Kirkwood wins, McLaughlin finds trouble
Alex Palou’s winning run has come to an end, but there is no new winner in the 2025 IndyCar season with Kyle Kirkwood again picking up the pieces, while Scott McLaughlin was caught in chaos.
The Detroit Grand Prix was a dramatic affair with Kirkwood coming out on top despite carrying front-wing damage.
The Andretti Global driver controlled the final quarter of the race and emerged 3.5s clear of Santino Ferrucci and Colton Herta in a race of strategy and survival.
Palou’s dominant run came to an end in unlucky style as he was sent into the wall by David Malukas.
“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.”
Australia’s Will Power put in a strong drive to fourth place, but was disappointed to fall half a second short of a second 2025 podium.
“It’s a good result, but disappointing that we didn’t get the podium there,” he said.
“My Verizon Chevy was very tough on restarts, but once the temp got in it, it was really strong.
“Obviously, I think the Andretti cars were really good, on restarts, and then they came back to us a bit. But, not bad, man.
“You know, I survived Detroit a little bit disappointed that I didn’t get a podium.
“Obviously, results really matter for me at the moment. So, it’s still a good day.”
Meanwhile, his Team Penske teammate McLaughlin was one of many finding trouble on the streets of Detroit.
McLaughlin had hit the lead, but was restricted to 12th after sending the McLaren of Nolan Siegel into a spin and being handed a drive-through penalty.
“Man, we couldn’t have had a much better start to the race than the one we had today,” he said.
“Detroit is unique with the length of pit lane and where the blend line is, so even though we were the last team to make their first pit stop we were able to come out as the effective leader.
“Obviously, I didn’t mean to get into the back of the #6 car.
“Have to be more aware than that, but very proud of the effort by the Tire Rack Chevy guys.
“We dropped back to 24th after the stop-and-go and through great strategy and a fast car, we drove by to 12th.”
A fortnight break follows before the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway in Illinois on June 15.
IndyCar Detroit Grand Prix results
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