Andretti Autosport had a challenging day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the Gallgher Grand Prix. Colton Herta in the No.26 Gainbridgw Honda started the 85-lap race from 13th place but was forced to go off strategy after suffering a puncture on the opening lap of the race following contact.
Herta was able to recover to finish the race in 13th place, and speaking following the event, he said:
“Pretty awful day, collected in somebody else’s mess for the second race in a row now and it ruined our day. Got a puncture on Lap 1 after getting hit in the rear which forced us to pit early. Luckily, we were able to pass some guys and we still made a little bit of a result out of it with 13th, but overall it was not the day we wanted.”
Kyle Kirkwood endured a tough start to the race as he stalled twice on his way to the grid on pit road but was able to line up in his original grid spot. The Floridian avoided the first-lap incident and went on to finish the race in ninth place and speaking following the race he said:
“Today was good, we went from 13th to ninth and it was really hard to pass today. We had some pace, but not what the guys had at the very front, so we struggled a little bit. I think we were good enough for top seven, maybe even six, but it’s hard to do that when you start 13th. Although, I sure am happy to get into the top 10. Whenever you start further back in an INDYCAR race, it’s so hard to go for it, no matter where you’re at in the field. The talent is so deep and when you feel like you’re on the back foot and you don’t have a ton of pace, it makes it way harder to go for it. So the fact that we did salvage a top-10 finish is good. I’m not thrilled with it, but I’m satisfied.”
Romain Grosjean started the race from sixth place in the No.28 DHL Honda but was caught up in the first incident at turn seven and suffered a mechanical issue in the closing laps of the race, and was classified in 18th place and speaking following the action he said:
“It was not a good day for us. We had a lot of pace in the car, but sadly, we got caught in a first lap incident and at the end of the race on the last lap, we had a mechanical issue. However, we had a very fast car, but we were just too far back. I am looking forward to the next race in St. Louis with the No. 28 DHL team.”
Devlin DeFrancesco led his first laps as an INDYCAR SERIES driver and speaking after finishing the race in 19th place after starting the race from fifth place he said:
“A hard day for the No. 29 TRUBAR / Jones Soda Andretti Steinbrenner Honda. We just seemed to bring in tires very quickly, but we struggled to make them last and go the distance. Overall, this was a tough day, it just hurts. For myself, for all of the 29 crew and everyone at TRUBAR / Jones Soda, but we’ll analyze it. We’ll come back and have a better one. Clearly we made a big step in qualifying for myself, our car and as a team. We just need to use this as momentum for the last three races.”
Andretti Autosport Chief Operating Officer Rob Edwards said:
“It was a challenging day for a number of cars based on what happened on the first lap, specifically with the 26 and 28. We had to fight through the field and play catch up with that. Obviously, Devlin was strong early on and I’m happy for him that he led some laps. He was fast on a short burst but not over the full stint. Kyle was was our best finisher today and I’m happy he secured another top-10 finish. Again, we always hope for more, but we’ll regroup and get ready for World Wide Technology Raceway.”