No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda
P21
| Started | P22 |
| Standings | P2 (409 points) |
- On a track type that has traditionally suited Kyle Kirkwood, the American driver finished this weekend just as frustrated as he started it in qualifying the day before.
- After a six-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change put the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda back into 22nd on the starting grid, Kirkwood had his work cut out for him in today’s 90-lap race. Kirkwood quickly began moving up through the field as the cautions began falling on Lap 15, breaking into the top 10 near the 20-lap mark.
- The Sam’s Club pit stand’s strategy, heads-up driving from Kirkwood and quick pit stops steadily worked the No. 27 into contention for at least a top-five result, even running in fourth, just past the halfway mark, behind teammates Power and Ericsson for what looked like could potentially turn into an All Andretti podium.
- Unfortunately, a mistake by Kirkwood in Turn 3 on Lap 54, put the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda into the wall, ending a strong charge to the front for the team.
“That one was on me. The Sam’s Club Honda was fast. We had everything thrown at us from the beginning to the middle of that race. There were so many different strategies going on. It looks like we were in the hot seat there between all three of the Andretti drivers, and obviously, two of them finished up front today. So, that was disappointing. I turned in [to Turn 3] and thought I was fine just wrapping around the wall, but there are no radius walls here, so there’s a bunch of points in the walls, almost like gator teeth, that are sticking out, and I just clipped one of those. That one’s definitely on me, so I just feel really bad for the team. They produced a really good car, and we had a long day yesterday. We’ll wrap this thing up and leave knowing that we came out of the gate here really, really strong and go into D.C. with our heads held high. Congrats to Marcus and Will on getting a one-three finish for the team today.”
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