With the victory, Palou notched his seventh career victory in the NTT IndyCar Series and his second at Road America after winning his first in 2021. He also collected his third victory of the season and in recent weeks following his recent victories at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in May and at the Streets of Detroit two weeks earlier. Palou also recorded the fourth IndyCar victory of the season for Chip Ganassi Racing and the fifth for Honda.

    The victory also extended Palou’s hot streak of this season, where he has finished no lower than eighth through the first eight-scheduled events.

    “It’s been an amazing weekend, honestly,” Palou said on USA Network. “We started with a lot of speed. Big mistake by my part in practice too, but it was amazing. [The team] had only an hour and a half to rebuild all the car. We went back on track and it was even better than practice too. Super happy. They gave me the pit stop that gave us the win as well, so [I] cannot thank them enough. It was an amazing day for the No. 10 American Legion Ganassi car and we’re gonna keep on going. We’re gonna try to keep it rolling. We have an amazing team behind.”

    “[Herta] was really quick on the first couple of laps on the blacks [tires],” Palou added. “I thought I was not gonna catch him, but anyway, I knew while our tires were a bit slower on getting up to temperature, we kept on pushing, kept on putting some pressure and we finally made it happen.”

    Newgarden, this year’s Indianapolis 500 champion who won at Road America a year ago, finished in second place as he trailed Palou by more than four seconds while O’Ward, who is still pursuing his first victory of the season, fended off a late charge from Dixon to round out the podium in third place and claim his fourth podium result of the season.

    Dixon came home fourth after starting 23rd while Herta concluded his dominant run in a disappointing fifth place after leading a race-high 33 laps.

    “It was unclear to me like how the race was gonna play out at that point,” Herta said. “It was hard to say what was gonna happen with fuel numbers. I knew it was about 15 laps to go and that’s usually pretty reasonable fuel number. It ended up being quite a bit more. It’s frustrating. We had the best car. We were cruising the whole time. Like I had so much more in it and we just never really got to show it because we were always saving fuel, trying to go that lap later. That’s a killer. We still got a fifth out of it, which is nice. Not what we want, though, so for that reason, it’s pretty frustrating.”

    Ericsson, Lundgaard, McLaughlin, Kirkwood and Rossi finished in the top 10.

    There were nine lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 10 laps. In total, 23 of 27 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the eighth event of the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series season, Alex Palou continues to lead the championship standings by 74 points over Marcus Ericsson, 81 over Josef Newgarden, 98 over both Pato O’Ward and Scott Dixon and 125 over Scott McLaughlin.

    Results.

    1. Alex Palou, 10 laps led

    2. Josef Newgarden

    3. Pato O’Ward

    4. Scott Dixon

    5. Colton Herta, 33 laps led

    6. Marcus Ericsson

    7. Christian Lundgaard

    8. Scott McLaughlin

    9. Kyle Kirkwood

    10. Alexander Rossi

    11. Graham Rahal

    12. Rinus VeeKay

    13. Will Power, seven laps led

    14. Simon Pagenaud

    15. Helio Castroneves

    16. Santino Ferrucci

    17. Ryan Hunter-Reay

    18. Callum Ilott

    19. Agustin Canapino

    20. Felix Rosenqvist

    21. Benjamin Pedersen

    22. Sting Ray Robb

    23. Devlin DeFrancesco

    24. Marcus Armstrong, one lap down, five laps led

    25. Romain Grosjean, one lap down

    26. Jack Harvey, one lap down

    27. David Malukas – OUT, Off Course

    The next event on the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series schedule is the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. The event is slated to occur on July 2 at 1:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Pato O’Ward grabs late victory in the second IndyCar doubleheader feature at Iowa

    Pato O’Ward grabs late victory in the second IndyCar doubleheader feature at Iowa

    A day after losing to Josef Newgarden, Pato O’Ward benefitted from a late incident involving Newgarden to win the Hy-Vee Salutes to Farmers 300 at Iowa Speedway on Sunday, July 24.

    The 23-year-old O’Ward from Monterrey, Mexico, spent the majority of Sunday’s event in the top five and was running in the runner-up spot on Lap 235 when Newgarden, who dominated and was vying for a weekend sweep at Iowa, wrecked in front of him following a mechanical failure. Taking control by leading the final 66 laps, O’Ward made a restart with 51 laps remaining work to his advantage as he rocketed away from Will Power and the field to grab his second NTT IndyCar Series victory of the season and draw himself back into the championship picture.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Will Power, who started on pole position on Saturday, also started on pole for Sunday’s main event after clocking in a pole-winning lap at 178.013 mph in 18.0796 seconds, which marked his 66th career pole in the IndyCar Series. Joining him on the front row was teammate Josef Newgarden, who posted a fast qualifying lap at 177.904 mph in 18.0907 seconds and went on to win Saturday’s event at Iowa.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Power launched his No. 12 Verizon 5G Dallara-Chevrolet clear of the field and ahead of teammate Newgarden while Pato O’Ward, who started eighth, rocketed his No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet to fourth place behind Takuma Sato. Through the first lap, Power led the first lap as O’Ward challenged and overtook Sato for third place. 

