Kyle Kirkwood
No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda
P2
| Started | P6 |
| Standings | P2 (265 points) |
- Returning to the Streets of Detroit as the defending race winner, Kyle Kirkwood rolled off sixth and maintained his position through the opening stint of the race before making his first stop on Lap 36.
- A yellow on Lap 39 moved Kirkwood into the top five. By Lap 40, the American was running fifth and climbed to second just two laps later.
- Kirkwood took over the lead on Lap 65 before pitting under yellow on Lap 70. Back inside the top three by Lap 73, the American climbed to second by Lap 80 and continued to battle for the lead before ultimately taking the checkered flag in second.
- Today’s runner-up finish marked Kirkwood’s ninth career podium and seventh on a street circuit.
“I’m happy with that. The Sam’s Club Honda was really fast. We took a little bit of a gamble on tires, being the only guy on reds at the end, and it nearly paid off. It was so, so close, but it was the two untimely yellows that threw that off. We almost covered Palou when we were on primes, which would have been phenomenal. I had them lined up and was ready to make a dive on them, and, of course, the yellow came out after I burned 10 seconds of overtake. Then from there, we just didn’t really have another shot at it. I think I just used up my tires too much to try that one pass, and the yellow came out just as I was trying it. Still, I’m happy with P2. After starting from sixth, I’m very happy with that. Thanks to the team. Andretti Global’s pit stops were phenomenal today. Absolutely flawless, and I mean, you can’t really run much better of a race than that from sixth.”
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