Andretti Global’s Kirkwood sweeps Streets of Long Beach
Kyle Kirkwood celebrates after winning the 50th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Photo by Joe Skibinski
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
Alex Palou, beware! Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood has emerged as a bona fide NTT IndyCar Series championship contender, courtesy of a near-perfect weekend on the famed Streets of Long Beach.
Kirkwood mastered a fascinating afternoon of tire strategy and flat-out speed to win the 50th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, ending Palou’s two-race win streak to start the 2025 INDYCAR season.
Kirkwood earned his second Long Beach win from pole position in the last three years, driving the No. 27 PreFab Honda to a 2.6859-second victory over runnerup Palou in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Kirkwood also won domestic open-wheel racing’s premier street event in 2023, his first NTT P1 Award and series victory.
Kirkwood and teammate Colton Herta began the weekend by locking-out the two-car front row during Firestone Fast Six qualifying Saturday. “When you’re in an Andretti Global car at Long Beach, you know you’re going to be quick,” said Kirkwood, alluding to the combined six event victories forged by series superstars Mario and Michael Andretti at the Southern California venue.
“We controlled the race, even from practice,” said Kirkwood, a 26-year-old native of Jupiter, Fla. “Really good qualifying, amazing race, amazing strategy. It was just execution all across the board that won us that race because if Palou was in front, he would have beat us, for sure. This was a track-position race here today, without any yellows.”
Kirkwood led 46 of 90 laps/177.12-miles in the second consecutive caution-free race this season. It was the first NTT IndyCar Series event run without a yellow flag on the iconic 1.968-mile/11-turn temporary circuit and its unyielding and close concrete walls since 2016.
Christian Lundgaard of Denmark finished third in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet after passing Felix Rosenqvist’s No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing in Turn 1 for the final podium position with five laps remaining. Sweden’s Rosenqvist placed fourth, as the top four finishers also hold the same spots in the point standings. Two-time Long Beach winner Will Power of Australia completed the top-five in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.
Three-time/reigning series champion Palou, who started third, fell short of becoming the first INDYCAR driver to win the opening three races of the season since Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon, a six-time series champion from New Zealand, did so in 2020. But Palou’s trademark consistency helped him retain the championship lead by 34 points (142-108) over new runner-up Kirkwood.
“You never feel amazing when you finish second, but honestly, the No. 27 car and Kyle, they were amazing all weekend. Super-fast!” said Palou, a native of Spain. “I tried my chances but we couldn’t really make it work. I had a really bad start on my side, and that kind of put us on the back foot. But we did the best we could. Amazing to be here second, but hopefully next year we can just improve one step.”
The race quickly became a contest of dueling strategies between Firestone’s Firehawk primary and alternate tires. INDYCAR rules require teams to use both tire compounds for at least two laps per race, and many drivers who started on the grippier but less durable alternate tires shed them within the first 10 laps for the more durable primary compound.
Kirkwood and Palou were on the dominant strategy, as Palou pitted after Lap 6 and Kirkwood Lap 7 to get on the black-sidewall tires. It became clear through the next fuel and tire cycles that Kirkwood and Palou were the two fastest drivers on-track, as strategists from each team kept tabs on each other, ensuring no missed chances to pounce.
The race’s true flashpoint occurred on Lap 66 of the scheduled 90. Palou made his final pit stop at the end of Lap 64, taking a final set of Firestone primary rubber. Kirkwood did the same at the end of Lap 65, and Palou was right on his gearbox on hotter, grippier tires when Kirkwood exited the pits at the start of Lap 66.
Kirkwood stared down intense pressure on his out-lap from Palou, who never got close enough to make a move for the lead. Kirkwood then took the lead for good on Lap 69 when Kyffin Simpson _ one of only six drivers to start the race on primary tires _ pitted from the lead in the No. 8 Journie Rewards Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Simpson, a native of the Cayman Islands, was off-sequence on pit strategy from the drivers who started on the alternate tire. That was the last of nine lead changes, the most for the series at Long Beach since 2012.
