Andretti INDYCAR Detroit Grand Prix Race Report

Streets of Detroit Race Notes

The NTT INDYCAR SERIES took on the streets of Detroit today for a caution-filled race that ended with mixed results for the Andretti INDYCAR team. Between the three Andretti INDYCAR drivers, the team led over half of the race’s laps (57), recorded the fastest lap of the race and was only involved in one of the eight yellow-flag incidents. 

After a frustrating Month of May, Marcus Ericsson rebounded today on the Streets of Detroit to score his 11th career INDYCAR podium and his third in Detroit. Taking the start from ninth, the Swede had minor contact on the opening lap of the race but with no visible damage was able to hold his position. The Delaware Life Honda steadily moved through the top 10 and was running in the top five by the halfway point of the race. Ericsson passed teammate Kyle Kirkwood for third on Lap 87 and moved into second with just two laps remaining in the 100-lap race.  

Making his sixth start from inside the Firestone Fast Six, Kyle Kirkwood quickly moved forward and was into the top three just 10 laps into the race where the AutoNation Honda remained for the next 20 laps. Lap 41 saw Kirkwood move into the lead where he would stay for the next 24 laps, leading the third most laps of the race behind race winner Scott Dixon (35) and teammate Colton Herta (33). The AutoNation team called Kirkwood in on Lap 64 under yellow allowing the No. 10 car to take the lead and moving the AutoNation Honda back in the top five. Despite losing the lead, Kirkwood never fell below ninth in today’s race and came away with his third top-five career INDYCAR finish.  

Leading the field to the green, Colton Herta took today’s start from the pole for the 12th time in his INDYCAR career. The Gainbridge Honda held a commanding position in front, leading 33 laps in the race’s opening stages and recording the fastest lap of the race on Lap 14 before bad luck crept into Herta’s day. Just before the halfway point of the race, the Gainbridge Honda made contact with the Turn 5 barrier and Herta was unable to recover from the mid-race contact finishing a lap down. 

The NTT INDYCAR SERIES will end its three-race race stretch next weekend as the field takes on the picturesque road course at Road America June 7 – 9. 

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Race Results

Colton Herta No. 26 Gainbridge Honda

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“Overall, today was a disappointment. It was a crazy race and it really seemed like anything could happen. We’ll fight back at Road America and hope for a stronger result for the Gainbridge Honda.” 

Kyle Kirkwood No. 27 AutoNation Honda

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“It was a very hectic race today and we did something very traditional strategy-wise in what you would do from the lead in a lot of situations. Obviously, Dixon pitted earlier than us and jumped us because we fell into that window. That was a bad yellow. If we had just gone another five laps or so and didn’t have that yellow, we would have pit and been in the lead. That was the first time I ran hard in traffic trying to get by people and I just burned up the rears on that last stint. But, we had a really good shot at the win today and the No. 27 AutoNation Honda was awesome, especially in those first two stints. We led a lot of laps out there and stayed strong during a chaotic race. I’m really happy with our performance today.”

Marcus Ericsson No. 28 Delaware Life Honda

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“I’m super happy for the whole Delaware Life team. We’ve had to dig deep. We came from a really tough Month of May, and going into this weekend, we said we wanted to do a reset and start our season over. I think we did that today. We showed that we were well prepared and that our car was fast. We had a brilliant race with good strategy calls, good pit stops and just good decisions all the way through the race. We needed just a couple more laps to get the win, but I’m still proud of the result. So, let’s keep that momentum going.”

Rob Edwards Chief Operating Officer

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