David Malukas had a surreal moment during Friday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear.

While easing off the throttle to find space for a clean lap around the tight, 1.645-mile downtown street circuit, Malukas briefly felt as if he was in a virtual world – like iRacing rather than the real-life cockpit of his No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet for A.J. Foyt Enterprises.

That illusion hit when, out of his peripheral vision, he noticed an unusual scene: Kyle Kirkwood’s No. 27 Siemens AWS Honda being pushed down the track by Will Power’s No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.

“I totally do that video game,” Malukas said. “It was pretty cool to see them blast through and driving by going in the air. I was like, ‘What the hell is going on?’ I couldn’t believe it. I thought something was wrong, and Power was towing him across like the ‘Cars’ movie. It was interesting at first, but then I realized it was not.”

With qualifying simulations hinging on a clear, traffic-free lap, frustration was inevitable. Malukas slowed, Kirkwood got bottled up, and Power came barreling in.

"Everyone is going slow around here,” Kirkwood said. “The track isn’t big enough to fit all the cars, and he got frustrated.”

Power took matters into his own hands, literally, by pushing Kirkwood’s car and then shoving him aside.

“I came around, and he (Kirkwood) slowed up in the middle and I made contact,” Power said. “So, I thought I may as well get a gap now, so I just pushed him by the car in front, then booted him out of the way and got a nice gap. If I hadn’t touched him already, I thought: ‘Oh, well, I’m already touching him, I might as well keep pushing.”

Kirkwood, who had a similar run-in with Santino Ferrucci during last year’s practice, was less amused.

“It’s whatever, I guess,” Kirkwood said. “Does it give him the right to push my car through a couple of corners and almost cause a wreck? I don’t think so ... Everyone’s stopped. I don’t know. I’m not upset. I don’t care. I’ll move on. I’ve never seen that before.”

Despite the chaos, Kirkwood emerged fastest in the session with a lap of 1 minute, 1.7509 seconds. Power was third at 1:02.3862.

“Andretti has always done a great job preparing street course cars, and this is another example of that,” Kirkwood said. “Hopefully we can continue this pace throughout the weekend.”

Kirkwood earned NTT P1 Award honors on the streets of Long Beach and led 46 of 90 laps in victory in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 13. He’s the only driver not named Alex Palou to win a race this season.

Hamilton Returns to Booth with New Knowledge

Davey Hamilton’s two-week “vacation” from the INDYCAR Radio Network booth turned into one of the most hands-on learning experiences of his broadcast career.

Swapping his analyst headset for a strategist’s one, former INDYCAR SERIES driver Hamilton called the shots for Jack Harvey’s No. 24 DRR CUSICK INVST Chevrolet during the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

“It was a learning curve,” Hamilton said. “I was a little nervous coming into it. We got Jack from the back to the front. I worked hard. I think I overstudied a little bit, to be really honest with you.”

Harvey began the race from the 26th starting position. Hamilton guided Harvey to stay out under an early-race caution, launching him up to fifth place on Lap 24 as one of just six drivers on that alternate call.

The strategy worked well until a brake issue entering pit road derailed the run, dropping Harvey to a 22nd-place finish.

While the race result may not have yielded a top finish, Hamilton walked away with a far greater understanding of today’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES landscape that will enhance his storytelling and analysis from the booth, starting in this weekend’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear.

“That’s really going to help me a lot,” Hamilton said. “I learned so much that’s going to relate to the fan now that I can tell about the cars and what they’re going through. I feel my strategy is going to be better in the radio booth now than it was before because you’ve got to take gambles starting in the back and risk it to take those gambles.”

The strategist stint gave Hamilton an updated, first-hand view of the current generation of INDYCAR machinery.

“These cars, the hybrids, the aero settings, the extra weight – there’s so many things,” Hamilton said. “It kind of got me really up to speed.”

Team Penske Keeps Indy 500 Timing Stand Personnel

Team Penske is maintaining the same personnel on its three timing stands this weekend in Detroit as it did for the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, where several leadership changes were made prior to the May 25 race.

The changes stemmed from a rule violation in which two of the team’s entries were found in violation of INDYCAR rules during “500” qualifying weekend. Team President Tim Cindric, INDYCAR Managing Director Ron Ruzewski and INDYCAR General Manager Kyle Moyer were released from the team, and all three also served as respective race strategists for Josef Newgarden, Power and Scott McLaughlin.

Team Penske shuffled the timing stands for all three cars for the “500,” and those movements are in place for Sunday’s 100-lap race. For Newgarden, Luke Mason is serving as strategist and Raul Prados from the Porsche Penske Motorsport sports car team is serving as the lead engineer. Ben Bretzman has moved from engineer to strategist for McLaughlin, with Malcolm Finch as the lead engineer. Porsche Penske Motorsport Managing Director Jonathan Diuguid is serving as Power’s strategist, while Dave Faustino remains as Power’s lead engineer.

The short turnaround between races, plus IMSA’s race at the same Detroit street course, enables a seamless integration of personnel from Penske’s sports car program into the INDYCAR operation.

McLaughlin was second fastest Friday while Power and Newgarden were third and fourth, respectively.

“Sort of a normal week,” Newgarden said. “We prepped as much as we can.”

Palou on F1 Drivers’ Minds in Spain

Alex Palou became the first Spaniard to win the “500.” With Formula One competing in Spain this weekend, Spanish drivers Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz Jr. expressed admiration for their countryman and his accomplishments.

“I always rated Alex very highly because I was his teammate in cadet, and he was very quick in cadet karting,” Sainz said. “What he’s doing in America is something really admirable. I think to dominate in the way he’s dominating, you have to be very good at what you’re doing. Then Formula One is a completely different discipline, different world, but I don’t have anything else but respect and admiration for what Alex is doing in Indy.”

Alonso made three “500” attempts, qualifying for the race twice, and believes Palou is elevating the country to new heights.

“Great for Spain,” Alonso said. “Great for him to have the Indy 500 now after winning the INDYCAR (championship) for a few consecutive seasons and now leading the championship, as well.

“So, he’s doing great there. I know that most of the drivers dream about a Formula One seat and having a career here. But he had the opportunity in INDYCAR, and he maximized every single day there. He's a legend in INDYCAR, and he will be a legend always in INDYCAR. So, I think he's not missing Formula One, and I'm very happy for him because he's a very, very talented driver.

“We are just following him from here with a lot of respect and as a fan, because I was watching on Sunday the race and just hoping that he would finally make it – and he did it. So, happy for him.”

VeeKay Believes DCR Changes Will Boost Results

Michael Cannon returns to Dale Coyne Racing after spending six years (2014-19) engineering for the organization. He served as an engineer in recent seasons for Chip Ganassi Racing and AJ Foyt Racing.

Cannon will engineer Rinus VeeKay’s No. 18 askROI Honda in part of a personnel shakeup that also returns Mike Colliver to the team to lead engineer Jacob Abel’s No. 51 Blue Oval SK Honda.

“He’s synonymous with success in INDYCAR,” VeeKay said of Cannon. “Really good to have him around. He seems like he’s at home. A lot of people already knew him in the team. I’m really excited. I think everybody’s a little bit more afraid of this team now.”

VeeKay is 12th in points with three top-10 finishes this season. He believes Cannon can take his team to the next level with all his experience and knowledge. That showed Friday with VeeKay ending up ninth in practice.

“He has a lot of info,” VeeKay said. “Like this season, we were kind of struggling with our brakes. He’s already found one solution and has a backup solution to that solution. He has a backup to the backup solution. He just knows a lot of stuff. He’s done everything 10 times.”

Grid Penalties for Rahal and Dixon

Scott Dixon’s No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda had an unapproved engine change prior to last Sunday’s “500.” As a result, the team was in violation of Rule 16.1.2.3.2 because this his fifth engine used this season.

Graham Rahal also changed engines on Miller Lite Carb Day, violating Rule 16.1.5.4: Once an Indianapolis 500 Mile Race Engine is fitted to the Car, removal prior to the Indianapolis 500 Race is an Unapproved Engine Change-Out, unless it is replaced for Repair.

Both will serve six-position grid penalties for Sunday’s 100-lap race.

Teammates Rossi, Rasmussen Reach Different Milestones

Alexander Rossi and Christian Rasmussen enter this weekend’s race with very different trajectories but shared momentum from standout moments in last Sunday’s “500.”

Rossi led 14 laps, surpassing 1,000 INDYCAR SERIES career laps led, with 1,010 in 153 career races. However, his day was cut short by a mechanical failure after 73 laps, resulting in a 28th-place finish in the No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet.

Rossi has been consistent on the streets of Detroit, finishing fifth in both races since the series returned to the downtown course.

“We need to minimize mistakes, execute in every session, and if we do that, there’s no reason we can’t be fighting for the podium,” Rossi said.

Rasmussen, a second-year driver, made headlines by leading his first career INDYCAR SERIES laps – eight in total, at Indianapolis. He passed Rossi on the Lap 29 to lead his first career lap in the No. 21 ECR Splenda Chevrolet.

“Taking the early restart in second, I was thinking to myself, the smart thing here would probably be to stay in second,” Rasmussen said. “Just stay behind and save some fuel. But coming to the green, I just couldn’t help myself, so I came storming by Alex (Rossi). It was a cool experience and obviously special.”

Energized by his Indy performances, Rasmussen eyes a good weekend in Detroit.

“Coming off a strong Indy 500, I’m really excited for the rest of the season,” Rasmussen said. “The No. 21 Splenda Chevrolet crew has some solid momentum, and we’re ready to build on that.”

Country Star Wright To Sing Anthem, Perform at WWTR

Country music singer Chase Wright was named as the national anthem singer for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline on Sunday evening, June 15 at World Wide Technology Raceway. The Indiana native also will pay tribute to St. Louis-area first responders and relief workers by performing a free concert.

Wright offered the gesture following last week’s tornado that affected the region.

Odds and Ends

  • Andretti Global added Siemens to serve as the primary sponsor on Marcus Ericsson’s No. 28 Siemens Honda at this event. The company sponsored Kirkwood for the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge and continues to sponsor Kirkwood this weekend, along with Amazon Web Services.
  • Andretti Global, Team Penske and Arrow McLaren had eight of the top 12 times on Friday.
  • Chip Ganassi Racing was led by Palou, who was 15th fastest. Dixon was 18th and Kyffin Simpson 20th in the No. 8 Ridgeline Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
  • Next up is practice at 9 a.m. ET on Saturday, followed by NTT P1 Award qualifying at noon. Both sessions will air on FS1, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.