Lundgaard led 26 laps _ second to only Kirkwood _ despite starting 12th and using the less-popular strategy of starting on primary tires. His strong result came after Arrow McLaren mechanics worked overtime to rebuild his car after Lundgaard crashed Saturday in qualifying.
“This one is dedicated to the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet crew, as we had to rebuild the car,” Lundgaard said. “I tubbed the car in qualifying and this is to them.
“I was on Lap 42 and saw that I had 109 seconds left of (push-to-pass)) overtake. Then, I forgot about it, and then it ended up paying dividends at the end. Felix Rosenqvist was being nice in Turn 1 but I’m just proud of the team. With the work they all put in (Saturday), I told them that I’ll get them a couple of beers when we got home next week. But getting them a trophy is good, too.”
Lundgaard also noted the passing of Jon Edwards, a longtime Hendrick Motorsports media and public relations expert who accompanied current NASCAR Cup Star Kyle Larson to Indianapolis Motor Speedway during his one-off open-wheel ride with Arrow McLaren at the 2024 Indianapolis 500. Edwards died on Thursday, April 11, at the age of 52.
“While we may have missed a bit on strategy in some ways today, Christian brought home a podium,” Arrow McLaren Team Principal Tony Kanaan said. “We raced for Jon Edwards today, a dear friend, and hopefully we can continue to keep improving going forward.”
Edwards was paired with HMS Vice Chairman Jeff Gordon throughout his Hall of Fame NASCAR Cup Series career. Working in and around the company since the mid-1990s, Edwards officially joined Hendrick Motorsports in 2021 and was promoted to director of racing communications the following year. Most recently, Edwards worked with Larson, who won Sunday’s Food City 500 Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward finished 13th after starting ninth in the No. 5 Chevrolet. “It was just a very disappointing race for us,” said O’Ward, a native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio. “The highlight of the weekend remains being the fans. Everybody came out to support us and cheer for me and the team.” Sunday’s finish dropped Pato from second to sixth in the standings after Round 3 of the 17-race series.
Santino Ferrucci salvaged his weekend with an 11-place finish for Waller, Texas-based A.J. Foyt Racing after starting 27th and last on the grid.
“A pretty awesome day, considering we started last and yesterday was the opposite,” said Ferrucci, a resident of Dallas and driver of the No. 14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet. “Our first stint was awesome, followed up by a really solid green (tire) stint, and yeah, that kind of sealed the race for us. Engineering did a great job on strategy. We chose the right tire for our car, and the mechanics did a phenomenal job getting the car in and out of pit lane quick and efficient.
So, all-in-all, I mean, the day couldn’t have gotten much better than what it did for the Sexton Properties crew.”
Meanwhile, teammate David Malukas placed 17th after starting 10th in the No. 4 Foyt Racing Chevrolet.
“We statistically went on the strategy that, percentage-wise, was in our favor,” Malukas said. “And of course, out of the how many simulations _ 40,000 or 100,000 _ the five that ended up being ‘no yellows’ was the one that happened today. So we chose the safe route and it just didn’t play-out. If you think of everybody being on the same strategy as we did, we only lost one position in the end, which I think is a little bit of time in pit stops. We’re gonna have to look at the data and see where that time is being lost.
“But those other six cars that went primaries, they filtered forward because they were on the better strategy, which gave us that P17. It looks really rough on paper and it seems like we lost a lot of ground, but according to people in those same strategies we just lost one position. Still not a perfect race, but it looks a lot worse than what it was. We just need to put our heads down and figure out what’s the problem in the pit lane, figure out what time we’re losing there and other than that, it’s been a good race for us.”
Series teams are scheduled to head to the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway for an Open Test April 23-24 as teams prepare for the 109th edition of the Indianapolis 500 on May 25.
Next up on the schedule is the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix on Sunday, May 4, on the natural-terrain road course at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala. FOX Sports will televise the race starting at 2:30 p.m. (EDT).