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Power was leading by half a second over teammate Newgarden’s No. 2 Hitachi Dallara-Chevrolet followed by O’Ward, Sato and Conor Daly while Scott McLaughlin, Jack Harvey, Felix Rosenqvist, Marcus Ericsson and Rinus VeeKay were in the top 10. Romain Grosjean was in 11th followed by teammate Colton Herta, Jimmie Johnson, Alex Palou and David Malukas while Simon Pagenaud, rookie Kyle Kirkwood, Ed Carpenter, Scott Dixon and Callum Ilott were in the top 20.

    By Lap 20, Power stabilized his early advantage to six-tenths of a second over teammate Newgarden while O’Ward, Sato and Daly remained in the top five. Behind Rosenqvist challenged and overtook Jack Harvey for seventh while McLaughlin was in sixth.

    Ten laps later, Power continued to lead by nearly four-tenths of a second over teammate Newgarden as the leaders started to approach lapped traffic. O’Ward and Sato remained in third and fourth while McLaughlin cracked the top five in fifth ahead of Daly and Rosenqvist. By then, Jack Harvey was back in 14th as he was overtaken by Colton Herta.

    Just past the Lap 40 mark, Conor Daly and Simon Pagenaud pitted under green, with Pagenaud making multiple pit stops and spending multiple laps in his pit stall as he was encountering radio issues.

    Back on the track on Lap 50, Power continued to lead by nearly six-tenths of a second over teammate Newgarden followed by O’Ward, Sato and McLaughlin while Rosenqvist, Ericsson, VeeKay, Grosjean and David Malukas were in the top 10.

    Nearing the Lap 60 mark, names like Alexander Rossi, Alex Palou and rookie Christian Lundgaard pitted along with Devlin DeFrancesco, Dalton Kellett, Colton Herta and Jimmie Johnson. Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Ed Carpenter and Ilott would also pit along with Grosjean, Ericsson, Rosenqvist and O’Ward.

    By Lap 65, Power surrendered the lead to pit along with his Penske teammates Newgarden and McLaughlin. VeeKay also pitted as Sato cycled to the lead followed by Malukas and Kirkwood. Once Sato pitted approaching the Lap 70 mark, Power cycled back to the lead followed by teammate Newgarden while O’Ward was in third.

    Through Lap 85, teammates Power and Newgarden dueled for the lead as they were also trying to make their way around the lapped car of Grosjean. Shortly after, Newgarden assumed the top spot as Grosjean and Herta were both lapped.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Newgarden was leading by more than a second over teammate Power while O’Ward trailed in third place by more than four seconds. Meanwhile, Ericsson was in fourth while Jimmie Johnson, who led 19 laps and finished 11th at Iowa on Saturday, was in fifth. Scored in the top 10 were McLaughlin, Dixon, Rosenqvist, VeeKay and Herta while Ilott, David Malukas, Grosjean, Sato and Christian Lundgaard were in the top 15. Meanwhile, Palou was in 16th ahead of Conor Daly, Rossi, Kirkwood and Ed Carpenter while Graham Rahal and Helio Castroneves were in 23rd and 25th.

    Twenty laps later, Newgarden extended his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Power while O’Ward, Ericsson and Jimmie Johnson were in the top five. By then, the top-five competitors were the only ones on the lead lap, though Newgarden went to work to lap Johnson. 

    A lap later, the first caution flew when Kyle Kirkwood, who was overtaken by the leader Newgarden, wrecked his No. 14 AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara-Chevrolet into the Turn 2 outside wall. During the caution period, the leaders led by Newgarden pitted and Newgarden retained the lead followed by teammate Power, O’Ward and Ericsson. Following the pit stops, Rinus VeeKay was given a “stop-and-go” penalty for speeding on pit road.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 132, Newgarden retained the top spot ahead of teammate Power while O’Ward and Ericsson briefly battled for third. During the following lap, however, O’Ward, who pulled away from Ericsson, engaged in a battle with Power for the runner-up spot. 

    By Lap 140, Newgarden was leading by six-tenths of a second over teammate Power while O’Ward settled in third ahead of Ericsson and McLaughlin. By then, Scott Dixon was in sixth ahead of teammate Jimmie Johnson.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 150, Newgarden continued to lead by half a second over teammate Power followed by O’Ward, Ericsson and McLaughlin while Dixon, Johnson, Rosenqvist, Grosjean and Herta were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Alex Palou was in 11th ahead of Takuma Sato, Callum Ilott, Daly, Malukas and Ed Carpenter.

    Twenty-five laps later, Newgaraden stabilized his advantage to more than eight-tenths of a second over teammate Power while O’Ward and Ericsson settled in third and fourth. By then, Dixon cracked the top five followed by Rosenqvist and Johnson while McLaughlin was back in eighth ahead of Grosjean and Sato.

