Kyle Kirkwood’s first practice session of the IndyCar weekend ended abruptly after he lost control and hit the wall. The session was the earliest running of the event due to Friday’s tornado warnings that cancelled prior track time. His crash occurred when a sudden snap of the steering wheel caused him to slide and ultimately impact the barriers.
Kirkwood attempted to manage the snap while taking a narrow inside line, but upon moving to the high line he lacked the grip necessary to recover the mistake. After veering off, his car came to rest in the infield, leading to a caution period during Group One. The vehicle was subsequently removed from the track and returned to the pits for assessment.
Driver Reaction and Possible Causes Behind Loss of Control
In a post-incident interview with FS1, Kirkwood expressed confusion about what led to the crash, noting that the car initially handled well on the high line. He suggested turbulence from a nearby competitor, Rinus Veekay of Dale Coyne Racing, may have influenced the loss of control.
“I don’t really know what happened there. We were running fine up top and I was nearly flat out on the top and then I got into the wake of Rinus [Veekay] right in front of me.” —Kyle Kirkwood, Driver
Kirkwood added that moving down to a lower line, which should have provided better grip, instead resulted in losing traction. He suspects the track surface was still “green” in that area, contributing to the incident.
“I think maybe the track was just green down there. It just got loose and it was like ‘see you later’ down low. Just not much grip down there. Just a mistake on my part, sorry to the team.” —Kyle Kirkwood, Driver
Implications for Qualifying and Season Outlook
Due to the damage sustained and time lost, Kirkwood may be unable to return to practice. This setback threatens his qualifying performance later in the day, as he will lack fresh laps needed to fine-tune the car’s setup. The timing is particularly unfortunate following a challenging Mid-Ohio weekend, where Kirkwood qualified seventh and finished eighth, one of his less competitive outings this season.
Kirkwood remains one of only three drivers to secure race victories this year but now faces a considerable points deficit. He trails championship leader Alex Palou by over 100 points, with Palou establishing a commanding position in the title chase.
