Honda looks to extend nine-race winning streak at Road America

The streak seemed destined to end last Sunday night at the Bommarito Automotive Group 500. A Chevrolet-powered driver was on pole at World Wide Technology Raceway and had four more members of the Bowtie family helping to lock out the top five. For the majority of the 260-lap race, it was a Chevy celebration that gave every sign of turning into a coronation for General Motors’ flagship brand.

Honda’s seven-race win streak to open the 2025 IndyCar season was in serious jeopardy of meeting a crushing demise at the hands – more aptly, the right foot – of a member of the AJ Foyt Racing, Arrow McLaren or Team Penske programs. And just as it was all but impossible for one engine supplier to be perfect after seven races, the same impossibility stood out at WWTR as Chevy led 203 combined laps thanks to nine drivers who were impressively fast.

And yet, it was Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood who won after taking the lead on lap 256 and holding on until lap 260 to seal a 0.5s win with the No. 27 Honda over Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward. It had the feel of a last-second interception that turned the game on its head, but nobody at Honda Racing USA is complaining about the surprising change of fortune at WWTR that delivered its eighth consecutive win of 2025 and ninth straight dating back to the 2024 season finale at Nashville Speedway.

“First off, congratulations to our teams and all the associates at HRC – both working at the track and at the factory,” said Mark Crawford, HRC’s IndyCar large project leader. “They’ve done a fantastic job and put in a lot of work to put us in this position. The engine today was perfectly suited to the task of running up front and our teams executed flawlessly. Congrats to Andretti Global, Kyle Kirkwood, and the whole 27 team and of course to our entire Honda crew. Eight wins in eight races to start the year is an impressive feat!”

The manufacturer battle resumes on Sunday at Road America’s XPEL Grand Prix, an event won by Penske’s Will Power in 2024 with the No. 12 Chevy. In 2023, it was won by Ganassi’s Alex Palou in the No. 10 Honda. In 2022, it was won by Penske’s Josef Newgarden in the No. 2 Chevy…and like the year to date, there’s no predicting which brand will be celebrating in victory lane at the end of the weekend.