    Another 15 laps later, the battle for the lead between Team Penske’s Newgarden and Power started to slowly brew as Power was a second behind Newgarden, who was trying to navigate and lap David Malukas.

    Nearing the Lap 195 mark, the front-runners started to pit under green. By the time the final 100-lap mark of the event occurred, Newgarden cycled his way back to the lead while O’Ward emerged as the new runner-up competitor ahead of Power. 

    Ten laps later, Newgarden was scored out in front by more than a second over O’Ward followed by Power, McLaughlin and Dixon while Ericsson, Johnson, Ilott, Rosenqvist and Grosjean were in the top 10.

    Down to the final 75 laps of the event, Newgarden continued to lead by nearly three seconds over O’Ward while Power, McLaughlin and Dixon remained in the top five.

    Then with 65 laps remaining, the caution flew when Newgarden, who led a race-high 184 laps, slipped sideways and backed his No. 2 Hitachi Dallara-Chevrolet hard into the outside wall in Turn 3 following a suspension failure as his hopes of sweeping the weekend at Iowa evaporated.

    “Man, I wanna cry,” Newgarden said in the infield care center on NBC. “So sad for my team. I don’t know what happened. It was a good run. I feel terrible for us. The guys did a great job. I don’t know. Something went wrong there. Everything felt fine to me up until that point. I did have a vibration at the start of the stint, which is not abnormal. Totally unexpected. It caught me by surprised. This is racing. We’ll fight back. We got a great team here. We pick right back up. We don’t stop fighting.”

    With Newgarden out of the event, O’Ward emerged as the new leader followed by Power, McLaughlin, Dixon and Ericsson.

    During the caution, the leaders led by O’Ward pitted as O’Ward retained the top spot followed by Power, Dixon, McLaughlin, Ericsson and Johnson.

    When the race proceeded under green wit 51 laps remaining, O’Ward took off with the lead by nearly eight-tenths of a second over Power while McLaughlin, Dixon, Johnson and Ericsson duked for spots in the top five.

    Eleven laps later, O’Ward extended his advantage to more than a second over Power followed by McLaughlin, Dixon and Johnson while Ericsson, Grosjean, Herta, Malukas and Sato were in the top 10.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, O’Ward was leading by nearly three seconds over Power followed by McLaughlin, Dixon and Ericsson while Johnson, Grosjean, Sato, Malukas and Felix Rosenqvist were in the top 10.

    With 10 laps remaining, O’Ward continued to lead by more than five seconds over Power while McLaughlin, Dixon and Ericsson remained in the top five.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, O’Ward remained as the leader by more than four seconds over Power. Despite encountering lapped traffic, O’Ward, who had no late challenges from Power mounting behind him, was able to cruise his way back to the frontstretch and claim his second checkered flag of the 2022 IndyCar season. 

    With the victory, O’Ward claimed his fourth NTT IndyCar Series career victory, his second of the season and his first since winning at Barber Motorsports Park in May. The victory was the ninth of the season for Chevrolet and the second for Arrow McLaren SP.

    “The No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP guys in the pits were awesome,” O’Ward said on NBC. “I think that’s what gave us our win. Obviously, I did the job in the car to keep her safe and just to maintain there. I knew we had the pace, but it’s just tough whenever you’re going through the traffic. The guys in front of you have it in a different way than you do, so it’s just different every lap. Super stoked. Super happy. We knew that we had a great car, so I think it was all about just capitalizing and being there when it counted. The guys did a great job calling when we had to pit and it was very, very enjoyable. It’s been a great weekend.”

    “Hopefully, we can win a couple more [races],” O’Ward added. “That’d be fantastic. I think we’ve had a good year, but we’ve dumped two wins in the past couple months, so it’s definitely been a frustrating, but yet rewarding few weeks. This is the perfect momentum we need going into the month of September, August and close out the month of July at [Indianapolis Motor Speedway] road course next week.”

    Power, who swept both poles of the weekend and finished third on Saturday, came home in the runner-up spot while McLaughlin, who ended up 22nd on Saturday, rounded out the podium in third place.

    “A good day,” Power said. “You would love to get the win. [I] Led some laps and I think we were really fast. Just really cool to get the Verizon Chevy on the podium again and close out the points lead. Gotta get one of these wins soon. We’re there. We get qualifying sorted. Just enjoying it. Loving the racing. Love this track.”

    “That last restart, I really had to sort of get it going and through it to the outside of Dixon,” McLaughlin said. “He’s a pretty hard guy to throw it around the outside of and had a lot of fun, a lot of respect for him. Good times. The Freightliner Chevy was fast. It looked awesome all weekend. Very proud of the guys to bounce back.”

    Dixon finished fourth while Jimmie Johnson earned his maiden top-five result in the IndyCar circuit by finishing fifth. 

