(DETROIT, MI.) – Kyle Kirkwood delivered the benchmark performance of the weekend so far, topping Practice #2 on Saturday morning with a 1:01.8145 lap for Andretti Global. His speed, consistency, and comfort on Detroit’s unforgiving downtown street circuit positioned him as the early favorite heading into qualifying.

Kirkwood’s session‑leading time of 1:01.8145 (95.803 mph) came on the harder primary Firestone tires, making the performance even more impressive given that Friday’s Practice 1 allowed alternate‑tire qualifying simulations.

Practice #2 Results

“We’re good,” Kirkwood said. “Typical street course stuff for us. Obviously, we’re still fast. Long Beach wasn’t as epic as we intended, so we had a couple of questions coming in here, and we’ve been fast in both sessions.
 
“It’s cold. The tires are hard, and it’s cold out here. It just takes forever (to heat the tires).”

According to the official IndyCar timing sheet:

  • 1. Kyle Kirkwood — 1:01.8145 (No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda Andretti Global)
  • 2. Will Power — 1:01.9453 (No. 26 TWG AI Honda Andretti Global)
  • 3. Pato O’Ward — 1:02.1949 (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet)
  • 4. Alex Palou — 1:02.2573 (No. 10 HRC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)
  • 5. Scott McLaughlin — 1:02.292 (No. 3 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet Team Penske)

This marked a dominant 1–2 for Andretti, with Kirkwood and Power showing strong balance and braking stability on the tight street course.

Practice #2 was far from clean, with multiple interruptions shaping the flow of the session:

  • Red Flag #1 — A dropped blue flag on track A rare but disruptive incident halted running early in Group 1.
  • Red Flag #2 — Rinus VeeKay crash at Turn 6 VeeKay made heavy contact with the wall, ending his session and forcing repairs for Ed Carpenter Racing.
  • Josef Newgarden spin: Newgarden looped the car after encountering dirty air but avoided wall contact and continued.

Kirkwood entered the weekend as the defending Detroit GP winner, and his pace in Practice #2 suggests he is poised for another strong result.

Key takeaways:

  • His speed came on primary tires, meaning more pace may be available on alternates.
  • Andretti’s street‑course package looks exceptionally strong.
  • Palou and O’Ward remain close enough to challenge in qualifying.

With qualifying looming, the field now shifts focus to maximizing tire performance and navigating Detroit’s narrow passing zones. Expect a tight battle among:

  • Kirkwood (Andretti)
  • Power (Andretti)
  • O’Ward (Arrow McLaren)
  • Palou (Ganassi)
  • McLaughlin (Penske)

Up Next: NTT P1 Award qualifying, 1 PM/ET

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