RACE REPORT: The Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix
Race Notes
- On-track action in the California desert continued this afternoon as the NTT INDYCAR SERIES battled it out in the first official INDYCAR points race at The Thermal Club.
- The 65-lap event saw Colton Herta clinch a fourth-place finish while teammate Kyle Kirkwood fought hard to secure an eight-place result on the leaderboard.
- Today’s race saw no yellow flags or caution laps. This is the first time an INDYCAR race has gone without any yellow flags or caution laps since the 2020 Harvest Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
- Andretti INDYCAR has a few weeks off before the field heads back to the West Coast to take on the Streets of Long Beach for Round 3 of NTT INDYCAR SERIES action.
Race Results
Colton Herta
No. 26 Gainbridge Honda
P4
| Started | P4 |
| Standings | 8th (47 points) |
- Taking today’s green flag from the second row, the highest Andretti INDYCAR starter, Colton Herta ran consistently in the top five for the majority of the race.
- Despite fighting for a podium finish, Herta ultimately finished in his starting position of fourth.
- Today’s result marked Herta’s 36th top-five finish of his career.
“It was a good day for the Gainbridge Honda. Our car was fast, but I think we needed a little bit more to get to that podium position. It’s frustrating to not get that win, but overall, I’m happy with how we ran the race. Looking forward to getting out to Long Beach in a few weeks. “
Kyle Kirkwood
No. 27 Chili’s Honda
P8
| Started | P8 |
| Standings | 6th (54 points) |
- Kyle Kirkwood took to the grid today in the fourth row and was able to navigate the No. 27 Chili’s Honda as high as fourth, running with teammate Herta solidly in the top five throughout the 65-lap race.
- With only five laps to go and a top-five result solidly in his sights, tire degradation unfortunately plagued Kirkwood and the Chili’s Honda dropped from fifth to eighth as the race came to a close.
- Today’s result marked Kirkwood’s second consecutive top-10 finish, and his ninth top-10 finish on a road course.
“We should have finished fourth or fifth today, but unfortunately our last set of tires suffered some tire deg. Last year we did not have the strongest result, but a test here earlier this year proved that we can change things around. So, coming away with a top-10 finish today is a big positive. Thanks to everyone from the No. 27 crew for their work this weekend.”
Marcus Ericsson
No. 28 Bryant Honda
P21
| Started | P5 |
| Standings | 11th (37 points) |
- Marcus Ericsson took today’s green at The Thermal Club from the third row in his 41st road course start.
- When the green flag waved, Ericsson unfortunately ended up in the gravel in Turn 1 on the opening lap, losing track position early.
- Despite working his way up the field after the Lap 1 incident, Ericsson spun again 20 laps later after the Bryant Honda’s first pit stop, dropping him back to 21st.
“It was a bad day for me. I made a couple of mistakes that were very costly. The first on the first lap when I positioned myself not in a great spot and spun. We were sort of recovering after that, and the Bryant Honda felt okay. We had some decent pace overtaking some cars, and we had a good first pit sequence. We managed to stay in position, but on the out lap I was pushing hard to keep position, and I spun in Turn 9 flatspotting the tires. We had to stay out, though, or else we would have gone a lap down. From then on, it was really a struggle. The car just wasn’t the same after that. It was a really tricky day and we were just playing catch-up and trying to recover at that point. Tough day, but the Bryant crew did a great job as always and we’ll look forward to Long Beach.”
Rob Edwards
Chief Operating Officer
“It was an interesting day. We started all three cars in the top eight and ended the day with two in the top eight. It really was a day of tire strategy and tire preservation. With Colton, we got jumped by Kyle on the first stop trying to make sure that we shortened up the red stint, and that paid off for us in the end. We thought we were looking good for fourth and fifth with the No. 26 and No. 27, but unfortunately, tire degradation with the No. 27 fell off the cliff there in the last few laps. I feel sorry for Kyle, that couldn’t have been too much fun to drive. With Marcus, it was a challenging day with a couple of incidents during the race, but overall it was a good weekend for the No. 28. The pace was right there with the other two cars. Off to Long Beach next, which is always a favorite, so we’ll get home, get sorted and be ready to come back to California in a few weeks.”
