Andretti INDYCAR The Thermal Club Race Report
Race Notes
In a break from points racing, The Thermal Club in scenic Southern California played host to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ All-Star Race weekend. The 3-mile private pavement circuit brought the on-track action all weekend with four two-hour test sessions, qualifying, two heat races and a 20-lap, star-studded All-Star Race finale with big money on the line.
In a masterclass of on-track strategy, the Gainbridge team engineered a plan that allowed Colton Herta to save tires in the back of the field for the first 10 laps of the two-phase, 20-lap All-Star Race. When the field went back to green after a half-time period, the Gainbridge Honda quickly advanced from 10th to the top five on fresher tires. Advancing another spot but stuck in dirty air, Herta was unable to break into the top three ultimately coming away with a fourth-place finish and $100,000 in prize money.
Struggling with pace throughout the weekend, Kyle Kirkwood’s frustrations came to a head in Saturday morning’s test session when the AutoNation Honda made contact with the Turn 8 wall sustaining rear wing damage. Kirkwood took Sunday’s Heat 1 Race green flag in 13th, but was unable to advance to the All-Star Race finale.
A big hit in qualifying on Saturday afternoon at The Thermal Club saw Marcus Ericsson take the green in Heat Race 1 from the back of the field. Despite Ericsson’s best efforts, the Swede was unable to gain more than one position and did not advance to the All-Star Race taking the checkered in 12th.
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES is back to Championship racing on the Streets of Long Beach on April 21 for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Reigning Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Champion Kyle Kirkwood and 2021 Long Beach winner Colton Herta will head back to the West Coast with teammate Marcus Ericsson with hopes of adding another Long Beach victory to the Andretti INDYCAR resume.
Race Results
Colton Herta No. 26 Gainbridge Honda
“The Gainbridge Honda was really good today. It was a poor qualifying by me yesterday, so I had to make up for it today. I was pushing really hard in the heat race and was able to move from 11th to sixth then went from 12th to fourth in the final. It was a solid top-five finish, obviously we wanted more, but with the circumstances of where we started I’m very happy with how we did. Like I said, the Gainbridge Honda was very quick, so we can build off of that as we prepare for Long Beach.”
Kyle Kirkwood No. 27 AutoNation Honda
“It was not our weekend here at Thermal whatsoever. For some reason we’ve just been off the pace from the start. We just didn’t really progress throughout the weekend. We’re scratching our heads a little bit, but at the same time we know that there’s pace in the AutoNation Honda. We’re just going to look at this as more of a test weekend and we did learn a lot, but unfortunately, we just didn’t have the race pace. We have a test before Long Beach to sort some things out, but we know we’re strong there after last year’s win so we’ll just look ahead and hope to come away with a strong result.”
Marcus Ericsson No. 28 Delaware Life Honda
“It was a very disappointing weekend for us on the Delaware Life team starting with my mistake in qualifying that really put us back. Then today with the heat, it’s just really hard to overtake here. The only good thing is that there aren’t any points to take, so that’s a bit of a saving grace. I want to give a big shout-out to the 28 crew – they did a tremendous job rebuilding the car overnight after that crash yesterday. We’ll bounce back in a couple of weeks at Long Beach.”
Rob Edwards Chief Operating Officer
“The Thermal $1 Million Challenge was a difficult event for us overall, but we had some candid conversations on Saturday night that should make us stronger for the future. Kyle got tangled up in some car damage at the start of Heat Race 1 and it was hard for the No. 27 to move forward from there. After Marcus’ crash in qualifying yesterday, it was difficult for him to move forward from a starting position in Heat Race 2. However, both Marcus and Kyle completed their heat races, got the mileage and we will take the learnings from there. For Colton, we were happy to see him get to the All-Star Race. We went a bit different with our strategy by saving tires on the first stint. Colton did a great job executing the plan allowing us to move forward in the second half of the race and finish fourth. This is something we can build on and we are now focused on the next race in Long Beach.”