    “This is really a special day for me,” Johnson said. “For everybody that’s been on this journey with me in the IndyCar Series. So proud to have the American Legion on the car today in the race and to get my career-best finish with them. I really have to thank everybody at Carvana and taking this step with me. It took me getting on the ovals to get my best finishes and I was so happy to be able to do it here today. Tons of great support from Chip Ganassi Racing, all the teammates I have. Today was just a fun racy day out there.”

    Ericsson, Rosenqvist, David Malukas, Grosjean and Sato completed the top 10 on the track.

    There were seven lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured two cautions for 26 laps.

    With his sixth-place result, Marcus Ericsson continues to lead the standings by eight points over Will Power, 34 over both Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon, 36 over Pato O’Ward, 44 over Alex Palou and 86 over Scott McLaughlin.

    Results.

    1. Pato O’Ward, 66 laps led

    2. Will Power, 80 laps led

    3. Scott McLaughlin

    4. Scott Dixon

    5. Jimmie Johnson

    6. Marcus Ericsson

    7. Felix Rosenqvist

    8. David Malukas

    9. Romain Grosjean

    10. Takuma Sato

    11. Callum Ilott

    12. Colton Herta, one lap down

    13. Alex Palou, one lap down

    14. Graham Rahal, one lap down

    15. Devlin DeFrancesco, two laps down

    16. Conor Daly, two laps down

    17. Ed Carpenter, three laps down

    18. Alexander Rossi, four laps down

    19. Rinus VeeKay, four laps down

    20. Jack Harvey, four laps down

    21. Helio Castroneves, five laps down

    22. Dalton Kellett, six laps down

    23. Simon Pagenaud, 19 laps down

    24. Josef Newgarden – OUT, Contact, 148 laps led

    25. Kyle Kirkwood – OUT, Contact

    26. Christian Lundgaard – OUT, Mechanical

    Next on the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series schedule is the series’ return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course for the Gallagher Grand Prix and as part of an IndyCar-NASCAR doubleheader feature, which will occur on Sunday, July 30, at noon ET on NBC.

  • Kyle Kirkwood joins Andretti Autosport for 2023 IndyCar season

    Kyle Kirkwood joins Andretti Autosport for 2023 IndyCar season

    Andretti Autosport announced the addition of Kyle Kirkwood to its driver lineup for the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series season, where he will be piloting the No. 27 Dallara-Honda with full sponsorship support by AutoNation.

    The 23-year-old Kirkwood from Jupiter, Florida, whose racing career commenced with karting, is currently campaigning in his first full-time season in the IndyCar Series as the driver of the No. 14 Dallara-Chevrolet for AJ Foyt Enterprises. Through the first six scheduled events of 2022, his best on-track result is a 10th-place result at the Streets of Long Beach, California, in April.

    Having won the Indy Lights title a year ago, Kirkwood is the lone competitor to achieve a championship in every Road to Indy program, a program that provides a scholarship-funded path for aspiring competitors to compete in IndyCar and the Indianapolis 500, after winning the US F2000 National Championship in 2018, the Indy Pro 2000 Championship in 2019 and the Indy Lights Championship in 2021. He also achieved the 2017 F4 United States Championship.

    “I couldn’t be more excited to return to Andretti Autosport next year and represent AutoNation,” Kirkwood said. “Andretti Autosport is a place I’ve called home for years past, and I have truly felt like family. I have a ton of loyalty to the team, and it means a lot to have Michael and the Andretti team offer me this opportunity. AutoNation has been doing great work in raising awareness and funding for cancer research. I’m honored to Drive Pink [DRVPNK] next season.”

    “I have worked extremely hard this season and will continue to work harder every day for the A.J. Foyt team,” Kirkwood added. “I want to thank the entire team at AJ Foyt Racing for giving me the opportunity to compete in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. The group on the No. 14 car have been incredible and I am beyond grateful to them for all the amazing experiences we have been able to share together so far this season.”

    The announcement of Kirkwood’s addition to Andretti Autosport for the 2023 IndyCar season will mark a reunion for the team and Kirkwood, who drove for Andretti when he achieved the 2021 Indy Lights title on the strength of 10 victories and 14 podiums in 20 starts.

    “We really enjoyed having Kyle as part of our Indy Lights team, and he’s off to a strong start in INDYCAR,” Michael Andretti, Chairman and CEO of Andretti Autosport, said. “I think he’ll bring a fresh perspective and will be competitive. We are looking forward to helping him continue his career growth. AutoNation first joined the team eight years ago, and we’ve been thrilled to see how their support has continued to grow over the years. We’ve seen a lot of successes both on and off the track and are excited to see what Kyle and AutoNation can do together for the DRVPNK campaign.”

    “We are excited to welcome Kyle to the team and for the passion and commitment he will bring to our mission to drive out cancer, through DRVPNK,” Marc Cannon, XCO and EVP of AutoNation, added. “We would also like to wish Alexander all the best and thank him for his endless efforts to support AutoNation’s mission to drive out cancer over the years.”