Results of the 50th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach NTT IndyCar Series event on the 1.968-mile/11-turn Streets of Long Beach circuit, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
- (1) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 90, Running
2. (3) Alex Palou, Honda, 90, Running
3. (12) Christian Lundgaard, Chevrolet, 90, Running
4. (4) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 90, Running
5. (13) Will Power, Chevrolet, 90, Running
6. (6) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 90, Running
7. (2) Colton Herta, Honda, 90, Running
8. (14) Scott Dixon, Honda, 90, Running
9. (19) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 90, Running
10. (17) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 90, Running
11. (27) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 90, Running
12. (5) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 90, Running
13. (9) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 90, Running
14. (7) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 90, Running
15. (8) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 90, Running
16. (20) Louis Foster, Honda, 90, Running
17. (10) David Malukas, Chevrolet, 90, Running
18. (24) Robert Shwartzman, Chevrolet, 90, Running
19. (25) Rinus VeeKay, Honda, 90, Running
20. (11) Nolan Siegel, Chevrolet, 90, Running
21. (22) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 89, Running
22. (16) Graham Rahal, Honda, 89, Running
23. (18) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 89, Running
24. (23) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 89, Running
25. (21) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 88, Running
26. (26) Jacob Abel, Honda, 88, Running
27. (15) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 88, Running
Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 100.395 mph
Time of Race: 01:45:51.2058
Margin of victory: 2.6859-seconds
Cautions: None
Lead changes: 9 among 7 drivers
Lap Leaders
Kirkwood, Kyle 1 – 6
Armstrong, Marcus 7
Lundgaard, Christian 8 – 27
Dixon, Scott 28 – 29
Kirkwood, Kyle 30 – 34
Lundgaard, Christian 35 – 40
Robb, Sting Ray 41 – 52
Kirkwood, Kyle 53 – 65
Simpson, Kyffin 66 – 68
Kirkwood, Kyle 69 – 90
NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 142; 2, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 108; 3, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren, 96; 4, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 88; 5, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 86; 6, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 80; 7, Colton Herta, Andretti Global, 73; 8, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 69; 9, Will Power, Team Penske, 63; 10, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 58;
11, Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing, 58; 12, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 55; 13, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 51; 14, Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing, 50; 15, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 48; 16, Rinus VeeKay, Dale Coyne Racing, 46; 17, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 45; 18, David Malukas, A.J. Foyt Racing, 42; 19, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 40; 20, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 39;
21, Conor Daly, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 32; 22, Robert Shwartzman, Prema Racing, 30; 23, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 26; 24, Callum Ilott, Prema Racing, 25; 25, Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 25; 26, Devlin DeFrancesco, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 24; 27, Jacob Abel, Dale Coyne Racing, 17.
FOX SPORTS’ 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES BROADCAST COVERAGE SCHEDULE
Sunday, March 2 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, March 23 _The Thermal Club, Thermal, Calif. (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, April 13 _ Streets of Long Beach, Calif. (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)
Sunday, May 4 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala. (FOX, 1:30 p.m.)
Saturday, May 10 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course (FOX, 4:30 p.m.)
Sunday, May 25 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval (FOX, 10 a.m.)
Sunday, June 1 _ Streets of Detroit (FOX, 12:30 p.m.)
Sunday, June 15 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill. (FOX, 3 p.m.)
Sunday, June 22 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis. (FOX, 3:30 p.m.)
Sunday, July 6 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington (FOX, 2 p.m.)
Saturday, July 12 _ Iowa Speedway, Newton, Race 1 (FOX, 5 p.m.)
Sunday, July 13 _ Iowa Speedway, Newton, Race 2 (FOX, 2 p.m.)
Sunday, July 20 _ Streets of Toronto, Canada (FOX, 2 p.m.)
Sunday, July 27 _ WeatherTech Raceway, Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif. (FOX, 3 p.m.)
Sunday, Aug. 10 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway (FOX, 3 p.m.)
Sunday, Aug. 24 _ The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis. (FOX, 2 p.m.)
Sunday, Aug. 31 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn. (2:30 p.m.)
NOTE _ All times Eastern. Dates and times subject to change.
