Tag: Andretti Autosport

Kirkwood already building off best career oval result at Iowa

Andretti Autosport’s Kyle Kirkwood showed a lot of promise at the Texas Motor Speedway oval in April and again in May at the Indianapolis 500, but quality finishes were derailed by contact in both races that weren’t a byproduct of driving errors. …

Andretti Autosport’s Kyle Kirkwood showed a lot of promise at the Texas Motor Speedway oval in April and again in May at the Indianapolis 500, but quality finishes were derailed by contact in both races that weren’t a byproduct of driving errors.

Combine those two unrewarding outcomes with a rough introduction to IndyCar oval racing as a rookie last year with A.J. Foyt Racing, and the young Floridian had plenty of reasons to feel encouraged by his run to seventh on Saturday at Iowa, his best oval result to date.

The 2021 Indy Lights champion also led the entire Andretti team home, with stablemate Romain Grosjean the closest behind him, 17s back in 11th.

“We learned a lot just now,” Kirkwood said. “Felt like we had really good pace in the stints, which was something that I think was surprising for us. So we were a little bit different than our teammates, and I think we’re all able to build off of that, based on what my pace was, especially at the end of stints. We had a couple of times to where we were just an absolute rocket ship.”

The 24-year-old was strong in the latter stages of the race and wants to see what he and his race engineer Jeremy Milless can find to take the No. 27 Honda closer to the podium in Sunday’s 250-lap closer to the event.

“I want to say our third stint, the No. 27 car was on rails, and we need to go back and look to see exactly what that was, and probably tune on it and get in that window for tomorrow, because that’s when we really made up those positions,” Kirkwood said.

“So we’re going to look into it, see what we can get and roll into the race tomorrow with hopefully a car that’s even better than today.”

Andretti Autosport restructuring IndyCar program for 2024

As part of a plan established by team owner Michael Andretti and his new partners in the team, Andretti Autosport will be changing its approach to how its NTT IndyCar Series team is constructed. The major shift, which will debut in 2024, involves …

As part of a plan established by team owner Michael Andretti and his new partners in the team, Andretti Autosport will be changing its approach to how its NTT IndyCar Series team is constructed. The major shift, which will debut in 2024, involves its fourth entry, the No. 29 Honda, which is currently piloted by Devlin DeFrancesco.

The four-car operation has been in the practice of making at least one of its IndyCar entries available for hire, using funding from drivers and their sponsors to cover the annual costs. Former Andretti drivers Zach Veach with Gainbridge (2018-20) and James Hinchcliffe with Genesys (2021), along with DeFrancesco (2022-23) and his myriad of backers, are the most recent examples of drivers who’ve participated in the series through this opportunity.

With the formation of Andretti Global in 2022 as the parent company to Andretti Autosport, and the sizable investment into Andretti Global spearheaded by Guggenheim Partners CEO Mark Walter and colleague Daniel Towriss, CEO of Group 1001/Gainbridge, a fresh strategy was devised that would — at its earliest opportunity — remove Andretti Autosport from the list of IndyCar teams who compete with funded drivers. That plan is now in motion.

“I don’t think it’s a secret that we’re looking at having four cars and no paying drivers next year,” Andretti COO Rob Edwards told RACER. “What Michael and Dan have talked about is moving away from the paid-ride model to where we’re choosing all drivers.”

As the young and developing DeFrancesco nears the end of his two-year contract with Andretti, the team has been actively pursuing its options to place proven stars in all four of its entries. The No. 29 car, specifically, will have a new driver next season who is hired and paid by the team while relying on funding from within the team’s cadre of sponsors to bankroll the initiative.

More than a decade removed from its last IndyCar championship victory, the new endeavor underscores Andretti’s dedication to resolving the matter by deploying four leading drivers in an effort to return the team to title contention.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]

With its immense resources and the young, race-winning combo of Colton Herta and Kyle Kirkwood signed to multi-year contracts, Andretti continues to attract​​ star-caliber drivers who want to be part of its program.

Among the potential solutions in the IndyCar field, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson has been routinely mentioned as Andretti’s main target for the No. 29 car, and there’s another tier of Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula E talent for the team to consider in the marketplace.

There’s also a lingering question as to whether Andretti will be seeking more than one driver to complete its next roster.

Like DeFrancesco, F1 veteran Romain Grosjean is in the final year of his current deal, and while both sides appeared to be headed towards executing an extension after he produced a pair of poles and back-to-back second-place runs through April, no news has been forthcoming on whether the Swiss-born Frenchman will hold onto Andretti’s No. 28 Honda.

Close to winning more than one race in the opening stages of the season, the 37-year-old has been stuck in an unfortunate downward spiral that’s resulted in an average finishing position of 20.6 since May. Chatter within the paddock suggests the team is taking a wait-and-see approach to retaining Grosjean​​.

For his part, Edwards wouldn’t be drawn on who might be wielding the ​two unsigned ​Andretti entries in question.

“There’s a lot of opportunities and it’s that time of year where everybody talks to everybody,” he said. “Like any team, we’re always looking at where we’re at with drivers, not just for ’24, but also, increasingly, you have to look a lot further ahead to ’25 and ’26.”​

Andretti Autosport just needs to put a whole race weekend together – Herta

Colton Herta, who scored his second straight pole position Saturday at Mid-Ohio, says the most vital thing the No. 26 Andretti Autosport team needs to do is to get everything right on one weekend. Herta, for whom this was an 11th career pole, in …

Colton Herta, who scored his second straight pole position Saturday at Mid-Ohio, says the most vital thing the No. 26 Andretti Autosport team needs to do is to get everything right on one weekend.

Herta, for whom this was an 11th career pole, in four-and-a-half seasons of IndyCar racing, is still seeking his first podium finish of 2023. His most recent disappointment was at Road America, where he took pole and led the majority of the laps, but an early final pitstop left him vulnerable to attack as he saved fuel in his final stint, and fell to fifth.

Since then, Andretti Autosport has replaced his erstwhile strategist Scott Harner – who had himself replaced Colton’s father Bryan Herta on the No. 26 pit stand after the first round of the season – with team COO Rob Edwards. Harner now oversees the No. 29 Andretti car of Devlin DeFrancesco.

Herta used a fresh set of Firestone primary tires to edge Graham Rahal in the resurgent Rahal Letterman Lanigan team by just 0.043s around the 2.258-mile Mid-Ohio course.

“Obviously we picked the right stuff today and had a competitive car, and yeah, I think the tire choice was kind of what set us over,” said Herta. “I think that was the right call.

“We were looking at (the difference between red-sidewall alternate tires and harder black-sidewall primary tires) all weekend. After practice one (switching to reds) didn’t seem like a big enough jump and it got a little bit bigger in qualifying than it was in practice. But we were in a position where we weren’t happy with our first set of (red) tires so we didn’t want to run on them and we didn’t want to run on our second, so we only had one choice, and it kind of made the choice for us, and I think it was the right one.

“I wasn’t sure if (66.3096s) was good enough. It took them like 30 seconds to tell me. Everybody went around again, so it could have gotten bettered. No, it ended up being good enough, and it was a good lap. I think I did pretty good with it.”

Regarding the change in strategist, Herta remarked: “It’s not how I would like to do it. You would want an off-season to prepare with one person, and unfortunately I never got that.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]

“It’s nice that they’re open and willing to making changes, and they take everybody’s feedback, and they look it over. They truly want everybody on the team to do their best… We have the speed, and we just need to put together some race weekends as a whole. Hopefully we can do that.

“Obviously it’s been a struggle to do that pretty much all year. It’s pretty frustrating to be sitting here and having a best result of fourth and not really getting an opportunity at a podium.

“I’m happy that Rob is here. He’s been really good with me on the radio. But it’s not how he is on the radio — it’s all about strategy and what we can do with that. That’s the most important bit.”

Asked how much the tactical blunder at Road America had prompted the strategy change, Herta replied: “I think it had a little bit, but for that stuff, they’re obviously pretty critical on strategists after every race when they’re going over everything and they have their meetings and I’m sure they get drilled pretty good in those meetings if they make a wrong decision.

“But it’s tough. It’s just like the drivers; you’ve got to do it, and you’ve got to do it every time, and if you can’t, it sucks, but that’s the way it is.”

On the subject of a season of miscues, Herta remarked: “You can look back and say we could have done better here and there, but the best thing is just to learn from (the mistakes). I feel like I’ve been saying that a lot this year, just from my end, from everybody’s end. I would love to have just this weekend be super clean, get through, have a podium, hopefully a win — but just have a clean race, clean stops, clean everything, and then try to build on that.”

Presented by:

Herta pips Rahal to Mid-Ohio pole while RLL cars shine again

Andretti Autosport-Honda’s Colton Herta scored his second straight pole position of the IndyCar season, but the talking point of qualifying for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio came from Rahal Letterman Lanigan, who saw Graham Rahal and Christian …

Andretti Autosport-Honda’s Colton Herta scored his second straight pole position of the IndyCar season, but the talking point of qualifying for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio came from Rahal Letterman Lanigan, who saw Graham Rahal and Christian Lundgaard make it into the Firestone Fast Six.

Firestone Fast Six

Alex Palou Palou and Herta elected to attempt their bids for pole position using fresh primary tires, while Graham Rahal started the session on primaries but then pitted for used reds. RLL teammate Lundgaard set a banker lap on used reds – a 66.7805s – then pitted for more used reds.

Rahal produced a 66.3528s to go top, with Palou’s first shot at him falling 0.0638s short. That was enough of a gap for Kyle Kirkwood to slot into second, just 0.0165s adrift from Rahal.

Then Herta spoiled the Ohio party, shaving 0.0432s from Rahal’s time to score his second consecutive pole with a 66.3096s on his primaries an average speed of 122.589mph around the 2.258-mile 13-turn road course.

Still, RLL can be gratified to have their drivers line up second and fifth, split by Kirkwood – who has won here eight times in junior formulas — and runaway points leader Alex Palou.

Q2

Scott McLaughlin took the No. 3 Penske-Chevy straight out on used alternate tires, but his 67.1532s left him behind Colton Herta of Andretti Autosport, Christian Lundgaard of RLL and Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing, who set their initial times on primary tires.

Once everyone pitted for fresh reds, Graham Rahal produced a 65.9336s, although he was swiftly edged off top spot by teammate Lundgaard. The pair of them were bumped by Colton Herta’s 65.8576s but fell no further so graduated to the Firestone Fast Six.

So too did Kirkwood, Dixon and Alex Palou, but surprisingly neither Will Power nor teammate McLaughlin got through and will start from the fourth row, the highest Chevrolet-powered cars. Row five is all Swedish, Marcus Ericsson ahead of Felix Rosenqvist.

Q1 Group 2

Colton Herta produced a 66.2999s on Firestone primaries, with Scott Dixon, Will Power and Kyle Kirkwood drawing within a tenth of him before pitting for alternates.

Christian Lundgaard of Rahal Letterman Lanigan was the first to set a fast lap on reds, the Dane clocking a 65.8933s, an average of 123.363mph, although he had a slight slip-up on his next attempt at a flyer.

Kirkwood put Andretti Autosport on top with a 65.7240s, closely followed by Dixon, Herta, Lundgaard, Power and Rahal. Thus RLL had all three cars into Q2.

Surprise eliminations at this stage included Romain Grosjean, 0.156s behind Rahal, and Ganassi’s Marcus Armstrong was a surprising 0.567s off top spot.

Q1 Group 1

Helio Castroneves went straight out on alternates at the start of the session, in the sole Meyer Shank Racing-Honda to take part in qualifying, following Simon Pagenaud’s monstrous crash this morning.

But it was Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren-Chevrolet who first ducked under 67s, with a 66.9058s. However, a huge oversteer moment out of the Keyhole, Turn 2, turned into a spin to the inside, where he stalled and brought out the red flag. That cost him his best time, and meant he could take no further part in qualifying, so last year’s polesitter will start Sunday’s race from last.

The first segment continued with just over five minutes remaining, so everyone rejoined the track on their Firestone alternate compounds.

Alex Palou threw down a 66.0357s, and his teammate Marcus Ericsson responded with a 65.9252s to go top and immediately pitted.

Felix Rosenqvist clocked third, ahead of defending race Mid-Ohio winner Scott McLaughlin, but their respective teammates Alexander Rossi and Josef Newgarden missed out. As a sign of Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s improvements, Jack Harvey did get through to Q2, as did David Malukas of Dale Coyne Racing w/HMD.

RESULTS

Presented by:

Arrow McLaren speeds up factory plans by taking over Andretti facility

McLaren Racing’s plans to build a vast new base for its Arrow McLaren NTT IndyCar Series team in Indiana have been waylaid. Rather than move forward with its construction project, the three-car team will make use of the purpose-built Andretti …

McLaren Racing’s plans to build a vast new base for its Arrow McLaren NTT IndyCar Series team in Indiana have been waylaid.

Rather than move forward with its construction project, the three-car team will make use of the purpose-built Andretti Autosport shop in Indianapolis, which will be vacated in the coming years when its massive new Andretti Global headquarters have been completed.

[lawrence-related id=304867]

By purchasing Andretti’s shop, which is approximately three times larger than Arrow McLaren’s current home, it will allow the team to move into the 89,000 square-foot building in 2025, sooner than its previous plans to build from scratch would have allowed.

“I’m excited for the team to have a new home – one that has plenty of space and is fit for purpose as we compete for wins and championships,” said McLaren CEO Zak Brown. “Arrow McLaren has had quick growth over the past year, and this facility not only gives the team the space they need today but what we envision our growth to be in North America in the years to come.”

Andretti Autosport stews on ‘embarrassing’ Indy 500 qualifying

Romain Grosjean knew what he had. It wasn’t enough to dream about being in the Fast 12. He’d settle for 19th. Colton Herta was stymied in 21st. Marco Andretti was angry and answerless in 24th. Devlin DeFrancesco was slowest of the five in 26th. Only …

Romain Grosjean knew what he had. It wasn’t enough to dream about being in the Fast 12. He’d settle for 19th. Colton Herta was stymied in 21st. Marco Andretti was angry and answerless in 24th. Devlin DeFrancesco was slowest of the five in 26th. Only Kyle Kirkwood, the team’s lone race winner this season, was quick, but he was knocked out of the top 12 and will start 15th.

Five Andretti Autosport Hondas, all absent from the group that transfers to Sunday with a chance to run for pole position. This isn’t what any of the quintet had in mind.

“We just don’t have it,” Grosjean told RACER. “The balance stayed decent and we used…the tools and everything but we just don’t got it. It just doesn’t accelerate as well on the straight and there’s nothing we can do about it. We knew 15th to 20th was our position.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]

Herta’s car wasn’t particularly good or bad. It just lacked the most important item required during qualifying.

“We just seemed to be sliding around too much,” he said. “I’m happy with the car. It just didn’t have speed.”

After making a big leap in competitiveness this season, going backwards at the Speedway wasn’t something that seemed possible. Steeped in frustration, Andretti fired both barrels at his family-owned outfit.

“It’s actually embarrassing, to be honest,” Andretti said.

Presented by:

Acura to double IMSA GTP program with WTR and Andretti

Acura Motorsports and Honda Performance Development will expand their presence in 2024 with partner team Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport by adding a second Acura ARX-06 GTP entry to its IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP stable. …

Acura Motorsports and Honda Performance Development will expand their presence in 2024 with partner team Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport by adding a second Acura ARX-06 GTP entry to its IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP stable.

The move, which was expected after Michael Andretti expressed the desire to field a second car in a January interview with RACER, bolsters the GTP field which is expected to have more factory and customer entries on next year’s grid with the arrival of Lamborghini and additional sales of Porsche’s 963.

For the WTR/AA outfit, the strengthened relationship with Acura and HPD will lead to a workforce expansion to run a second 2.4-liter twin-turbo V6-powered prototype and the need to hire more drivers to helm the entry that will run alongside its No. 10 ARX-06 piloted by Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque. Numerous drivers are known to have inquired about the opportunity which should lead to a stampede of interest for the brand and team.

The relationship between Acura and WTR got off to a perfect start in 2021 when the team delivered the manufacturer’s first overall win at the Rolex 24 At Daytona and went on to win two more races on the way to a runner-up finish in the DPi Drivers’ and Teams’ standings.

WTR was the most dominant DPi team of 2022, earning four wins on the way to placing second in the championship behind fellow Acura factory team Meyer Shank Racing. Joined by Andretti Autosport in 2023, the new union finished second at the Rolex 24 and currently holds third in the GTP championship.

Andretti planning European feeder series program

Michael Andretti says his ongoing ambition to bring Andretti Global to the Formula 1 grid is part of a multi-tier plan that would replicate one of his greatest success stories in North America. Through the Indiana-based Andretti Autosport team, the …

Michael Andretti says his ongoing ambition to bring Andretti Global to the Formula 1 grid is part of a multi-tier plan that would replicate one of his greatest success stories in North America.

Through the Indiana-based Andretti Autosport team, the 1991 CART IndyCar Series champion has been among the most prolific entrants in junior open-wheel racing, earning multiple drivers’ and teams’ titles in the USF Championships presented by Cooper Tires and Indy NXT by Firestone.

If Andretti Global is granted entry to F1, he says a new European training ladder would be established using the formula he’s developed to bring the likes of Colton Herta, Pato O’Ward, Kyle Kirkwood and countless others up the ladder to IndyCar.

“We would set up shop over in England where we’re going to have the engineering shop for the F1 team,” Andretti told RACER. “If the F1 deal comes through, I want to do Formula 3 and Formula 2 as well. I want to be in control of bringing our drivers up through the system, because then you know what kind of equipment they have and how they’re being treated.”

While up-and-comers like Oscar Piastri have shone in F2, Andretti feels his team’s approach could more effectively spotlight emerging talent. Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

One of the difficult parts of evaluating next-generation talent comes with understanding the advantages or hinderances a driver experiences within the various teams in open-wheel training categories. As he’s accomplished in USF and NXT, Andretti would like to remove those questions by creating an internal pipeline of his own making.

“It’s hard to judge the drivers coming up through the ranks over there,” Andretti added. “Because if somebody’s got a big pocketbook, they get better treatment than a guy that’s got more talent, but that’s not how we do things in our teams. So that’s a goal I want to set up over there.”

Winners of three of the last four Indy NXT (formerly Indy Lights) championships, Andretti fields four entries this season for returning NXT race winner Hunter McElrea from New Zealand, reigning USF Pro 2000 champion Louis Foster from England, triple W Series champion Jamie Chadwick from the UK, and Ireland’s James Roe.

Grosjean keeps Andretti team rolling with Barber IndyCar pole

Romain Grosjean has a 50-percent pole record so far this year after securing P1 to open the season at St. Petersburg and P1 at Barber Motorsports Park, where the driver of the No. 28 Andretti Autosport Honda will lead the field to green on Sunday …

Romain Grosjean has a 50-percent pole record so far this year after securing P1 to open the season at St. Petersburg and P1 at Barber Motorsports Park, where the driver of the No. 28 Andretti Autosport Honda will lead the field to green on Sunday for the 90-lap contest.

Factoring in teammate Kyle Kirkwood’s pole and eventual win at Long Beach, the Andretti squad has claimed 75 percent of the NTT IndyCar Series poles in 2023, and after losing an engine early in Friday’s lone practice session, the progress made by Grosjean and race engineer Olivier Boisson — despite being behind on time compared to the rest of their rivals — was nothing short of impressive.

“I’ve got a hell of a team,” said Grosjean, who is expected to re-sign with Andretti. “We’re doing such a great job this year, the car awesome. And I’ve got three teammates that I can rely on, so I went [with a baseline setup from them] and from the moment we started quali, I knew I had it.”

Grosjean’s pole lap of 1m05.8396s was challenged on the last lap by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou, who helped Honda to sweep the front row with a 1m05.9130s tour in the No. 10 entry. Team Chevy claimed the second row with Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 with his 1m05.9382s lap and Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, who posted a 1m05.9515s in the No. 3 car as the top four were separated by a scant 0.1119s.

Ganassi’s Scott Dixon captured fifth in the No. 9 Honda with a 1m06.0723s run, and in a welcome turn of fortunes for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Christian Lundgaard took the final spot in the Fast Six with a 1m06.1601s in the No. 45 Honda.

“I told them just before we went out for the Fast Six the worst that can happen [is] we’re going to be sixth,” Lundgaard said. “We finished on the podium at the GP last year starting from sixth, so it’s not too bad of a place today.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]

Beyond the top performers, Barber qualifying was notable for the unexpected misses by some of the series’ top drivers led by a cluster of Will Power, Kyle Kirkwood, Marcus Ericsson and Colton Herta from P11-14.

