Kyle Kirkwood scores Honda’s eighth-consecutive IndyCar victory of 2025

• Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood wins short-oval shootout at World Wide Technology Raceway
• Victory is Kirkwood’s third of the year and first oval win
• Honda goes eight-for-eight to start the season

Kyle Kirkwood notched his third victory of the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, giving Honda its eighth win in eight races to start the year.

Today’s victory at World Wide Technology Raceway is Kirkwood’s third win of the season, following triumphs at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach and last time out at the Detroit Grand Prix. It is also the Andretti Global #27 driver’s first-career victory on an oval.

The win puts Kirkwood just two points off of second place in the drivers’ title fight, and 75 points off of championship leader Alex Palou. Palou and Kirkwood are the only two drivers to win so far this season, giving Honda a perfect start to the year in NTT INDYCAR SERIES competition. The great start gives Honda a 148 point advantage in the manufacturers’ championship, 723-575.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon came home fourth after a gamble on fuel mileage put him an entire lap ahead of the field going into the final stages of the race. Dixon would lead 43 laps before being caught in traffic and ultimately finishing fourth.

Rinus VeeKay finished seventh for Dale Coyne Racing after starting P18, coming home just ahead of reigning and three-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou (P8) and Meyer Shank Racing’s Marcus Armstrong (P9). Four of five Honda-powered teams brought home top-10 finishes in the first short oval race of the year. 

Detroit Grand PrixHonda Race Results

• 1st Kyle Kirkwood -  Andretti Global Honda
• 4th Scott Dixon  -   Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
• 7th Rinus VeeKay  -   Dale Coyne Racing Honda
• 8th Alex Palou  -   Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
• 9th Marcus Armstrong    -   Meyer Shank Racing Honda
• 13th Marcus Ericsson     -   Andretti Global Honda              
• 15th Kyffin Simpson  -    Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
• 16th Felix Rosenqvist     - Meyer Shank Racing Honda
• 17th Colton Herta     -   Andretti Global Honda
• 21st Jacob Abel-R  -  Dale Coyne Racing Honda
• 22nd Graham Rahal  -  Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
• 23rd Devlin DeFrancesco    -   Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
• 26th Louis Foster-R         -   Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda – Not running, contact

R – Rookie

Quotes
Kyle Kirkwood (#27 Andretti Global Honda) finished first: “Incredible race! Incredible race for Honda. We just came alive when the sun went down and it started to cool off. These Honda Power units just started screaming and it was amazing. It felt like the tables turned as the race closed. And I’m just super happy with today, for the whole Andretti Global team. They produced a race winning car once again, and so did Honda.”

Scott Dixon (#9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) finished fourth: “Yeah, we were trying to repeat 2023 there! Kudos to everybody at Honda and HRC. We got the mileage and that enabled us to catch that yellow. We just didn’t have the pace of the 27. I was kind of bummed, we got into the mix, I think maybe with the #83 on the out lap and it just killed our next three laps and then that allowed the #5 and #21 to get by. A bit of a rough one there, but I think fourth is still a decent day for us.”

Rinus VeeKay (#18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda) finished seventh: “Fantastic race! Great work by this team, that was real teamwork. It was a chaotic race with a splash and dash at the end. I think we had a good race car and the car really came to us throughout the race. When it got colder it got better and better, we saved the best for last for sure. I was really happy with the handling and then the way we progressed as a team this weekend. It almost race over when I get hit on the left rear. But we survived, saved the car, and even passed a few cars afterwards. So, that was pretty good. I’m just really happy, especially after two DNFs, this is a great result to bounce back to.”

Mark Crawford (IndyCar Large Project Leader, Honda Racing Corporation USA): “First off, congratulations to our teams and all the associates at HRC—both working at the track and at the factory. They’ve done a fantastic job and put in a lot of work to put us in this position. The engine today was perfectly suited to the task of running up front and our teams executed flawlessly. Congrats to Andretti Global, Kyle Kirkwood, and the whole #27 team and of course to our entire Honda crew. Eight wins in eight races to start the year is an impressive feat!”

Next
The 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES returns just next weekend at America’s National Park of Speed, Road America, for the XPEL Grand Prix June 22nd.   

HRC US social media content and video links can be found on: