Andretti adds Kyle Kirkwood to replace Alexander Rossi in 2023

We have our first confirmed move for 2023 less than halfway through the 2022 IndyCar season. Following IndyStar’s initial report last month, Andretti Autosport confirmed Wednesday the team will welcome Kyle Kirkwood to the No. 27 Honda starting next season, signaling the official exit of Alexander Rossi after seven years with the team.

AutoNation, the No. 27 car’s primary sponsor for the past several years, will say on with Kirkwood in 2023.

“I couldn’t be more excited to return to Andretti Autosport next year and represent AutoNation,” said Kirkwood, who drove to his 2021 Indy Lights title with Andretti and is currently with AJ Foyt Racing. “Andretti Autosport is a place I’ve called home for years past, and I have truly felt like family. I have a ton of loyalty to the team, and it means a lot to have Michael and the Andretti team offer me this opportunity. “

Wednesday’s news follows a months-long public saga from Rossi and Andretti that made it unclear where they stood with each other. In St. Pete, Andretti told reporters that he held an exclusive negotiating window on Rossi’s future, according to the pair’s contract signed in 2019, but that Rossi was free to look around. When pressed on the two’s relationship, Andretti said they were fine personally, but that he “didn’t want to get into it” regarding their working relationship. In Long Beach, amid rumors Rossi had signed with Arrow McLaren SP for his future already, Andretti doubled down and said Rossi couldn’t be negotiating with anyone for some time. The team owner said he wanted Rossi back and hoped he would return, but also noted there may come a time where they agreed it would be best to part ways.

More on Kirkwood’s hire, Rossi’s exit:

It all came to a head at F1’s Miami Grand Prix, where Rossi revealed to IndyStar that he’d decided upon his future home and signed a deal, but couldn’t reveal where. Believed to be related, IndyCar has said a “team related press conference” is scheduled for Friday morning in Detroit, thought to be Rossi’s coming out party for AMSP on Chevy’s home turf.

“This next step for me is going to be a positive one, and I’m excited about what it will bring,” Rossi told IndyStar at the Miami Grand Prix.

Most importantly, Rossi said, his decision regarding his future centered on his ability to compete for a title, which he fell just short of in 2018 and 2019 and hasn’t been realistically in the hunt for since.

“I think IndyCar now has become such a game of minute details. Having a fast car is half the battle, but you’ve got to be in a place where you feel that the small details are all being looked at and adding up to give you the best opportunity every single weekend,” Rossi told IndyStar. “A lot of people talk about what makes a complete racecar driver, and you’ve got to be fast, but then there’s all these different things outside the racecar, and it’s no different for a race team.”

The moves for Rossi and Kirkwood make for one of the earliest confirmed in-season changes in recent memory, putting both drivers, as well as their teams, in a bit of an odd ‘lame duck’ situation, where they’re still obligated to give their teams — and vice versa — 100% effort, while knowing they’re not building upon anything beyond the Laguna Seca finale Sept. 11.

“Having your own future decided and clear is a benefit for you as a human being, just taking that stress out of your daily life and that fear and anxiety about, ‘Oh, what’s tomorrow going to be?'” Rossi told IndyStar. “But at the same time, you have to be focused on what you’re currently doing.

“As much as things may be different in the future, we still have a lot of races left in the season, and it’s very important that everyone is still focused on the tasks and jobs at hand. We have an obligation to ourselves, to the entire organization, our partners, everyone to go out and win races and be competitive. I think this is all great for the person it’s immediately affecting, but it’s hard for the people maybe on the outside looking in because they don’t really know what it all means. In a way, it’s another thing you have to navigate, but I’ll be happy to hopefully not have to answer the question every single weekend.”

Alexander Rossi on IndyCar future:‘Everything for next year has been settled’

Said Kirkwood of his final 11 races with AJ Foyt Racing, who gave him a one-year spark to his IndyCar career after Andretti ran out of room for him last offseason: “I have worked extremely hard this season and will continue to work harder every day for the AJ Foyt team. I want to thank the entire team at AJ Foyt Racing for giving me the opportunity to compete in the IndyCar series. The group on the No. 14 car have been incredible and I am beyond grateful to them for all the amazing experiences we have been able to share together so far this season.”

Kirkwood landed at Foyt last November after Andretti’s hopes to purchase the Alfa Romeo F1 team fell through at the 11th hour. Having already signed Romain Grosjean to replace the departing Ryan Hunter-Reay and with a deal in place to replace James Hinchcliffe with Devlin DeFrancesco, Andretti envisioned he’d need to replace Colton Herta as the young American racing star was headed to Formula 1, had the deal gone through. Had Andretti reached a deal with Longbow Finance, who owns the Alfa Romeo F1 team, Kirkwood would’ve then slid in to replace Herta.

Insider:Andretti tried — and failed — to join F1. It costs him Kyle Kirkwood.

“It’s unfortunate that, at the moment, we don’t have a spot for Kyle,” Andretti said in November. “That’s not to say we won’t for the future. I’m hoping he gets a full-time ride for experience. We’ll see how that goes, and the goal is to get him back in the family one day again.”

One day, as it turned out, took just a few months.

“We really enjoyed having Kyle as part of our Indy Lights team and he’s off to a strong start in IndyCar,” Andretti said in a release Wednesday. “I think he’ll bring a fresh perspective and will be competitive. We are looking forward to help him continue his career growth.

“Alexander has been a great contender for us, and we’ve enjoyed having him as part of the team for seven seasons,” added Andretti. “He’s won races and become a leader in the team, but all careers and all teams evolve, and we’ve mutually decided it’s time for each of us to move on. I have no doubt he’ll have a continued, successful IndyCar career, and we wish him the best. In the meantime, we are all working hard to finish the 2022 season strong.”

Email IndyStar motor sports reporter Nathan Brown at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @By_NathanBrown.