Kyle Kirkwood – XPEL Grand Prix at Road America – Photo by Joe Skibinski

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood remained in relentless championship form Friday during INDYCAR’s opening practice for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR.

Winner of two consecutive NTT IndyCar Series races, Kirkwood emerged atop the time sheet with a best lap of 1-minute, 44.9881-seconds/137.638 mph around the 4.014-mile/14-turn natural-terrain road-course in Wisconsin. Kirkwood began the weekend third in the driver standings, two points behind second-place Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren and only 75 behind runaway leader Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing.

SEE: Practice Results

“Good start,” said Kirkwood, driver of the No. 27 Simens Honda. “Definitely a session that was hindered a little bit by the red and the timing (of a red flag stoppage). Happy to be quick once again here. We were quick last year, so I guess that’s a positive to take away from today, and hopefully that trend continues.

“But the weather is going to be so much different (Saturday) that I’m not sure what we learned from today is going to be applicable tomorrow or the next day. We’ll see what happens.”

Ambient temperatures in the low 80s on Friday are forecast to climb at least 10 degrees into the mid-90s Saturday and Sunday. That temp bump would not only reduce the available grip offered by Firestone’s Firehawk tires but also test the stamina of the 27 entered drivers.

Kirkwood was trailed Friday by Canadian Devlin DeFrancesco after his best lap in 1:45.1414-seconds/137.438 mph in the No. 30 Manitou Group Honda fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

“It’s always positive to start a weekend like that and roll off the truck well,” said De Francesco, 25^th in the driver standings in his fulltime return to the series. “This track rewards high-commitment. We need to be exit-(corner)-focused. We’re very strong on the brakes and have been everywhere we’ve gone. Nailing our exit seems to be important and the key factor for us in the session. And we seemed to be very solid on the alternate (red) tires; I’m very happy with our pace on those.

“We need to find a bit more speed on blacks (primary rubber). We feel a bit disconnected on those but we’ll continue to work on that.”

Kirkwood displayed a masterful combination of pace and strategy en route to victory last Sunday night in a chaotic Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline on World Wide Technology Raceway’s egg-shaped, 1.25-mile oval in Madison, Ill., outside St. Louis.

Kirkwood’s first oval-track victory was his career-best third in eight races this season and fifth of his series career. Kirkwood’s previous four wins were all scored on the series’ “concrete canyons,” including the Streets of Long Beach in April and the Streets of Downtown Detroit earlier this month.

“Everybody knows you’ve got to be diverse in this series,” said Kirkwood, a 26-year-old native of Jupiter, Fla. “You’ve got to win at multiple circuits. You’ve got to win at multiple venues. Whether it’s a short oval, long oval, street-course, road-course, whatever it might be, you’ve got to win at all of them.”

Meanwhile, Team Penske began to rebound from an uncharacteristically dismal oval-track performance at WWTR by placing third and fourth in practice. Reigning Road America winner Will Power of Australia was third at 1:45.1795-seconds/137.388 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Josef Newgarden, another two-time RA-winner, was fourth at 1:45.2228-seconds/137.331 mph in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet.

Christian Lundgaard of Denmark completed the top-five at 1:45.2246-seconds/137.329 mph in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.

“Good practice,” said Lundgaard, who completed 17 laps. “We were pretty fast straight out of the gate, and we kind of carried that momentum throughout the session. So far, a very positive start and it gives us a good foundation to build on. Going into Practice 2, it’s all about what do we really need…what do we need to sacrifice and what we need to improve. I think we’re in a good spot right now.”

Teammate O’Ward also completed 17 laps with a best of 1:46.0393-seconds/136.274 mph. “It was a bummer we didn’t get a real run on Firestone alternates,” said O’Ward, a 26-year-old native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio, Texas. “It’s obviously not ideal going into qualifying, but I think the car is somewhat in the window. We know what the issues are so now, we’re just trying to see what the best solution is.”

O’Ward finished 0.5398-seconds behind Kirkwood at WWTR. “We’re still working to get that first win of the season, but I’m sure it’s going to come,” O’Ward said. “Our consistency is as good as it’s ever been. I’m happy for the team, and we’re going to keep pushing at Arrow McLaren and Team Chevy to get ourselves on that top step of the podium soon.”

Native New Zealander Scott McLaughlin contributed to Penske’s recovery, clocking-in sixth at 1:45.3191-seconds/137.206 mph in the No. 3 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet. McLaughlin, Newgarden and Power finished 24th, 25th and 27th, respectively, last Sunday night at WWTR. Newgarden, a five-time WWTR winner, crashed-out in spectacular fashion while leading on Lap 130.

David Malukas paced the two-car entries from Waller, Texas-based A.J. Foyt Racing in seventh after a lap in 1:45.3139-seconds/137.206 mph in the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet.

Foyt teammate Santino Ferrucci was 11^th at 1:45.7423-seconds/136.657 mph in the No. 14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet. Dallas resident Ferrucci reprised the recent resurgence of the organization founded by 90-year-old open-wheel icon A.J. Foyt Jr. of Houston. Ferrucci recorded his third straight top-five finish Sunday at WWTR.

Championship leader Palou was ninth at 1:45.3664-seconds/137.144 mph in the No. 10 SOLO Cup Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Palou, the three-time/reigning series champion from Spain, led the pack with seven minutes left in the 75-minute session. But nearly the entire field pitted late for Firestone Firehawk alternate tires, which provide more grip and speed at the cost of less durability.

