What a difference one week can make. Can Sunday’s good performance in the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear revive Marcus Ericsson’s poor start to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season?
The driver of the No. 28 Delaware Life Honda sincerely hopes so. A week after crashing severely into the Turn 1 SAFER Barrier on the first lap of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, the experienced driver in his debut season with Andretti Global took an essential first step toward regaining relevance in this championship.
Ericsson’s second-place performance on the nine-turn, 1.645-mile downtown street circuit was not only his best finish of the season, but also his first opportunity to win a race since losing the 2023 “500” to Josef Newgarden on the final lap. Another lap in the Motor City event could have given Ericsson the chance to pass Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon for the win.
Ericsson’s last series race victory came at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg by RP Funding at the start of the 2023 season. His spirits were raised on Sunday simply by being in the lead group when it counted the most. In the first five races of this year, he had only finished fifth once, with an average result of 19.0.
“It was very big,” Ericsson said about the result. “After everything we went through in May, it was quite difficult mentally. I’m new to the team and want to establish myself as a top driver. “That is why they hired me.”
The month of May could not have gone any worse for the No. 28 group. Ericsson crashed in Turn 4 during practice, hitting the outside SAFER Barrier before spinning into the inside wall and the barrier that separates pit road from the front straightaway. The team chose to return to action with a backup car, and Ericsson narrowly managed to secure one of the 33 starting slots.
Seconds into the race, rookie Tom Blomqvist spun his Meyer Shank Racing machine at Turn 1, giving Ericsson no time to take the necessary evasive action. Ericsson collided with the outside wall nose first, effectively terminating his day as soon as it began.
“That Month of May was draining because we had to work so hard, and we got so little (out of it),” he stated. “(It) felt like I aged probably five years during that month.”
Ericsson landed in Detroit with a team that had decided to renew its efforts. He had finished sixth in the standings the previous three seasons with Chip Ganassi’s team, so being 19th after Indy was unfamiliar and unwelcome ground for the 33-year-old Swedish driver. That is not Andretti Global’s standard, either.
“We just had to do a reset,” Ericsson explained. “We needed to believe in what we were doing.
“You can either lie down and be sorry for yourself, or you can get up and work hard, prepare yourself, dig deep, and deliver. I believe that’s what we determined for the (No. 28) group. We were going to Detroit, have a nice weekend, and get our season back on track. Yes, it was the chat.
“We worked hard all week to prepare for this race. “I’m glad it paid off.”
According to Ericsson on NBC Sports, this is now “2024 2.0” for the squad.
Thus far, so good. Ericsson qualified ninth, dodged the problems of the eight-caution, 100-lap street war, made the correct decision to stay off the rain tires, and made his final pit stop on lap 65. He never fell out of the top five in the final third of the race, passing teammate Kyle Kirkwood and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong for position in the final 13 laps to secure his first podium result since last year’s “500.”
“I think we were strong all weekend,” he stated. “The 28 (crew) and the entire (Andretti Global) team gave us very, really nice cars, and I’m very grateful for that.
“The Delaware Life automobile was very strong out there today. We had such a fast pace. “One more lap, and we might have won.”
Ericsson moved up five spots in the rankings, to 14th. He is only 20 points away from being ranked tenth. He’s not where he wants to be yet, but Sunday was a step in the right direction.