The opening segment of qualifying featured 13 of the 27 drivers where the six fastest would transfer into the Firestone Fast 12. Those to make it through were led by Josef Newgarden, Grosjean, Alexander Rossi, Kirkwood, Dixon and Rinus VeeKay.

The seven who failed to transfer were led by a disappointed Ericsson (who starts P13), Callum Ilott (P15), David Malukas (P17), Graham Rahal (P19), Helio Castroneves (P21), Sting Ray Robb (P23) and Benjamin Pedersen (P25).

The other half of the opening knockout round pitted 14 drivers against each other, and in the group, the fastest six headed to the Fast 12 were led by Palou, O’Ward, McLaughlin, Lundgaard, Felix Rosenqvist, and Power.

The eight who failed to transfer were led by a frustrated Herta (P14), Simon Pagenaud (P16), Devlin DeFrancesco (P18), Conor Daly (P20), Agustin Canapino (P22), Jack Harvey (P24), Marcus Armstrong (P26) — who lost his two fastest laps for blocking Lundgaard — and Santino Ferrucci (P27), who was unable to turn a competitive lap after struggling with a transmission problem.

The Fast 12 was its usual wild affair as the players in the Firestone Fast Six were led by Grosjean, O’Ward, McLaughlin (who knocked Newgarden out), Palou, Lundgaard and Dixon.

Starting positions seven through 12 were led by Newgarden, Rosenqvist, Rinus VeeKay, Rossi, Power and Kirkwood. VeeKay ran off the track, as did Power, and Kirkwood spun on new tires.

The Fast Six didn’t fail to entertain as Grosjean put up the best lap that stood during the opening shots at pole, and as the sextet went for their final blast around the Barber road course, the order shuffled as O’Ward went to P1 followed by McLaughlin. But Grosjean had more to give and shot to P1, followed by Palou, O’Ward, McLaughlin, Dixon, and Lundgaard.

UP NEXT: Warmup, Sunday, 12pm ET

RESULTS

Grosjean heading towards Andretti contract extension

Romain Grosjean is in the final year of his contract with Andretti Autosport, and according to the Swiss-born Frenchman’s team owner, the driver of the No. 28 Honda is in the frame to receive an extension. Asked if Grosjean’s strong start to 2023 …

Romain Grosjean is in the final year of his contract with Andretti Autosport, and according to the Swiss-born Frenchman’s team owner, the driver of the No. 28 Honda is in the frame to receive an extension.

Asked if Grosjean’s strong start to 2023 with a pole at St. Petersburg, front-running performances at St. Pete and Texas Motor Speedway, and run to second at Long Beach has been enough to earn an invitation to remain in the seat for 2024 and beyond, Michael Andretti was effusive in his praise for the Formula 1 veteran who switched to IndyCar in 2021.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]

“I think so,” Andretti told RACER. “He’s done a 180-degree turnaround on his approach. He’s just a different person this year.”

In switching from Dale Coyne Racing where he spent his rookie season to Andretti Autosport for 2022, few things went as planned for Grosjean alongside new teammates Colton Herta, Alexander Rossi, and series newcomer Devlin DeFrancesco.

Highlights were sparse, with a second-place finish earned at the third round being his only podium visit of the year; placing 13th in the Drivers’ standings spoke to the frequent disenchantment between the driver and team as Herta and Rossi led the way with one race win apiece.

Entering the last season of the two-year deal, Grosjean has been a spark of positivity and speed within Andretti Autosport. It took a little while for both sides to get the best out of each other, but with Grosjean now serving as one of three constant threats to win alongside Colton Herta and Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti is getting what he was looking for when he signed the 37-year-old to the program.

“We talked to him a lot about what he needed to improve, and he’s done just that,” Andretti said. “I couldn’t be happier with what Romain has done this year, with his approach and attitude, and it’s shown in his driving as well. It’s just an awesome story to see the way he’s turned things around. Really happy with him and for him.”

Like Grosjean, DeFrancesco’s two-year contract is up at the end of the season. Andretti acknowledged that funded drivers with a desire to wield a quick IndyCar have been inquiring about the No. 29 Honda’s future availability.

“I think a lot of people would love to be in that seat and have been asking about it,” he said. “But we haven’t made a decision yet on what we’re doing with the 29. We’re going to wait till midyear to make that final decision, so we’re going to have to wait and see.”