IndyCar Gradebook: Detroit Grand Prix
- Dan Jones
- Jun 4
- 10 min read
Written by Dan Jones
After a chaotic 100 laps on the Streets of Detroit, Kyle Kirkwood came out victorious for the second time in 2025, as the Andretti Global driver elevated himself to third in the points standings. DIVEBOMB IndyCar Correspondent, Dan Jones, graded all 27 drivers' performances during the Detroit Grand Prix weekend.
I never usually start these off with notes such as these, but this was the hardest weekend to grade to date. With so many drivers taken out of contention through no fault of their own, as well as strategy elevating drivers to unrepresentative positions, this Gradebook may be the most confusing yet.
Chip Ganassi Racing
No.8 - Kyffin Simpson - B
This was the best result of Simpson's IndyCar career to date. Was it his best performance? No. But sometimes, that's how things play out in this series, particularly on the ever-chaotic Streets of Detroit. Simpson qualified a fairly average 19th and was anonymous on race day until he pitted just seconds before Callum Ilott's crash brought out a perfectly timed yellow for the Cayman Islander. Simpson found himself in second with 29 laps to go, but was overtaken by the much stronger cars of Kirkwood, Colton Herta and Will Power. He still did well to bring home a first career top five though, but this one had Simpson's fair share of fortune go his way.
No.9 - Scott Dixon - C
It felt at the mid-way point that this could be one of those races where Dixon would pull the rabbit out of the hat when it came to strategy, but a tough alternate stint proved otherwise. The Kiwi started 16th, after receiving a six-place grid penalty for an engine change, and made his opening stint last longer than any other driver, but failed to make a two-stopper work. He finished in 11th once all was said and done. It continues what has been a disappointingly anonymous year for Dixon.
No.10 - Álex Palou - A-
It felt that if any driver would break the Indianapolis 500 winner's curse at Detroit, that driver would be Palou. It felt for a large proportion of the weekend that Palou could become the first Indianapolis 500 winner to win the following race since Juan Pablo Montoya in 2000, especially after qualifying a respectable sixth. Palou was in-and-around the podium positions for the entirety of the opening 72 laps, until David Malukas clumsily piled into the back of the Spaniard, ending his remarkable run of form to start 2025. If anything is going to stop him from lifting the Astor Challenge Cup for a fourth time, it would be weekends such as this. That said, Palou still drove well throughout the weekend.
Team Penske
No.2 - Josef Newgarden - C+
2025 does not get any better for Newgarden. That said, this result is remarkably still his second-best finish of the season but it feels like there is still more on the table. The two-time champion hit the wall on his final qualifying run, which left him lining up 24th on Sunday. He would recover to ninth after avoiding the majority of the chaos. Although it's not an awful result, it's still not the clinical Newgarden that we've seen in years past.
No.3 - Scott McLaughlin - C
It's been an inconsistent start to 2025 for Team Penske, as it has been for McLaughlin too which once again showed in Detroit. McLaughlin qualified as the lead Penske in seventh, and looked in an excellent position after he had strangely gained places by pitting during the first caution due to the short pitlane. However, McLaughlin's advantageous position was quickly lost after he tagged the back of Nolan Siegel which earned the Kiwi a stop-go. Judging by McLaughlin's comments on Twitter (X), I don't think he thought the penalty was deserved but at least his exchange with Tony Kanaan was entertaining.
No.12 - Will Power - B
What a bizarre weekend for Power. It will mostly be remembered for his antics in opening practice as he bump rode Kirkwood around Turns 6 & 7. I'm still not quite sure what Power was trying to achieve, but he miraculously avoided being penalised. The Australian qualified a respectable eighth and fortuitously pitted before the opening yellow, which elevated him into the lead group. Power should have had a podium after battling with Herta and Santino Ferrucci in the closing stages but could not make the essential passes when required. He was the best Penske over the course of the weekend, but that's still not much to write home about.
Andretti Global
No.26 - Colton Herta - A
This feels like a victory that may have fell out of Herta's grasp, despite the Californian leaving Detroit with his first podium of the season. For the second consecutive year at Detroit, Herta comfortably took pole and led the opening exchanges of Sunday's race. However, he got boxed out when battling with Nolan Siegel after his opening stop, which relinquished the net race lead to Kirkwood, with Herta having no chance from that point forward. He battled for the final podium spots in the closing laps, with poor push-to-pass usage preventing him from claiming second. Felt like a chance for Herta to claim his first win of 2025, but was taken out of his grasp by the nature of the Detroit streets.
