Kyle Kirkwood kicked off the race weekend on the streets of Detroit in dominant fashion by setting the fastest time in the first practice session. The American had earlier damaged the floor of his car in a bizarre incident involving Will Power, but still managed to go three-tenths of a second faster than the rest of the field. Scott McLaughlin recorded the second-fastest time of the day, followed by teammates Will Power and Josef Newgarden.

It was a stark contrast for the IndyCar drivers compared to last weekend, when they were clocking speeds over 220 mph at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This time around, they’re navigating the bumpiest and slowest street course on the calendar.

Sting Ray Robb, in particular, struggled to adapt to the still-slippery street surface. Just seven minutes into the session, he caused the only red flag by going straight into the tire barriers in Turn 1. Fortunately, his car sustained minimal damage and he was able to return to the pits under his own power.

The session saw a bizarre moment when Will Power, out of frustration, drove into the rear of Kyle Kirkwood’s car. Remarkably, the Penske driver appeared to stay on the throttle, causing the two cars to remain locked together for at least 100 yards. Power’s car suffered front wing damage, while Kirkwood’s issues were more severe, including damage to the gearbox cover and the car’s floor.



Later in the session, Power made another unusual move by reversing into the runoff area at Turn 1 and then continuing backward along part of the racing line. Thankfully, there were no further incidents, but it remains to be seen whether Power will face penalties for one or both of the incidents.

Kyffin Simpson opened the combined portion of the session by setting the fastest time, but was quickly eclipsed by Alexander Rossi, then Rinus VeeKay and championship leader Alex Palou. However, Palou wouldn’t hold onto the top spot for long — Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin, Marcus Ericsson and David Malukas all went faster, with Malukas ultimately topping the combined session.

After the combined practice, the field was split into two groups for qualifying simulations—giving the drivers more clean air to work with. In the first group, it was a Penske lockout, with Power leading the way ahead of Newgarden and Christian Lundgaard.

In the second group, Kirkwood proved that his partially repaired car was still a rocket. On his first flying lap on the softer tires, he clocked a time six-tenths of a second quicker than Power’s fastest in Group 1. McLaughlin managed to close the gap to three-tenths, but no one could touch Kirkwood’s blistering lap.