Kirkwood explains IndyCar Detroit GP recovery after losing wing in shunt

After crashing out of Top 12 qualifying on Saturday, Kirkwood was rear-ended at Turn 3 by Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Callum Ilott on the opening lap of the race around the new 1.7-mile downtown Detroit street course.

The impact smashed his rear wing, requiring his team to fit a new one under caution. They managed to replace it without losing a lap, but it meant the Long Beach Grand Prix winner restarted the race dead last.

“I got hit from behind and cycled back to 27^th, which was super-unfortunate but it’s part of IndyCar sometimes, and it’s out of your control – and I’ve had a lot of those this year unfortunately,” Kirkwood told NBC.

“But we stuck with our gut, we stuck with the same strategy we’d planned on doing because we knew we had a really fast car all weekend, so we used that to our advantage among the close racing.

“Our strategy cycled us in front of a lot of cars and we were able to pass a lot of cars because of our pace, and we had great pitstops, so everything played in our favor there. Cycling back to P6, I thought that was phenomenal and I was ready to finish right there!”

Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Autosport Honda, Callum Ilott, Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet crash at first corner of race

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

Kirkwood said he refrained from attempting to gain any more spots in the caution-packed closing stages once he’d climbed into the top six positions.

He said: “We had those couple of yellows at the end and everyone was just throwing haymakers – I was just trying to stay out of it and keep my nose clean. I nearly got P3 on one of them, but we ended up sixth and I was just happy to finish inside the top 10.

“I’ll take sixth from being 27^th, my second-best IndyCar finish.”