INDYCAR RACE REPORT: Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey
Race Results
| Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey |
| Will Power | P13 |
| Kyle Kirkwood | P2 |
| Marcus Ericsson | P9 |
Race Notes
- The 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season came to a close this afternoon at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca with Kyle Kirkwood leading the way for the Andretti Global team in second place, securing his best career finish at the scenic California road course and his 12th career INDYCAR podium. Joining Kirkwood in the top 10 was teammate Marcus Ericsson in ninth place, followed by Will Power in 13th.
- Kirkwood’s results today secured him second place in the INDYCAR Driver’s Championship at 545 points, the highest he’s ever finished in the standings in his INDYCAR career.
- Today’s 95-lap race ran mostly clean, seeing just one brief three-lap caution period at the start of the race.
- With today’s season finale in the books, Andretti Global closes out the 2026 INDYCAR season with three wins, one pole position and 12 podiums.
Will Power
No. 26 TWG AI Honda
P13
| Started | P12 |
| Standings | P11 (368 points) |
- Lining up 12th on the grid this afternoon, Will Power managed to ninth place in the opening laps and was eventually running as high as seventh before his first pit stop on Lap 22.
- While working his way back up the field following his Lap 44 pit stop, Power went wide in the hairpin, forcing him to lose momentum and slot into 13th place until he took his next stop on Lap 70.
- Power continued to run just outside the top 10 through the next stint before making his final stop on Lap 71.
- Following the stop, Power looked to make up ground in the closing laps but was unable to move forward, taking the checkered flag in 13th.
“Today was tough. We simply finished about where we started, and that’s as good as we could be. But it’s been a very good season. There were a lot of ups and downs, obviously, but plenty of positives, and we made a ton of progress in many areas that needed to be better. I feel like we were one of the strongest teams at the end there, so I’m certainly looking forward to next year and a good offseason.”
Kyle Kirkwood
No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda
P2
| Started | P6 |
| Standings | P2 (545 points) |
- Taking the green from the third row, Kirkwood looked to continue his road course momentum after finishing in the top 10 in every road course race this season.
- Capitalizing on a strong start, Kirkwood quickly moved up to fourth in the opening lap of the race, and continued his treck forward, breaking into the top three within the first 10 laps of the race. Then, following his first stop of the day, Kirkwood made a strategic pass for second.
- Kirkwood made his second stop on Lap 45 before working his way back toward the front as different strategies played out across the field.
- Back up to second by Lap 66, Kirkwood held the position through the final round of stops and the closing laps.
- Kirkwood took the checkered flag in second for his best road course finish and secured a career-best second in the INDYCAR Championship.
“I mean, what a day, right? Second in the championship. That’s my best road course finish, which is sad to say. But we had an awesome race. We just played it super clean, super methodical. We started on the alternates and actually moved up to third early on, and then Palou went off strategy there. We stayed second and just held second the whole time. I wish I could have had a go. I had a lot better tires, but we knew who we were fighting, and that was for the Championship mostly, and it would have been hard to get around him. So, we played it safe there. But super happy for Sam’s Club, Honda and everyone at Andretti Global. Second place is best on a road course, and second in the championship. We’re happy with it.”
Marcus Ericsson
No. 28 RVI Group Honda
P9
| Started | P14 |
| Standings | P7 (429 points) |
- Making his seventh appearance at Laguna Seca, Ericsson started 14th after being issued a six-position grid penalty for an unapproved engine change ahead of today’s race.
- Ericsson worked his way from 14th to 11th before making his first pit stop. With strong pace in the car, he continued to work his way up the field through the field and broke into the top 10 for the second half of the race.
- The Swede remained in the top 10 through his final two pit stops despite struggling with the balance of the car as the race progressed.
- He held onto ninth in the closing laps, taking the checkered flag for his 13th top-10 finish of the season.
“We just wrapped up the final race of the season. Obviously, that penalty beforehand moved us back to a 14th-place start, but I think we still executed a really good race. The first half of the race, we were super fast. We were overtaking cars and moving up. Then, in the second half of the race, we struggled a bit more with balance, and the car had quite a bit of oversteer. So, in the last stint, we were sort of just trying to hang on, but still, I think we gave a really good effort. We ended the day five spots up and finished ninth, adding another top-10 finish. I have to give big credit to the guys on the pit wall for that; the pit stops were once again very solid.
It’s been a very strong second half of the season for us. We finished seventh in the Championship as well, which was the goal going into this weekend. I’m super proud of the whole No. 28 crew in the way we bounced back from a very tough last season. We put in the work, came back really strong this year and we just continue to make progress. I’m super excited to continue that momentum into next year and work with this whole organization, especially Kyle and Will. Obviously, Kyle finishing second in the Championship is great for us as a team. So, there’s a lot to look forward to, and now we have to put in the work in the offseason to be ready for next year.”
Ron Ruzewski
INDYCAR Team Principal
“It’s bittersweet to finish up the season. We’re always looking forward to the next race, but the season does end, and today was a solid day. We set out some goals for both Kyle and Marcus going into today, and they achieved those by finishing second and seventh in the Championship with the solid runs today. Overall, I think this season was a good momentum builder, and we have lots of things to build on for next year. The groups are all working together, and I think we’ll take what we’ve learned this year, do a lot of work in the offseason and come back as a team to beat in 2027.”
