Surreal Moments at Detroit Grand Prix Practice as Power Pushes Kirkwood

DETROIT, MI — David Malukas experienced a surreal moment during Friday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix. As he sought a clean lap on the tight, 1.645-mile street circuit, a bizarre sight caught his eye: Kyle Kirkwood’s No. 27 Siemens AWS Honda being pushed down the track by Will Power’s No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.

“I totally do that video game,” Malukas said. “It was pretty cool to see them blast through and driving by going in the air. I couldn’t believe it. I thought something was wrong, and Power was towing him across like the ‘Cars’ movie.”

The push came as drivers were trying to find clear track for qualifying simulations, leading to frustration among competitors. “Everyone is going slow around here,” said Kirkwood. “The track isn’t big enough to fit all the cars, and he got frustrated.”

Will Power explained his actions, saying, “I came around, and he (Kirkwood) slowed up in the middle, and I made contact. So, I thought I may as well get a gap now, so I just pushed him by the car in front, then booted him out of the way.”

Kirkwood was not amused by the incident. “Does it give him the right to push my car through a couple of corners and almost cause a wreck? I don’t think so…I’ve never seen that before,” he commented.

Despite the chaos, Kirkwood finished the practice session with the fastest lap time of 1 minute, 1.7509 seconds, while Power claimed third with 1:02.3862. “Andretti has always done a great job preparing street course cars,” Kirkwood noted. “Hopefully we can continue this pace throughout the weekend.”

In related news, Davey Hamilton returned to the INDYCAR Radio Network booth this weekend after serving as a strategist for Jack Harvey in the Indianapolis 500. Hamilton’s experience during the race enhanced his knowledge of current INDYCAR strategies, which he plans to share in the booth.

Team Penske is carrying the same personnel on timing stands for the Detroit race as it did for the Indy 500, following some leadership changes due to a rule violation. Scott Dixon and Graham Rahal will serve six-position grid penalties due to unapproved engine changes before the previous race.

While Alex Palou has been dominating the current season, Kirkwood and the Andretti team are poised for strong results in this weekend’s Detroit Grand Prix.