No.27 - Kyle Kirkwood - A
It's hard for me to give Kirkwood the top grades when he himself admitted that Herta should have won the race. That's not to downplay an excellent performance from Kirkwood though. He probably should have taken pole, until he hit the wall on his final lap, which he was frustrated with. However, as we've seen several times from Kirkwood, once he got out to the front, his race management was superb. Even if pegged back by cautions, the Floridian quickly opened up a gap and his victory never looked in doubt after he made the essential moves with 30 laps to go, even if he damaged his front wing overtaking Kyffin Simpson. It wasn't a flawless weekend, but one to be proud of for Kirkwood.
No.28 - Marcus Ericsson - C Is this now the point where Ericsson has to start worrying about his IndyCar future? It's felt like there have been too many occasions where both Herta and Kirkwood have shown excellent pace, whilst Ericsson is nowhere to be seen - once again the case in Detroit. He qualified an average 13th and had to persist with a broken rear damper during the race, finishing 13th. It's not disastrous considering the circumstances in isolation, but when his two teammates were the class of the field, Ericsson cannot afford to be this far behind.
Arrow McLaren
No.5 - Pato O'Ward - B+
This was a weekend where Arrow McLaren, and O'Ward, clearly lacked pace. 18th was the best O'Ward thought he could have done in qualifying but the Mexican drove well on race day, climbing up the order to seventh with good strategy. It felt like it was always going to be a damage limitation weekend for O'Ward and McLaren, who marginally closes the gap to Palou at the top of the standings. I think O'Ward will leave Detroit pretty pleased with the final result on a track he publicly dislikes, but it's by no means one of his finest performances.
No.6 - Nolan Siegel - C
It's a very tough weekend to judge for Siegel who was plagued with issues all-weekend long. An engine problem in qualifying forced him to line up 27th with no laps completed. It was always going to be a challenge from that far down in the order, but battled the leaders well when they came out behind Siegel after pitting. His race would come undone after contact with McLaughlin into Turn 1 - with McLaughlin laying the blame on the American. Hard to give a fair grade here in a very non-representative weekend.
No.7 - Christian Lundgaard - A-
In a weekend where McLaren seemed to lack pace, Lundgaard once again proved himself well, albeit not having a fantastic result to show for it. The Dane qualified well in fourth, and took second in the opening exchanges of the race. However, an earlier second stop relegated Lundgaard significantly down the order which meant he finished eighth at the chequered flag. It probably wasn't a result that Lundgaard deserved, but he showed himself strong again.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
No.15 - Graham Rahal - B+
Another weekend of what could have been for Graham Rahal and RLL after a stuck wheel nut eliminated the American from proceedings after running well on the alternate strategy. For the second consecutive road/street race, Rahal qualified into the Fast Six, but was dropped six places due to an unapproved engine change. Even still, Rahal looked a contender on the alternate strategy until a loose wheel nut on his right-rear put him multiple laps down. It's another case of desperate misfortune for Rahal, but what he did show was once again a sign of encouragement for the team.
No.30 - Devlin DeFrancesco - D+
It was another poor weekend for DeFrancesco, after a 'Month of May' that had showed a lot of promise. He qualified underwhelmingly in 23rd, significantly off the pace of his teammates. His race was nothing to shout home about until he caused a caution after crawling around the streets with a loose tyre - which eventually fell off. IndyCar heavily disapproved of this, with DeFrancesco further penalised. A weekend the Canadian needs to put behind him.
No.45 - Louis Foster - B
Foster continues to stack up well in his rookie season, but further misfortune prevented the Briton from claiming a first career top ten. He agonisingly missed out on the Fast 12 by thousandths of a second, before leading his first career laps the following day after being placed on the alternate strategy. Foster would stick in-and-around the top ten until a suspension failure catapulted him into the wall and into Felix Rosenqvist. Foster was a passenger and his day was done. More cause of frustration for RLL, but Foster performed respectably once again.
Meyer Shank Racing
No.60 - Felix Rosenqvist - C
It felt like an unusually scrappy weekend for Rosenqvist, who has slowly become one of the series' most consistent performers. The Swede was furious at his teammate after blocking him in qualifying, but recovered well into the top ten in the opening stages of the race. However, he clumsily spin into the Turn 8 barrier, requiring a new rear wing. He stayed on the fringes of the top ten before being the unfortunate victim of Foster's suspension failure. A disappointing weekend from a driver usually quite reliable.
