DETROIT – Right now, Taylor Kiel told his teammates, is where we’re going to learn an awful lot about Marcus Ericsson. Right now, the Arrow SPM managing director said, is where the ex-Formula One driver has a chance to show us and the rest of the IndyCar world what he’s capable of.

After driving a clean, smart race, avoiding the mayhem that had collected so many of his competitors throughout a wild Sunday in Detroit, the rookie needed to clear one last hurdle before scoring the first podium of his IndyCar career. Essentially, he needed to survive.

After fellow rookie and Swedish import Felix Rosenqvist’s crash caused a late red flag, Ericsson was staring down yet another high-intensity restart. But this one was going to be slightly different. With just five laps to go, the field was going to be barreling down on him, ready to unleash hell to climb up the grid. Making Ericsson’s situation even more precarious was that he was situated second, sandwiched between a pair of IndyCar legends in Scott Dixon and Will Power.

Considering the gravity of the situation and how hectic the race had been up to that point, it’d have been easy for any driver — especially an IndyCar newcomer — to lose his nerve.

But Ericsson didn’t. While he didn't have anything for Dixon, he kept Power and the rest of the field at bay and drove the final five laps without incident, bringing home not only his first podium but the first for Arrow SPM since Robert Wickens’ third-place finish last year at Toronto.

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“For him to hold his own and hold serve and bring home second was a huge victory on a lot of fronts for him,” Kiel proudly said. “Marcus has plenty of skill. He’s shown it all over the world. He just needed the opportunity to showcase it here. Finally, he’s done that, and I think there’s going to be more to come for him for sure.”

For Ericsson, the podium was a long time coming. A long, long time, he laughed. Ericsson hasn’t stood on a podium of any sort since 2013 after a race in Abu Dhabi during his GP2 days.

“That's been an extremely long time,” Ericsson said with a chuckle. “I missed that a lot, that feeling. Then to be up there with two legends like Scott and Will, to run with these guys, running behind Scott Dixon, Indy last week I was running with Scott. You just learn so much running behind these guys because they are so experienced, good drivers, doing the right things.

"Obviously sharing the podium with Scott and Will was a special moment for sure."

The result also offered Ericsson and the No. 7 team a little bit of redemption. They've been chasing success all season only to have it ripped away by either a fluky mechanical problem or a stupid mistake.

Despite some sterling racing in his debut at St. Petersburg and a great qualifying spot at the IndyCar Grand Prix, neither ended with a top-10 finish.

"It's been one of those years where we've had pretty much every weekend good pace, but for some reason there's always been something that's happened," said Ericsson, whose only top-10 finish before Sunday was a seventh at Barber Motorsports Park. "I think the pace we've shown all the way through, the results were going to come. I'm just really happy it did today because I think we deserved that. The team did deserve that because they've done an amazing job all year."

Up next for Ericsson is yet a monster challenge that goes by the name of Texas Motor Speedway. The track has been known to invite peril, and Kiel is eager to see what his rookie will make of it.

Fortunately, Ericsson won't be going in completely clueless to the challenges of the race in No Limits, Texas. He tested there recently, though the goal at the time was simply to get through his rookie evaluation ahead of the Indianapolis 500. To Ericsson's credit, he survived the treacherous 500, finishing 23rd despite a pit road incident that nearly derailed his day.

Kiel was happy to see he and the No. 7 crew bounce back at the 500, but now he wants to see them thrive at a superspeedway. Texas and Indianapolis are two different beasts, but Kiel thinks that with a little oval experience and this podium in his pocket, Ericsson is poised for a good result Saturday night.

"I’m excited for him to get back there and see how he handles close wheel-to-wheel, side-by-side superspeedway action," Kiel said. "Texas can get hairy, and it requires absolute focus for the entire distance of the race. It’s going to test him like he’s never been tested before. He’s prepared for it, though. And we’ll give him a great car and a great shot to showcase his talent once again."

Follow IndyStar Motorsports Insider Jim Ayello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram: @jimayello.