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Racing Notebook – Tuesday, February 25 – Kobe Tributes, Alonso at Indy, Vegas Ratings and more.

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PITTSBURGH, PA (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Tuesday’s Pittsburgh Racing Now Racing Notebook takes a look at some of the tribute paint schemes NASCAR teams are running this weekend in California plus NASCAR TV ratings from Vegas and more.

NASCAR Teams Paying Tribute To Kobe Bryant And Crash Victims:

  • NASCAR teams are planning tributes to Kobe and Gigi Bryant and the other victims of the fatal Helicopter Crash January 26, 2020 in Calabasas, California at this weekend’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.  Drivers Ryan Blaney of Team Penske, Axalta Racing and William Byron and Daniel Suarez of Gaunt Brothers Racing each took to Twitter to share what their teams are doing:

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Fernando Alonso To Run Indy 500 For Arrow McLaren SP:

  • Arrow McLaren SP and Fernando Alonso will join forces with title partner Ruoff Mortgage to compete this year in the 104th Running of the Indianapolis 500. Alonso, a two-time Formula 1 World Champion, World Endurance Champion, two-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona, will compete in his third Month of May this year driving the No. 66 Ruoff Mortgage Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet and returning to continue his quest for motorsport’s elusive and prestigious “Triple Crown”.  The Spaniard will join Arrow McLaren SP drivers Oliver Askew and Pato O’Ward as the team fields three cars in a blend of youth and experience at the iconic event.

NASCAR Sees Ratings Increase At Las Vegas:

  • Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway averaged a 3.2 rating and 5.5-million viewers on FOX according to Neilsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily.  The event saw a 7% increase in ratings and 8% increase in viewership versus 2019 (3.0, 5.12M) and 10% and 16% increase over 2018 (2.9, 4.73M).  It ranked as the highest-rated and most-watched sporting event of the weekend, topping the Celtics-Lakers NBA game on ABC head-to-head (2.3, 3.59M), which came in second place.

MI Windows Joins Andretti Autosport:

  • MI Windows and Doors, one of the nation’s largest suppliers of high-quality vinyl and aluminum windows and doors, is continuing their partnership with Andretti Autosport’s Pirelli GT4 Americas team driven by Jarett Andretti. The long-time partner of the third-generation driver will appear as the co-primary sponsor for the SprintX races in 2020 along with providing associate-level sponsorship for the Pirelli GT4 Sprint races. MI Windows and Doors is a direct supplier to team partner and co-primary sponsor, Window World.

IndyCar

Kyle Kirkwood wins INDYCAR Detroit Grand Prix

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Photo: Penske Entertainment: Joe Skibinski

DETROIT, MI (June 1, 2025) – Kyle Kirkwood is the winner of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.  The win was Kirkwood’s second of the season and fourth of his career.

Kirkwood started third on the grid and moved up to second early in the race and took advantage to grab the lead from teammate Colton Herta who finished third.

“This AWS Honda was on rails all weekend long,” said Kirkwood. “There were some challenges out there, that’s for sure. We had to pass our way back through a handful of times, and it was definitely not a walk in the park.”

This 100-lap race on the notoriously bumpy and tight nine-turn, 1.645-mile circuit on the streets of downtown Detroit came down to strategy and survival.

The 27-car field divided into two strategic camps at the start, with 12 cars beginning the race on Firestone’s grippier but less durable Firehawk alternate tires and 15 on the slower but more durable primary tires. The top nine starters, which included pole sitter Herta and teammate Kirkwood, opted to start on the softer alternate tire and shed it as soon as possible for the durability of the harder tire. INDYCAR rules require that all drivers must use both tire compounds for at least two laps per race.

That divided the field into separate pit cycles, with drivers on both strategies being forced to fight their way through the field after each stop while waiting for drivers on alternative tactics to pit.

The win has Honda Racing’s seventh of the season, continuing a season-long lockout of victories among engine manufacturers and gave Honda a weekend sweep after their Acura brand won the IMSA race on Saturday in the Motor City.

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“ Amazing weekend for Honda, HRC, and also Acura,” said Kevin Fu, Vice President, Honda Racing Corporation USA. “Between our IndyCar and IMSA programs we got two poles and two wins in Detroit, and our seventh victory in a row in IndyCar. This is unprecedented start to the season for us. As always, thanks to the teams and all the folks back at HRC in Santa Clarita for all their continuous hard work, and the work they’ve done off season to get us to this point.”

The win moved Kirkwood up to second in the Championship points standings, 78-points behind leader Alex Palou, who was taken out by David Malukas going into Turn 1 on a restart.

AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci came home second for his best career finish and the team’s best finish of the season and best road or street course finish in a decade.

“It feels great,” said Ferrucci. “Honestly, the strategy plays into everything that we do, especially at road and street courses it’s very tough, and I can’t thank the team enough. This is more deserving of them than it is even of me. We probably drove to 11th minus the strategy just running our race.”

Team Penske’s Will Power finished fourth in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet followed by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simpson in fifth.  The fifth place finish was a career best for Simpson, the second-year driver from the Cayman Islands.

“It was a great, great race for us in the #8 Ridgeline Honda,” said Simpson. “I think we had a lot of pace, especially when running on the green tires, and we were able to really make strong gains through the field on that strategy.”

The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES event is the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline on Sunday evening, June 15 at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois, just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis.

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IndyCar

Contact ends Alex Palou’s day in Detroit

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Photo: Penske Entertainment: Joe Skibinski

DETROIT, MI (June 1, 2025) Alex Palou’s race on the streets of Detroit is over early after contact on a restart from David Malkus sent the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda into the tire barriers at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.

The Indianapolis 500 winner was running fourth on Lap 72 when the race restarted following a caution and entering Turn 1, Malukas came in too fast, made contact with Palou ending his day and his almost perfect season.

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Palou came into the race with five wins in six event with a worst finish of second at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.  Detroit ended that streak and Palou was credited with a 25th place finish.

“We were just biding our time there in fourth,” explained Palou.  “Hoping to sneak onto the podium there at the end but we were hit from behind.  Not much we could do there.”

Palou came into the race with a 112-point lead in the season long Championship over Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward.

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Colton Herta wins pole for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix

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Photo: Penske Entertainment: Aaron Skillman

DETROIT, MI (May 31, 2025) – Andretti Global’s Colton Herta is on the pole position for Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, the 1.645-mile, nine-turn temporary street course run on the streets of downtown Detroit.

Herta’s fast lap of 1 minute, .4779 of a second in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda was good enough to claim his first pole of 2025 and 15th of his NTT INDYCAR SERIES career.

“I was happy with it,” said Herta. “Friday was pretty bad from us as far as what we’re used to on street courses, just the feel of the race car. So it kind of — Friday night to go over everything and turn everything around. The engineering group did a great job.”

David Malukas, coming off a strong finish at the Indy 500, continued the momentum grabbing the second starting spot at 1:00.6492 in the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet for A.J. Foyt Enterprises.

“Everything just clicked,” said Malukas.  “We kept our heads down and just committed. I thought we had a good car, and clearly it went out and showed that.”

Herta’s teammate Kyle Kirkwood lines up third after a fast lap of 1:00.7312 in the No. 27 Siemens AWS Honda. Kirkwood led practice Friday, while Herta paced the Saturday morning practice session.

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Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard will start beside Kirkwood in the fourth position after a quick lap of 1:00.8938 in the No. 7 Chevrolet.

Rahal Letterman Laningan Racing’s Graham Rahal will start fifth after posting a 1:01.0651 in the No. 15 JJ Curran Crane Company Honda.

Lining up beside Rahal will be Championship points leader and 109th Indianapolis 500 winner Alex Palou who put up a 1:01.4680 in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.  Palou, who’s won five of the six races this year, holds a 112-point lead over Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward, who will start 18th after failing to advance out of the first round of knockout-style qualifying.

Palou’s CGR teammate Scott Dixon qualified 10th in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda after turning a 1:01:1595.

Dixon and Rahal however will have those qualifying efforts nullified after being penalized for unapproved engine changes prior to the Sunday, May 25 race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  Rahal and Dixon will receive a six-position starting grid penalty for violating the INDYCAR rule.  Rahal now rolls off 11th and Dixon 16th.

The 100-lap race starts Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET (FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).

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