ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — Kyle Kirkwood’s recent streak of success and speed have continued as the Andretti Global driver was the fastest during the 70-minute practice session Friday at Road America.
Kirkwood’s best lap was 1:44.9881 around the 4-mile, 14-turn Road American road course.
Devlin DeFrancesco of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing was second at 1:45.1414 in the No. 30 Honda followed by defending Road America winner Will Power of Team Penske at 1:45.1795 in the No. 2 Chevrolet.
Josef Newgarden of Team Penske was fourth at 1:45.2228 in the No. 2 Chevrolet with Christian Lundgaard of Arrow McLaren rounding out the top five at 145.2246 in the No. 7 Chevrolet.
The 70-minute practice got off to a relatively slow start as teams waited before hitting the long road course. It was another example of more time than tires for the practice session.
At the time, the ambient temperature was 83 degrees, and the track temperature was 111.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
But once the first 15 minutes were completed, Lundgaard of Arrow McLaren was the fastest at 1:46.3669 in the No. 7 Chevrolet. Alexander Rossi was second at 1:46.7108 in the No. 20 Chevrolet for ECR and Sting Ray Robb of Juncos Hollinger Racing was third at 1:46.8911 in the No. 77 Chevrolet.
Devlin DeFrancesco went on a brief off-road excursion through the grass in Turn 5, but was able to keep it out of the barrier and return to the race course.
DeFrancesco also went off course later in practice coming out of Turn 14.
With 30 minutes completed, Santino Ferrucci of A.J. Foyt Racing had zoomed to the top spot on the timing screen with a lap at 1:45.7423 in the No. 14 Chevrolet.
Forty-five minutes into the session, it was Alex Palou in front at 1:45.5519 in the No. 10 Solo Cup Honda followed by former Road America winner Josef Newgarden’s 1:45.5809 in the No. 2 Chevrolet. Ferrucci was third.
With 16:30 left in the session, Ferrucci created a red flag situation when his No. 14 flew off course and slid into the grass but kept it out of the barrier. He was stranded and had to be serviced by the AMR Safety Crew.
Kirkwood would take over the No. 1 position at 1:44.9881 in the No. 27 Honda and DeFrancesco followed with a best lap at 145.1414.
Alexander Rossi beached the No. 20 Chevrolet in the gravel with 4 minutes; 50 seconds left in the session for the second red flag.
IndyCar opened the track for one more flying lap as time was expiring. None of the drivers were able to surpass Kirkwood’s speed.
