The King of the Streets struck again in Detroit – but his ride to victory wasn’t as smooth this time around.
After a disappointing qualifying run that left him third heading into Sunday’s race, Kyle Kirkwood consistently marched forward and his Andretti Global team made the right plays in a strategy-filled race to prevail in the Chevrolet Grand Prix of Detroit.
The result is Kirkwood’s fourth career NTT IndyCar Series win and second of 2025, following a triumph in April’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. All four victories have come on street circuits.
“This AWS Honda was on rails all weekend long,” Kirkwood said. “There were some challenges out there, that’s for sure. We had to pass our way back through. It was definitely not a walk in the park. … Hats off to these Andretti boys. Epic pit stops. Epic strategy.
“The car was flawless. We were definitely the fastest, and on restarts the car just came alive.”
As the Detroit GP unfolded…
Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
Photo by: Penske Entertainment
It wasn’t Kirkwood, but Andretti teammate Colton Herta that led the field to green to open the race. Kirkwood and Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard looked to either side of Herta in the opening corners, but the Californian held serve while Kirkwood dropped to fourth.
That early deficit would prove to be short-lived. Kirkwood quickly made his way past Indianapolis 500 winner Alex Palou and Lundgaard to rise to second. Herta held the top spot through the opening round of pit stops for leaders to replace alternate tires on lap 12. But when he emerged ahead of Nolan Siegel, who had started on primaries, the Arrow McLaren prospect used a bold move to overtake him.
Kirkwood sat just in Siegel’s wake and followed through to take the net lead. From there the Florida native became the driver to beat, keeping Herta, Will Power and others at bay. But unlike the procedural races of the season’s early stretch, Detroit was ready to provide some drama.
Two early cautions slowed Sunday’s race – first for a Felix Rosenqvist spin and then for a lost wheel from Devlin DeFrancesco’s machine five laps later. Scott McLaughlin was able to pit under yellow during the first sequence and briefly led Kirkwood, but spun Siegel on the ensuing restart and was issued a drive-through penalty minutes later.
Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren
Photo by: Penske Entertainment
Another timely caution shook the race up entering the closing stages when another wheel was lost, this time from Callum Ilott’s No. 90 Chevrolet. Santino Ferrucci, Kyffin Simpson and Marcus Armstrong had already pitted and were able to stay out, taking the top three spots with Kirkwood and Power in pursuit.
But that advantage would also prove to be short-lived. Kirkwood methodically worked his way back to the front, taking third with 24 to go, second the following lap and finally securing the lead from Ferrucci with 22 laps remaining.
It was during this stretch that the biggest risk to Kirkwood’s race arose. The 26-year-old and Simpson made contact twice wile battling for second, damaging Kirkwood’s front wing and leaving him at risk of diminished pace. But Kirkwood ultimately caught a break.
“The wing was damage, but it wasn’t really causing that much of an issue. … We did lose a little bit of performance, but the car actually felt fine,” he said.
A final restart offered the last challenge for Kirkwood after a heavy shunt involving Felix Rosenqvist and Louis Foster led the race to be briefly red-flagged with 13 to go. But the Andretti star was never under threat, marching off to a 3.5931s win.
Ferrucci couldn’t hold onto the top spot. But the Connecticut native took advantage of his fortunate break on pit road to secure second. Power overtook Ferrucci at one point, but the A.J. Foyt Racing star battled back past him and fended off Herta in the closing stretch for the best result of his IndyCar career.
Herta completed the podium in third, with Power and Simpson capping off the top-five. Armstrong, Pato O’Ward, Lundgaard, Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi completed the top-10.
Other notable storylines in Detroit
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Photo by: Geoff Miller / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
After dominating the early stretch of the season, Palou finally found misfortune in Detroit. The Indy 500 winner was hit from behind by second-place qualifier David Malukas on lap 73 and nosed into the tire barrier in the opening corner, knocking him out of the race in 25th. Malukas was issued a drive-through penalty and relegated to 14th as a result.
There were seven DNFs in total on an attrition-filled afternoon, leaving just 20 cars running at the checkered flag. Worst off among them was Rosenqvist, who slammed into the turn 3 tire barrier hard after being hit from behind by Foster when he suffered a suspension failure. The Meyer Shank Racing star climbed out of his car under his own power, but complained of leg pain and was taken off the racing surface in a stretcher.
With Detroit complete, the IndyCar field will take a hard-earned week off before returning to action at World Wide Technology Raceway on June 15.
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