Kyle Kirkwood weathered wing damage, strategic swings, and multiple race restarts to claim a hard-fought victory in the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on Sunday — his second win of the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season.
Kirkwood, driving the No. 27 Siemens AWS Honda for Andretti Global, held off a surging Santino Ferrucci and teammate Colton Herta to win by 3.5931 seconds on the tight and unforgiving street circuit in downtown Detroit.
“For some reason, the wing was damaged, but it wasn’t really causing that much of an issue,” Kirkwood said. “This AWS Honda was on rails all weekend long. 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, especially with that front-wing damage at the end. We did lose a little bit of performance, but the car actually felt fine.
“Epic pit stops. Epic strategy. We were definitely the fastest.”
It marked the fourth career victory for the 25-year-old American, who previously triumphed on the streets of Long Beach in April. The win also gave Andretti Global its first double podium of the year, with Herta finishing third in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda.
Ferrucci delivered a standout performance in the No. 14 Sexton Properties/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet, charging from 21st on the grid to finish second — his best-ever result and the team’s strongest finish on a road or street circuit since Takuma Sato’s runner-up result in Detroit back in 2015.
“The stand was amazing,” Ferrucci said. “Perfect strategy. Obviously got lucky with that yellow (on Lap 67), and man, I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see a red flag. I was really struggling. I don’t know what I did with the tires, but I couldn’t get them to come back to life.
“Kyle was so fast today. Congratulations to him and his team on this win.”
Two-time series champion Will Power took fourth for Team Penske, while Kyffin Simpson rounded out the top five with a career-best finish in the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing entry.
The 100-lap race on the narrow 1.645-mile temporary circuit was defined by strategy, tyre management, and five caution periods, including a red flag. Tyre choice split the grid early, with 12 drivers opting for the faster, less durable alternate Firestone tyres and 15 starting on the more robust primary compound — a strategic divide that influenced the race’s rhythm and pit stop cycles.
Kirkwood first claimed the lead on Lap 39 when Scott Dixon pitted from the front, but a pivotal moment came on Lap 67 when Callum Ilott hit the wall in Turn 1, triggering a caution. Ferrucci and Simpson, who had just completed their final stops, inherited track position as frontrunners like Kirkwood, Power, Herta and Alex Palou ducked into the lane under yellow.
Palou’s championship campaign took a blow on the subsequent restart. The three-time series champion was knocked out of the race on Lap 72 after being tapped by David Malukas, ending his day in 25th place — his worst result since 2022 and his first finish outside the top three all season. Malukas was penalised for avoidable contact.
Palou’s exit narrowed his points lead to 90 over Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward.
Kirkwood restarted fourth and wasted no time climbing back to the front. He passed Marcus Armstrong on Lap 77, clipped Simpson’s wheel while overtaking for second a lap later — damaging his front wing — and then grabbed the lead from Ferrucci on Lap 79.
Despite the wing damage, Kirkwood remained unfazed.
“The car was flawless, and on restarts, man, the car just came alive,” he said. “I was actually super comfortable after that red flag came out. I was like, ‘This is going to work out in our favour here.’”
That final red flag was caused by a heavy crash between Felix Rosenqvist and rookie Louis Foster on Lap 84. The barrier repairs delayed the race by more than 12 minutes.
Kirkwood nailed the final restart on Lap 89 and was never seriously challenged over the remaining 11 laps, while Ferrucci successfully defended second against repeated attempts by Herta.
The race saw 261 on-track passes — a record for Detroit’s downtown layout and the second-highest in the event’s history, including its former run on Belle Isle.
INDYCAR later announced that Ferrucci’s No. 14 entry had failed to meet the required driver ballast weight during post-race inspection. While his second-place finish stands, the team was fined $25,000 and docked 25 championship points.
The next stop on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES calendar is the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 on Sunday evening, 15 June at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois – the first oval of the season.
SOURCE: INDYCAR | Detroit Grand Prix
IMAGE CREDIT: INDYCAR : Penske Entertainment: Joe Skibinski | M61202
