Connect with us

IndyCar

Andretti Autosport Atop Speed Charts After Day 1 Of Qualifying At Indy

Published

on

Walt Kuhn

SPEEDWAY, IN (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Andretti Autosport swept the first four spots of Indy 500 qualifying Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Marco Andretti posted the fastest 4-lap average of 231.351 mph in the No. 98 U.S. Concrete Honda.  Andretti did it later than his teammates as he drew the 28th qualifying attempt.

2014 Indianapolis 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay was second quickest with a 4-lap average of 231.330 mph in the No. 28 DHL Honda.

2016 Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi was third fastest in the No. 27 NAPA Auto Parts Honda at 231.268 mph.

James Hinchcliffe, who is running a partial schedule in the No. 29 Genesys Honda, was fourth at 231.195.

PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, the 2008 Indy 500 winner and series points leader, spoiled the Andretti party posting the fifth fastest average 231.155 mph.

Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus Veekay was sixth fastest at 231.114 mph.

Three Rivers Karting

“Great run this morning, very happy with that,” said Veekay.  “I’m happy!”

Rookie Alex Palou of Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh was seventh fastest at 213.034 mph.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) teammates Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato, the 2017 500 winner, rounded out positions eight and nine with speeds of 230.822 mph and 230.792 respectively.

Positions one through nine will come back on Sunday to fight it out for the pole position in the “Fast Nine Shootout”, which will set the lineup for the first three rows.

“We can play tomorrow, that’s the fun part,” said Andretti.  “We’re going to be playing with three of our teammates, Dixon, a few other guys.  Tomorrow’s going to definitely be a different day, so we’ve already been thinking about that, and it’s going to be a 10-to-15-mile-an-hour wind which makes it hard when you’re at these downforce levels.”

Positions 10 through 33 (rows 4 through 11) won’t have that chance as the speeds they set on Saturday will determine their starting position.

Just missing out on the fast nine were Andretti’s Colton Herta in tenth (230.775), Ganassi’s Marcus Ericsson in eleventh (230.566) and RLL with Citrone/Buhl Autosport’s Spencer Pigot in twelfth (230.539).

One team you will not see fighting for the pole on Sunday is Team Penske.  Penske’s Josef Newgarden, the defending NTT INDYCAR SERIES Champion will start 13th (230.296). Will Power, the 2018 Indy 500 winner, will start 22nd. 2019 Indianapolis 500 winner Simon Pagenaud will start 25th and three-time 500 winner (2001, 2002, 2009) Helio Castroneves will roll off 28th.

IndyCar

Kyle Kirkwood wins INDYCAR Detroit Grand Prix

Published

on

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.

Three Rivers Karting

“ 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.

Continue Reading

IndyCar

Contact ends Alex Palou’s day in Detroit

Published

on

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.

Three Rivers Karting

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.

Continue Reading

IndyCar

Colton Herta wins pole for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix

Published

on

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.

Three Rivers Karting

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).

Continue Reading

Discover more from Pittsburgh Racing Now

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading