IndyCar: Kirkwood tops rookie oval test as the sun sets in Texas

Sensational rookie Kyle Kirkwood turned a lap of 23.5868s in his #14 AJ Foyt Chevy to lead all six IndyCar rookies testing at Texas Motor Speedway Wednesday.

Kirkwood was the fastest rookie in the season opener in St. Petersburg last weekend, and he is making the AJ Foyt Chevy do things no one expected.   Whether anyone attempts to go faster under the lights tonight remains to be seen, but all the drivers got plenty of laps under their belts today

Kyle Kirkwood. Penske Entertainment: James Black

Callum Ilott in the small Juncos Hollinger team was 2nd quick in his #77 Chevy, just 0.0721s slower than Kirkwood to give Chevy powered cars a 1-2 over the 4 other Honda drivers testing.

Andretti Autosport’s Romain Grosjean’s time from the morning of 23.7047s in his #28 Andretti Autosport DHL Honda held up as the 3rd fastest time. Grosjean is not really a rookie in IndyCar, but because he only ran one oval race last year, he was allowed to test today with the rookies.

Fast man so far, Romain Grosjean, out of car for a lunch break at Texas Motor Speedway. Photo courtesy of Andretti Autosport.

David Malukas in the #18 Dale Coyne Honda turned a fast lap late when the track was cooler to go 4th quick. Malukas turned more laps than all the other rookies, his final lap count at 210

5th fastest #29 Andretti Autosport Honda rookie Devlin DeFrancesco who ended up 0.2267s behind Kirkwood.

Devlin DeFrancesco prepares to test at Texas Motor Speedway Wednesday. Photo Courtesy of Devlin DeFrancesco PR
Devlin DeFrancesco talks to Andretti Autosport COO Rob Edwards at Texas Motor Speedway Wednesday. Photo Courtesy of Devlin DeFrancesco PR

Christian Lundgaard was 6th quick, just 0.31s off the fast time in his #30 Rahal Honda.

Wednesday Rookie Test Times at 6:00pm in Texas

Pos No Name Time Behind Gap Laps Speed No-Tow Speed Engine Team
1 14 Kyle Kirkwood 23.5868 0.000s 0.000s 146 219.784 216.69 Chevy AJ Foyt Enterprises
2 77 Callum Ilott 23.6589 0.0721 0.0721 130 219.114 216.53 Chevy Juncos Hollinger Racing
3 28 Romain Grosjean 23.7047 0.1179 0.0458 152 218.691 218.21 Honda Andretti Autosport
4 18 David Malukas 23.7814 0.1946 0.0767 210 217.985 217.99 Honda Dale Coyne Racing with HMD
5 29 Devlin DeFrancesco 23.8135 0.2267 0.0321 133 217.692 217.49 Honda Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport
6 30 Christian Lundgaard 23.8990 0.3122 0.0855 186 216.913 216.91 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing