Andretti working to address pitstop issues ahead of Barber

Andretti Global had a reality check last week during IndyCar's Grand Prix of Arlington, where all three of its car faced delays on pit lane that put their collective success in jeopardy.

Thanks to the extreme speed produced by race winner Kyle Kirkwood, third-placed Will Power and fourth-placed Marcus Ericsson, the issues on pit lane were mitigated. But the team had plenty of problems to analyze after the race and try to solve ahead of this weekend’s Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park.

Ericsson was the first to suffer, as an issue with the tire change on his right-front wheel was slowed by a wheel nut problem that allowed Alex Palou – who pitted at the same time from second place – to leave with the lead.

Kirkwood was the next to find adversity when his right-rear tire change went awry with another wheel nut issue that left his No. 27 Honda sitting idle for many seconds.

Power also lost time when his No. 26 Honda was released from its first pit stop into the path of Louis Foster and had to come to a stop to avoid hitting the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda.

Ericsson’s next stop was better than the first, but he also lost time as the No. 28 Honda sat motionless for a moment after the service was complete, and Kirkwood’s subsequent stops involved more delays with dropped or lost wheel nuts on the right-rear tire changes.

As much as it was a day to forget, team principal Ron Ruzewski says it was a big learning opportunity for everyone involved.

“There was essentially three problems, and one gentleman had three problems on the same car, and the other two issues were similar but different problems. There was the commonality of wheel nuts, but three different sets of circumstances,” Ruzewski told RACER.

“I can't speak on how they've done it in the past, but the approach I've taken with our group here is, I treat it just like a car issue: collect all the information, propose a plan of action, and implement a plan of action.”

Andretti’s pit crews were among the fastest and most consistent among all IndyCar entries at St. Petersburg and Phoenix, which made the mounting problems at Arlington stand out from an otherwise excellent early body of work in 2026.

In one sense, the timing of the compounding issues could be a blessing as Ruzewski and the pit crews were able to review the footage from each stop, break down the matters that arose, and apply intended improvements for Barber. Riding high with pit stop performances following the first two races was certainly justified, but Arlington revealed the need for more work to be done at an early stage of the season when those solutions can hopefully pay off for the rest of the year.

“For me, it was about understanding what I thought I knew, and Arlington was a bit of a learning exercise for me to see some things I didn’t fully grasp yet,” said Ruzewski, who joined Andretti from Team Penske at the start of the year.

“You need to understand what the processes are here, and then maybe interject in those processes to what can be done better. And then sit down from the human side of it and understand what the issues were.

“Obviously all teams have video and do analysis to understand what the problems are. Were they isolated problems? What could have been done to prevent those problems? What can we be working on, as far as drills, independent of the equipment, to ensure that these problems don't happen? How do you put your best foot forward?”

Rather than rush to make personnel changes, Ruzewski’s approach to the situation centers on working with the pit crews to overcome the problems they experienced at Arlington.

“We have to stand behind our people and just continue to refine the processes,” he said. “If issues continue to crop up on the human side of it, then obviously you have to look at what's the right thing to do there. But until we cross that bridge, I think we just continue to look at how can be better, and what can we improve, and what processes can we have in place to not have any issues.”