That rubber switch shuffled the order considerably until the checkered flag. As noted by Kirkwood, another factor was the red flag with five minutes remaining, triggered by a trip into the Turn 1 gravel by 2019 Road America winner Alexander Rossi in the No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet.

Kirkwood and Palou (five victories) remain the only drivers to have won in eight races this season. Honda also remained unbeaten in its currently lopsided engine rivalry with Chevrolet.

Up next today was a pre-qualifying morning practice, followed by NTT P1 Award qualifying at 2:30 p.m. (EDT). FS1, the FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio Network will provide live coverage.

Sunday’s 55-lap/220.77-mile race will start at 1:30 p.m., with live coverage on FOX Sports, FOX Deportes, FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

The top three drivers in the INDY NXT by Firestone standings moved to the fore during the series’ first practice on Friday for the Grand Prix at Road America.

Caio Collet – Grand Prix at Road America – INDY NXT Presented by Firestone – Photo by Chris Owens

Caio Collet of Brazil paced his INDYCAR developmental series peers, turning a top lap of 1-minute, 53.1345-seconds/127.728 mph in the No. 76 HMD Motorsports car. The 2024 series Rookie of the Year, Collet is third in the standings, 78 points behind leader Dennis Hauger of Andretti Global.

SEE: Practice Results

Collet topped the chart despite turning just 10 laps around the 4.014-mile/14-turn natural-terrain road-course, as his team was forced to replace a malfunctioning starter midway through the 45-minute session.

“We started off very, very good,” said Collet, a 23-year-old native of Sao Paulo, Brazil. “The team did a very good job. We had a little issue in the middle of the session, but they were able to assess that very quickly and we were back on-track.”

Rookie Hauger, of Norway, was second at 1:53.5279-seconds/127.285 mph in the No. 28 Nammo car of Andretti Global. Hauger’s rookie teammate, Australian Lochie Hughes, was third at 1:53.8290-seconds/126.948 mph in the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship machine. Hughes is second in the standings, 19 points behind Hauger.

Veteran James Roe of Ireland and Andretti Global is poised to jump-start his season after placing fourth at 1:53.8357-seconds/126.941 mph in the No. 29 Topcon car. Andretti Global drivers took four of the top-five spots, as Salvador de Alba of Mexico completed the top-five at 1:53.9677-seconds/126.794 mph in the No. 27 Grupo Indi machine.

Collet admitted his experience in INDY NXT machinery gave him a slight advantage over Hauger and Hughes. Formula 2 veteran Hauger never has raced at the iconic circuit, and Hughes only has competed at RA in lower junior categories. However, Collet doesn’t expect his edge to last long.

“When we start with new tires, if you know the track and everything, you can start with an advantage,” Collet said. “But I expect the guys, especially Dennis and Lochie, to come up and be with me going for the top (Saturday). It will be tight, as always, and we need to keep working.”

A second practice Saturday morning for the 19 entrants, including seven rookies, was to be followed by qualifying at 1:30 p.m. (EDT). The 20-lap/80.28-mile/55-minute race will start at 11 a.m. Sunday. FS1, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network are providing live coverage of all sessions.

NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 335; 2, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 262; 3, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 260; 4, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren, 221; 5, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 206; 6, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 190; 7, Will Power, Team Penske, 181; 8, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 171; 9, Colton Herta, Andretti Global, 170; 10, Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing, 153;

11, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 149; 12, David Malukas, A.J. Foyt Racing, 147; 13, Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing, 144; 14, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 138; 15, Rinus VeeKay, Dale Coyne Racing, 137; 16, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 132; 17, Conor Daly, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 125; 18, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 123; 19, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 114; 20, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 112;

21, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 104; 22, Robert Shwartzman, PREMA Racing, 99; 23, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 88; 24, Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 81; 25, Devlin DeFrancesco, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 71; 26, Callum Ilott, PREMA Racing, 63; 27, Jacob Abel, Dale Coyne Racing, 49; 28, Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 36; 29, Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing, 20; 30, Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing, 16;

31, Jack Harvey, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports, 12; 32, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports, 10; 33, Kyle Larson, Arrow McLaren with Henrick Motorsports, 6; 34, Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta with Marco & Curb-Agajanian, 5.

FOX SPORTS’ 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES BROADCAST COVERAGE SCHEDULE

Sunday, March 2 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, March 23 _The Thermal Club, Thermal, Calif.  (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, April 13 _ Streets of Long Beach, Calif. (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)

Sunday, May 4 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala. (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Saturday, May 10 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, May 25 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, June 1 _ Streets of Detroit (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)

Sunday, June 15 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill. (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)

Sunday, June 22 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis. (FOX, 1:30 p.m.)

Sunday, July 6 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington (FOX, 1 p.m.)

Saturday, July 12 _ Iowa Speedway, Newton, Race 1 (FOX, 5 p.m.)

Sunday, July 13 _ Iowa Speedway, Newton, Race 2 (FOX, 1 p.m.)

Sunday, July 20 _ Streets of Toronto, Canada (FOX, noon)

Sunday, July 27 _ WeatherTech Raceway, Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif. (FOX, 3 p.m.)

Sunday, Aug. 10 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway (FOX, 3 p.m.)

Sunday, Aug. 24 _ The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis. (FOX, 2 p.m.)

Sunday, Aug. 31 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn. (2:30 p.m.)

NOTE _ All times Eastern. Dates and times subject to change.