    Kirkwood’s addition means that Alexander Rossi, who currently pilots the No. 27 Andretti Autosport entry, will not be remaining as an Andretti competitor for the upcoming season. Rossi, who joined Andretti Autosport in 2016, is currently campaigning in his seventh full-time season with the organization in a career highlighted with seven victories, including the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 in 2016, six poles, 25 podiums, 814 laps led, an average-finishing result of 9.7 and a best points result of second place in 2018. Rossi’s plans for 2023 will be announced at a later date.

    “Alexander has been a great contender for us, and we’ve enjoyed having him as part of the team for seven seasons,” Andretti said. “He’s won races and become a leader in the team, but all careers and all teams evolve, and we’ve mutually decided it’s time for each of us to move on. I have no doubt he’ll have a continued, successful INDYCAR career and we wish him the best. In the meantime, we are all working hard to finish the 2022 season strong.”

    With his future plans for next season set, Kirkwood sets his focus for the upcoming NTT IndyCar Series event with AJ Foyt Enterprises at Belle Isle Street Circuit for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix that will occur on Sunday, June 5, at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Newgarden captures thrilling last lap victory over McLaughlin at Texas

    Newgarden captures thrilling last lap victory over McLaughlin at Texas

    In what appeared to be a dominant victory within grasp for Scott McLaughlin for the second consecutive time into a new season of racing, teammate Josef Newgarden spoiled the party as he overtook McLaughlin with a daring pass on the outside lane on the final lane and with the finish in sight to win the XPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 20.

    The 31-year-old Newgarden from Hendersonville, Tennessee, led a total of three of 248-scheduled laps compared to McLaughlin’s 186, but benefitted with the last lap pass and lapped traffic that briefly stalled McLaughlin’s progress to become the second winner of the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season.

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Saturday that determined the starting lineup, Felix Rosenqvist captured the pole position after posting a pole-winning, two-lap average of 221.110 mph. Joining him on the front row was Scott McLaughlin, who earned his maiden IndyCar victory at the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, in February and posted a two-lap average at 221.096 mph.

    Prior to the event, Santino Ferrucci replaced Jack Harvey in the No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara-Honda after Harvey did not receive medical clearance to compete following a practice accident on Saturday.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Rosenqvist maintained a steady advantage for nearly a full lap until McLaughlin used the outside lane to lead the first lap by a hair. 

    As the field fanned out and jostled for positions early, McLaughlin was out in front followed by Rosenqvist, Will Power, Takuma Sato and Helio Castroneves, who was being pressured by Colton Herta for more.

    Through the first 10 laps of the event, McLaughlin was leading by two-tenths of a second over Rosenqvist while Sato, Power and Herta were in the top five. Castroneves was in sixth followed by Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Marcus Ericsson and Rinus Veekay. By then, Alexander Rossi, who was in 12th place, was penalized for jumping the start when he pulled his No. 27 Andretti Autosport Dallara-Honda out of line prior to the start.

    Two laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Rossi fell off the pace due to a mechanical issue and was creeping to pit road below the apron.

    Four laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, McLaughlin retained the lead ahead of Rosenqvist and Sato as the field settled in a long single-file line.

    By Lap 25, McLaughlin was leading by nearly three-tenths of a second over Rosenqvist followed by Sato, Herta and Power while Castroneves, Dixon, Pato O’Ward, Ericsson and rookie Kyle Kirkwood were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Newgarden was back in 11th, Alex Palou was in 13th ahead of Romain Grosjean and Simon Pagenaud and Jimmie Johnson was in 20th ahead of Graham Rahal.

    Through the first 50 laps of the event, McLaughlin stabilized his advantage to nearly two seconds over Rosenqvist while Sato, Herta, Power, Castroneves, Dixon, O’Ward, Kirkwood and Newgarden were scored in the top 10.

    Nearly five laps later, pit stops under green commenced as Rinus VeeKay pitted followed by Marcus Ericsson and the leader McLaughlin. During the pit stops, David Malukas stalled his car while trying to exit his pit stall and nearly collided with Sato, which cost the two-time Indianapolis 500 champion from Japan time on pit road. 

    By Lap 75 and with the pit stop cycle under green complete, McLaughlin was back in the lead by more than 12 seconds over his Team Penske teammate Newgarden while Arrow McLaren SP’s O’Ward and Rosenqvist battled for third place. Behind, Herta for Andretti Autosport was in fifth ahead of Ericsson, Dixon, Power, VeeKay and Castroneves. Meanwhile, Conor Daly was penalized for pit speed violation.

    On Lap 99, the caution flew when Sato slipped in the marbles and made light contact against the outside wall in Turn 1 as a result of making earlier contact with Devlin DeFrancesco’s No. 29 Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Dallara-Honda entering the turn. By then, McLaughlin had his advantage of nearly 12 seconds over teammate Newgarden reduced to half.

    Under caution, the leaders pitted and McLaughlin retained the lead ahead of teammates Newgarden and Power along with Dixon and Ericsson. During the pit stops, O’Ward hit his left-front tire changer while teammate Rosenqvist overshot his pit stall and endured a slow pit stop, which cost him time and positions. In addition, Romain Grosjean retired due to a mechanical issue to his No. 28 Andretti Autosport Dallara-Honda.

