One driver pondered this week that "a little bit of contact" could be what undoes Alex Palou's historic start. Then it happened at the Detroit Grand Prix and gave Andretti Global confidence.

Kirkwood won earlier in the year on the streets of Long Beach and so far this season has been the only driver to win an IndyCar race other than Alex Palou.

Palou has dominated the series since joining Chip Ganassi Racing in 2021, but he had yet to win on an oval — until Sunday afternoon, when he overtook Marcus Ericsson with 14 laps to go and led the rest of the way in the Super Bowl of the series before a sold-out crowd of more than 350,000 and a national-television audience.