Iowa Speedway Race Report: Tire Failures Plague Andretti Team
At Iowa Speedway, tire issues dominated the weekend’s IndyCar doubleheader, particularly for the Andretti Autosport team. A right-front tire failure led to significant incidents during Race 2 for drivers Marcus Ericsson and Colton Herta. Though Kyle Kirkwood’s No. 27 Honda finished without incident on Sunday, his teammates were not as fortunate, underscoring ongoing challenges for the team.
Marcus Ericsson commented on the unexpected nature of the failures, stating, “It’s unfortunate. The problem is that you don’t really feel anything in the car – you’re just driving like normal, and then it happens.”
Colton Herta mirrored this sentiment, expressing frustration over a disappointing season marked by mechanical issues: “It’s not been fun this season to keep going out like this.”
In response to the consecutive failures in the same tire location, Andretti COO Rob Edwards revealed that an internal investigation is underway to ascertain potential links in suspension settings. “Clearly, all three cars had similar problems so there’s some commonality," he explained. "Before the test conducted two weeks ago, we had had no issues. The changes made since, including tire pressures and camber adjustments, seem to have triggered these problems.”
Notably, competitor Ed Carpenter Racing had previously redesigned their right-front tires following a similar failure during a test. This weekend also saw a field-wide increase in maximum recommended tire pressures, reflecting heightened concerns about tire integrity.
Edwards concluded with a commitment to rectifying these issues before the upcoming Toronto race: “Gonna go and get ready for Toronto and hopefully we can bounce back.”