    When the race restarted on Lap 113, McLaughlin retained the lead ahead of teammates Newgarden and Power as the field scrambled for positions. 

    Just then, the caution returned when Kyle Kirkwood, who was battling DeFrancesco on the outside lane through Turns 3 and 4, got loose, spun and backed his No. 14 AJ Foyt Dallara-Chevrolet against the outside wall, which ended his day with a wrecked race car.

    With the race surpassing its halfway mark under caution on Lap 124, McLaughlin was out in front ahead of teammates Newgarden and Power along with Dixon, Ericsson, VeeKay, Herta, Alex Palou, Pagenaud and Graham Rahal, who started at the rear of the field. 

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 127, McLaughlin retained the lead ahead of teammates Newgarden, Power and the field. Not long after, however, the caution returned for a multi-car wreck that involved DeFrancesco, Graham Rahal and Helio Castroneves in Turn 3. During the caution period, Rosenqvist’s strong start to the weekend ended on a low note after he retired due to a mechanical issue to his No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet

    With the event reaching the final 100 scheduled laps, the race restarted under green. At the start, McLaughlin maintained a steady lead until Newgarden assumed the top spot a lap later. Behind, Rinus VeeKay charged his way towards the front as he moved into the top four before moving into third place ahead of Power.

    Shortly after, the battle for the lead ignited as McLaughlin reassumed the lead while VeeKay joined the battle and overtook Newgarden for the runner-up spot. 

    On Lap 159, VeeKay moved his No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara-Chevrolet to the top spot. Five laps later, however, Power muscled his No. 12 Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet to the lead as Scott Dixon was in third place.

    With less than 50 laps remaining and pit stops under green occurring for a majority of the field, David Malukas, who has yet to pit, was leading followed by Callum Ilott. Behind, VeeKay, who pitted, was in third ahead of McLaughlin and Newgarden. 

    On Lap 206, McLaughlin cycled back to the lead after Ilott pitted while Newgarden, VeeKay, Ericsson and Power were in the top five. Behind, Pagenaud was in sixth while Jimmie Johnson was up in seventh place ahead of teammates Scott Dixon and Alex Palou.

    With 30 laps remaining, McLaughlin was leading by nearly a second over teammate Newgarden while Ericsson was in third place. Power was in fourth ahead of VeeKay while Pagenaud, Johnson, Dixon, Palou and Santino Ferrucci were in the top 10. 

    Ten laps later, McLaughlin continued to lead by more than two-tenths of a second over teammate Newgarden while Ericsson remained in the final podium spot in third place. While Power and Pagenaud settled in fourth and fifth, Johnson was up in sixth place. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, McLaughlin was leading by four-tenths of a second over teammate Newgarden amid lapped traffic followed by Ericsson while Power and Johnson were in the top five. Pagenaud, Dixon and Palou were in sixth, seventh and eighth while VeeKay was back in ninth ahead of Ferrucci. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, McLaughlin, who continued to navigate his way through lapped traffic, stabilized his advantage to three-tenths of a second over teammate Newgarden, who was trying to reduce the gap between himself and his Penske teammate. Then with McLaughlin mired behind some more lapped cars, this allowed Newgarden to narrow the deficit and gain a huge run to the outside of teammate McLaughlin through Turn 3. With both Penske teammates dead even approaching the finish line, Newgarden muscled ahead and stole the show and the win by 0.0669 seconds over McLaughlin.

    The victory was Newgarden’s first of the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season, second at Texas and the 21st of his career. With the victory, Newgarden also rewarded the 600th overall motorsports win for Team Penske as he ignites his bid for his third IndyCar title.

    “Oh my gosh!” Newgarden exclaimed on NBC. “I was fuming in the car. We had all this traffic and it wasn’t helping me. And then right when I needed it to help me, it helped me literally last corner, last lap. The traffic helped me out. Unbelievable. I hate doing that to a teammate, but I was going for it just like he was. We were driving hard. Man, I was loose. I was driving things sideways off in [Turns] 3 and 4 every lap I was trying to get a run, but Team Chevy, what an unbelievable job. Just so pleased for everybody. It was so good to drive this PPG car again with Team Chevy. That’s what it’s all about at Texas. I hope we come back [to Texas]. Let’s come back!”

    McLaughlin, who led a race-high 186 of 248 laps, settled in second place as he fell short in his bid to claim back-to-back IndyCar victories. Despite the result, McLaughlin made a trip to Victory Lane to congratulate teammate Newgarden on the win.

    “Second’s a great day,” McLaughlin said. “Unfortunately, we led a lot of laps and at the end of the day, we lost it though. If you’re gonna lose to anyone, your teammate is a great guy to lose it to. Congrats to Josef and the PPG team. Gutted I couldn’t get it done for XPEL and Chevy but at the end of the day, with the air, I learned a lot [from] this race. I’m gutted. It’s how it is, but I’m pretty proud of how we’re running.”

