Kyle Kirkwood has won six NTT INDYCAR SERIES races in his career, although none of them have been on a permanent road course like the one being used for the Sonsio Grand Prix on Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The driver second in the season standings (photo, top) is 0-for-28 on road courses in this series, with no top-three finishes. Asked this week about his lack of success on such tracks, Kirkwood did his best to make light of it.

“Oh, so why do I suck on road courses?” he said with a laugh.

The answer to Kirkwood’s situation is largely tied to the teams that have employed him since joining the series in 2022. Neither AJ Foyt Racing nor Andretti Global have excelled on road courses in recent years, and Andretti Global, which has won 77 races in its history, last won a road course race in 2022 with Alexander Rossi at IMS.

It’s worth noting, as Kirkwood did, that his road course drought in this series is an anomaly. In the four junior categories leading up to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, 32 of the Floridian's 41 race wins came on such tracks.

“I’ve always been good on road courses, better than any other courses, actually,” Kirkwood said. “It’s just been notorious for me in INDYCAR to have some struggles on road courses.

“We want to change that narrative. That’s what we’re trying to do.”

Kirkwood’s optimism for Saturday’s 85-lap race (4:30 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX One, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls) stems from the fact the team performed well at the season’s only other road course race, the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix on March 29 at Barber Motorsports Park. Kirkwood started and finished fifth with teammate Marcus Ericsson joining him in the top 10 in both sessions. Kirkwood also has had a strong weekend to this point on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course.

Also, Kirkwood said the addition of Will Power to the team has been a benefit.

“Quite honestly, the directions we were going last year didn't pay off like we intended, but now it's quite a bit different,” he said. “Some of that comes from Will's inputs, but quite honestly, most of it comes from engineering, development and exactly -- I guess, in a way, we had a direction. Will verified that direction. Now that's the direction we're heading.

“We feel like we got better at Barber. Hopefully that stays true across all road courses.”

Christian Lundgaard Ryan Hunter-Reay

O’Ward, Lundgaard Credit Hunter-Reay

Ryan Hunter-Reay isn’t participating in Saturday’s race, but his influence is. Who says? Pato O’Ward, and he has experience getting advice from another motorsports legend.

O’Ward had Juan Pablo Montoya as an IMS teammate in 2021 and 2022, and the Arrow McLaren driver said Hunter-Reay, who will drive the team’s No. 31 Chevrolet in the oval portion of this May, already has been additive this year as a team consultant.

“Just a guy that knows what he wants around this place,” O’Ward said of the 2012 series champion who won Indy in 2014. “He has a pretty set of idea of what works – at least for him – and I think that’s pretty powerful when you come into a team.”

Hunter-Reay, an 18-time series race winner, has been with the team throughout the early part of this season, including Friday’s action at IMS. He could be the final piece to helping Arrow McLaren win its first INDYCAR SERIES race at IMS. The team has certainly been close to winning in the past.

O’Ward has finished in the top three in three of the past four IMS road course races, including a second-place finish a year ago. Christian Lundgaard has a pair of podium finishes on this circuit, although those were with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. O’Ward also has three top-three finishes on the IMS oval.

Said Lundgaard (photo, above, left, with Hunter-Reay) of Hunter-Reay’s contributions, “He asks the crucial questions that may not be asked, and I think that’s made a pretty big difference.”

Lundgaard added that several of the discoveries the team made in last month’s oval Open Test at IMS “came from Ryan.”

Yard of Bricks

Kirkwood: Water Disperses Differently at IMS

Kirkwood had an explanation for why the IMS road course varies so much when it comes to wet conditions. He said the asphalt in the infield section of the 14-turn, 2.439-mile circuit is “very porous,” which allows for better absorption.

“When you get on the front straight, because it's the oval, it's so hyper-smooth that the water just puddles up and it looks like you're driving on ice. It's all that standing water that creates a lot of spray.

“Watch the restart late in the (2022) race, and I watched it a little while ago. It’s just a (water) cloud down front. You can only see the first car. It's just a byproduct of this track.”

Schmidt Takes Trip Down Memory Lane

Sam Schmidt, the former race-winning INDYCAR SERIES driver who built a championship INDY NXT by Firestone organization and in 2011 won the Indianapolis 500 pole with Alex Tagliani and the race with Dan Wheldon, unveiled his new book, “No Finish Line, A Racer’s Journey of Passion, Perseverance, and Purpose,” on Friday at IMS.

Schmidt couldn’t begin to estimate how many hours he and family members spent remembering the days in this sport, including his rehabilitation from paralysis as a result of a testing accident in 2000 at Walt Disney World Speedway. Schmidt said many of the stories were shared by his parents in the presence of his children, which made the book process even more special.

Schmidt said he wanted the younger members of his family, including his two young grandchildren, to have a book to know “where it all came from and why it exists.”

Through a foundation known as Conquer Paralysis Now, the 61-year-old Las Vegas-area resident has been a leader in advocating for extended rehabilitation care for paralysis victims such as Robert Wickens, the INDYCAR SERIES driver injured in 2018. Schmidt and the foundation have supported efforts to make the sport as safe as it can be.

The book will be available at many outlets, including the IMS gift shops. He will meet with race fans with copies of his book from 7-9 p.m. ET Wednesday at the USAC building on 16th Street in Indianapolis.

Alex Zanardi sticker

Odds and Ends

  • Saturday’s race represents the 40th time Scott Dixon has taken a green flag for an INDYCAR SERIES race at IMS. This will be his 17th on the road course, and he has made 23 starts on the oval. The combination represents 9 percent of his career in the series. Will Power and Graham Rahal will be starting their 36th IMS race in the series.
  • All Chip Ganassi Racing cars competing at IMS this weekend are carrying a memorial decal (photo, above) in honor of Alex Zanardi, a two-time INDYCAR SERIES champion with the Indianapolis-based organization (1997, 1998). Zanardi, a paralympic gold medalist, died May 1 in his native Italy at age 59.
  • “Bobby Rahal: True American Racer,” a documentary on the life of the 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner and three-time INDYCAR SERIES champion, makes its global debut Friday on FS1. Produced by Chassy Media, the one-hour film features reflections from Mario Andretti, Zak Brown, Derek Daly, Bryan Herta, David Letterman, Rick Mears, Paul Page, Danica Patrick, Al Unser Jr., James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell. The documentary will re-air throughout May in recognition of the 40th anniversary of Rahal’s “500” victory.
  • The Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix and Nashville Superspeedway announced a partnership with Desnuda Tequila for the July 18-19 race weekend. The agreement makes Desnuda the official tequila of Nashville Superspeedway. The brand also expanded its INDYCAR presence, becoming the official premium tequila of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.