IndyCar: Kirkwood tops Laguna Seca morning warm-up

Andretti Autosport driver Kyle Kirkwood tuned a lap of 1m7.8939s to top Sunday Morning warm-up for today’s Firestone GP Of Monterey IndyCar race.

Kirkwood nipped fellow Honda-powered driver Marcus Ericsson in his final race for Chip Ganassi Racing.

Agustin Canapino was a surprise 3rd quick in his juncos Hollinger Chevy, just 0.19s behind.

2023 IndyCar champion Alex Palou was 4th quick in his #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.  Palou is favored to win today’s race.

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin rounded out the top-5, 0.376s behind.

Today’s race represents the last time the field of 27 will gather this year for competition. Of course, there are still things to come in this calendar, such as the official championship celebration of Alex Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing on Sept. 21 in Indianapolis, an assortment of offseason testing by teams and manufacturers, and the confirming of several car-and-driver combinations for next year.

Still, today’s race marks the end of what has been a terrific season. Palou and Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden have combined to win nine races, featured by Newgarden’s first stirring victory in the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

Tire Strategy

NTT INDYCAR SERIES teams entered the weekend with nine sets of the primary (black sidewall) Firestone Firehawk tires and four sets of the alternate (red sidewall) tires. Per rule, competitors must use one set of each tire for at least two laps in the race.

Both compounds have the same construction as were used in last year’s Monterey race, and the compounds are similar to those used in The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio.

It will be interesting to see the repaving and laps that are nearly five seconds quicker than last year impact pit stop strategy. Last year, four of the top five finishers went with three stops – Team Penske’s Newgarden, who finished second, went with four – and the first of those stops came on Lap 13. Palou, the winner, stopped at Lap 19, Rosenqvist went to Lap 24.

Sunday Morning Warm-Up Results