    Ericsson came home in a strong third place for his fifth top-three career result in IndyCar competition while Will Power and Scott Dixon finished in the top five.

    Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson achieved his maiden top-10 result in IndyCar competition after methodically racing his way to a career-best sixth-place result in his maiden IndyCar oval event and at a track where he won at seven times in NASCAR.

    “I had hoped to qualify in the top 10 and race in the top 10,” Johnson said. “Once we hit the halfway point in the race, I really could sense and feel the car, and it became second nature, and off I went. I’m just very thankful for the support that I have from Chip Ganassi Racing, my teammates, team members, fantastic support from Carvana. We knew going oval racing would help, and today got us in a competitive mix. When I was racing with [Dixon] at the end, I thought that was pretty cool and pretty fun. We had a little trouble with our telemetry and didn’t know how much fuel I had saved, so I had to really go into conserve mode at the end and couldn’t fight for that top five, but what a special day. Just very thankful.”

    Teammate Palou finished seventh while Pagenaud, Ferrucci and VeeKay completed the top 10.

    With his runner-up result, Scott McLaughlin continues to lead the points standings by 28 points over teammate Will Power, 30 over Alex Palou, 32 over teammate Josef Newgarden, 39 over Marcus Ericsson and 42 over Scott Dixon.

    Results.

    1. Josef Newgarden, three laps led

    2. Scott McLaughlin, 186 laps led

    3. Marcus Ericsson, 10 laps led

    4. Will Power, 20 laps led

    5. Scott Dixon

    6. Jimmie Johnson

    7. Alex Palou

    8. Simon Pagenaud

    9. Santino Ferrucci

    10. Rinus VeeKay, five laps led 

    11. David Malukas, three laps led

    12. Colton Herta, one lap down

    13. Ed Carpenter, one lap down

    14. JR Hildebrand, one lap down

    15. Pato O’Ward, one lap down

    16. Callum Ilott, one lap down

    17. Dalton Kellett, two laps down

    18. Conor Daly, three laps down

    19. Christian Lundgaard – OUT, Accident

    20. Takuma Sato – OUT, Accident

    21. Felix Rosenqvist – OUT, Halfshaft

    22. Graham Rahal – OUT, Accident

    23. Helio Castroneves – OUT, Accident

    24. Devlin DeFrancesco – OUT, Accident

    25. Kyle Kirkwood – OUT, Accident

    26. Romain Grosjean – OUT, Engine

    27. Alexander Rossi – OUT, Battery

    Next on the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series schedule is the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach at the Streets of Long Beach, California, which will occur on April 10 at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Kyle Kirkwood ready for Indy challenge

    Kyle Kirkwood ready for Indy challenge

    After a successful campaign, the 2021 Indy Lights Series champion, Kyle Kirkwood, is gearing up for his first IndyCar season, which will come in the full-time No. 14 A.J. Foyt entry.

    Kirkwood is coming off an Indy Light season where the Jupiter, Florida native scored 10 wins (half of the race schedule), had 14 podium finishes, and scored six pole positions to his credit. In doing so, Kirkwood is one of the hottest rookies entering the IndyCar schedule but knows the series will be a challenge through the first few races that begin on the Streets of St. Peterburg.

    “Of course, it’s going to be a tougher crowd racing in INDYCAR,” Kirkwood said about the 2022 season. “I fully expect that. That’s what I’ve known coming up through all the ranks. Most of the drivers in Road to Indy are rookies. I’m coming into INDYCAR as a rookie where there are veteran drivers that have been here for 15 years I think some of them have been. It’s all new to me. Of course, I have to take a step back, know I need to learn some things. Most of the time, most of the categories, I came into it knowing I probably had the most knowledge. Now I’ve got probably the least.”

    Before Kirkwood landed the ride with A.J. Foyt Racing, he was in talks with Andretti Autosport to replace one of the two drivers leaving the team and had there not been an open IndyCar ride, Kirkwood potentially could have ended up in Formula E instead where he participated in the rookie test at Marrakesh in February of 2020. However, the Andretti Autosport deal did not come to fruition. Fortunately for Kirkwood, he was able to land a ride with A.J. Foyt.

    “I have to jog my memory how much I can talk about it,” the Florida native said about racing for Foyt. “I know Michael did come out at a press conference speaking about the F1 deal, and whatnot. Just bounced off of him. They did have the option for a period of time. Once they found out they couldn’t fill me into a seat, they opened up that option. We made some calls. A.J. Foyt Racing was the best fit for us.”

    Kirkwood has won three Road to Indy championships (IndyCar’s version of a developmental system) and has given the system credit knowing that he might not be where he is today without winning three of the championships.

    Kirkwood then spoke about the process of climbing his way up the ladder.

    “It’s made it so much easier for me because as everyone knows finding sponsorships, funding, junior categories, is nearly impossible. The return on investment for sponsors is pretty much non-existent because there’s none of this broadcasting, being able to put things out. A lot of sponsorships aren’t visible.