No.66 - Marcus Armstrong - B
Although a sixth-place finish looks good on paper, I don't think this was a superb weekend for Armstrong. He qualified a decent ninth, despite upsetting his teammate along the way. He would have more teammate woes after he found the barrier when avoiding Rosenqvist's accident. It was quiet from that point forward, until he cycled up to third after pitting just seconds before the caution caused by Ilott. Armstrong couldn't hold off Kirkwood, Herta or Power but was also unable to get past Simpson for what would have been a top five finish. Not a disastrous result, but there was a chance for more for Armstrong.
Ed Carpenter Racing
No.20 - Alexander Rossi - C+
It was an anonymous weekend for Rossi, who for the first time in his Ed Carpenter Racing career, was outpaced by his teammate. He qualified an average 15th but brought home a top ten finish in tenth, avoiding all the chaos that wend on around him.
No.21 - Christian Rasmussen - B+
After a very strong Indianapolis 500, the same momentum carried into Rasmussen's weekend at Detroit. He had the upper-hand on his vastly more experienced teammate all weekend, and made his first Fast 12 of the season. He led those on the alternate strategy, despite sliding into the Turn 2 barrier after pitting, but later unfortunately retired with a technical issue. A disappointing finish, but a weekend filled with positives for Rasmussen.
A.J. Foyt Racing
No.4 - David Malukas - B
Like Rasmussen, it felt as if the Indianapolis 500 was a springboard for Malukas. He qualified a superb second for a team that has had qualifying woes all-season long and although he wouldn't have that pace in the race, the American was certainly in contention for a top five finish. However, he clumsily crashed into the back of Palou earning him an avoidable contact penalty and dropping Malukas to 14th. A huge shame because it had been an excellent weekend otherwise.
No.14 - Santino Ferrucci - A-
It may have taken a huge stroke of luck, but it was a well-deserved first road/street podium for Ferrucci. Yes, his weekend until Lap 67 had next-to-nothing notable, but when Ferrucci was thrusted into the spotlight he held his own well. It always felt improbable that Ferrucci would be able to hold off the challenge of Kirkwood, but held his own fantastically against the much faster cars of Herta and Power. Although there's a minor asterisk after the team's post-race penalty, it was a weekend to be proud of for Ferrucci.
Juncos Hollinger Racing
No.76 - Conor Daly - D+
It was a horrid weekend for Daly and Juncos who had seemingly no pace throughout the weekend. He qualified last in his group by some distance and was unable to make any impact on proceedings on race day, finishing 17th.
No.77 - Sting Ray Robb - C-
Not much to report from Robb's weekend. He qualified poorly in 26th but recovered to 15th - his second-best result of the year. Nothing highlightable in a weekend where both Juncos cars really struggled.
Dale Coyne Racing
No.18 - Rinus VeeKay - B+
After the blockbuster signing of Michael Cannon on VeeKay's engineering stand, his encouraging start to life with Dale Coyne Racing continues to gather momentum. VeeKay once again qualified excellently in seventh, which made an early engine failure so immensely disappointing - because in a race such as Detroit, anything is on the cards. Not much to show for it, but VeeKay continues to show himself excellently at IndyCar's smallest team.
No.51 - Jacob Abel - C
There's still a lot of progress for Jacob Abel to make, but this was the best weekend of his young IndyCar career. The American had his best career qualifying in 20th and raced well, despite having floor damage throughout the race. Abel finished in a career-best 18th place, the last car on the lead lap. It's not outstanding but it's certainly encouraging signs after a difficult start to 2025.
PREMA Racing
No.83 - Robert Shwartzman - C
Pace on road and street courses continues to be a problem for PREMA, with both Shwartzman and Ilott unable to really show their potential with the current package PREMA have. Shwartzman qualified 22nd and finished 16th - the best result for PREMA in the series to date.
No.90 - Callum Ilott - B-
Ilott qualified 17th at Detroit - far better than what PREMA have displayed at the majority of races thus far in 2025 and ran respectably on race day. However, a loose wheel on his final set of stops left Ilott a passenger and signified an unfortunate end to what could have been a good result for the Briton.
All photos in this article were taken by DIVEBOMB Photographer, Dominic Loyer. You can find Dominic's work on Instagram (@dominicloyer_photography)
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