    “Having those scholarships from the Road to Indy has been absolutely crucial for my career. That all started from 2012. My first scholarship was with AJ Allmendinger, then a couple of years later, a Team USA scholarship. After I would be the (recipient of) the P4 scholarship, Honda had a scholarship to go to F3. Without All the Road to Indys, leading up now to what is INDYCAR, a 1.25 million dollars scholarship into INDYCAR. I don’t think I would have made it here this quick. I think there’s a possibility I would have still made it to INDYCAR without the scholarships, but this has obviously made it a much easier transition.”

  • Kirkwood joins A.J. Foyt Racing for 2022 IndyCar season

    Kirkwood joins A.J. Foyt Racing for 2022 IndyCar season

    The reigning Indy Lights champion Kyle Kirkwood has a new team to call home after it was announced that he will be joining AJ Foyt Racing and pilot the No. 14 Dallara-Chevrolet for the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season.

    Kirkwood, a 23-year-old native from Jupiter, Florida, who began his racing career through karting before working his way through the open wheel ladder, is coming off his first Indy Lights championship, where he won 10 races while competing for Andretti Autosport.

    The partnership with AJ Foyt Racing will mark Kirkwood’s inaugural presence in IndyCar competition for the upcoming season.

    “I actually met [team president] Larry [Foyt] for the first time in 2018 at Road America when I was driving in USF2000 with Cape Motorsports,” Kirkwood said. “He was the first person in the INDYCAR paddock to show me around the car and explain the dynamics of what it takes to be an Indy car team and driver. From that moment, I felt very comfortable with the atmosphere of the team and now it has come to fruition that I will be driving the No. 14. It’s hard to explain in words the excitement I have to drive for such an experienced and legendary team. I know I will be filling some very big shoes, but I think it’s the perfect timing and group to be able to do so. Considering I have 19 years of experience driving, and it’s all led to this moment to becoming a full time Indy car driver — It’s truly a dream come true,” the Floridian continued. “It’s incredible seeing the completely unexpected path I took in previous years blossom into something I’ve always hoped for as a kid in karting.”

    In winning this year’s Indy Lights title, Kirkwood became the first competitor to achieve a championship in every Road to Indy program (US F2000 National Championship in 2018, Indy Pro 2000 Championship in 2019 and Indy Lights Championship in 2021). The Road to Indy program was established in 2010 to provide a scholarship-funded path for aspiring competitors to compete in the IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500. 

    Having won all three titles in the program and with the scholarship prize, he is guaranteed a starting spot for three IndyCar events, including the 2022 Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

    Kirkwood, who is also a champion of the Formula 4 United States Championship league in 2017 and who won a Team USA Scholarship in 2016 while competing in F4, experienced his first taste in an IndyCar during a test session with Andretti Autosport at Sebring International Raceway in October. Since then, he participated in three IndyCar test sessions with his latest test occurring at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course for the Chris Griffis Memorial Open Test near the end of October.

    “What I’ve learned in my three INDYCAR tests is that the Indy Lights car and the Indy car are not massively different,” Kirkwood added. “As we’ve seen with many drivers, it’s quite an easy transition. The best thing that you can take away from the RTI [Road to Indy] is the track experience. With minimal time during weekends, it’s crucial to maximize practice. Having the track experience eliminates a period of time spent learning, so you can solely focus on the car and driving. The biggest difference I’ve noticed in my tests is the tire. The Firestone tire creates a lot more grip. There are other differences, like steering weight, downforce and braking capabilities, but all of those are just a nice step forward from the Indy Lights car.”

    Initially left without a full-time ride with Andretti for the upcoming IndyCar season, Kirkwood began reaching out to other teams for an opportunity to compete in the series before landing himself a full-time seat with AJ Foyt Racing.

    “We are thrilled to welcome Kyle to the team,” Larry Foyt, Team President of AJ Foyt Enterprises, Inc., added. “Obviously, he has been very successful on his climb through the Road to Indy Championships and his record speaks for itself. This deal came together rather quickly, but I’ve already been impressed with how Kyle thinks about racing and the maturity he seems to have for such a young driver. The NTT INDYCAR Series is as competitive as ever, and the challenges are great, but we feel Kyle will be a great asset as we take on those challenges and work to grow as a team.”

    Kirkwood replaces veteran Sébastien Bourdais, a four-time consecutive Champ Car champion who drove AJ Foyt’s No. 14 Chevrolet during the final three races of the 2020 IndyCar season before taking over the ride on a full-time basis in 2021. Bourdais is set to drive for Chip Ganassi Racing and its Daytona Prototype international (Dpi) program for the upcoming IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

    Kirkwood’s confirmation to compete for AJ Foyt Racing completes one of three planned entries for the team for the upcoming IndyCar season. The remainder of the team’s driver lineup is to be determined.

    Kirkwood is set to make his NTT IndyCar Series debut in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg at the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, on February 27, 2022.