Kyle Kirkwood beats Palou to win Arlington GP and take IndyCar points lead
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Kyle Kirkwood delivered a statement drive to win the Inaugural Grand Prix of Arlington
The Florida native’s relentless pace helped him overcome early issues by his pit crew, chasing down and passing reigning and four-time IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou with 16 laps to go en route to his first win of the season.
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Kirkwood, who started seventh in the #27 Andretti Global Honda, bested Palou’s #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda with a race that finished under caution around the 2.73-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit. It’s the sixth win of Kirkwood’s career. The result also gives Kirkwood the championship lead for the first time in his career.
“Oh my gosh, that was so incredible,” Kirkwood said. “Man, did we have some pace. … They gave me the tools today. It’s because of this race car that we won today, because of teamwork. 1-3-4 for Andretti is absolutely incredible. We’re just so stacked here. And so stoked. Hats off to these guys, we’re going to celebrate well tonight.”
Will Power, Kirkwood’s teammate, claimed third to take the final spot on the podium.
Marcus Ericsson was fourth to give Andretti Global a 1-3-4 result. Arrow McLaren’s Pato O'Ward was fifth.
Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist finished sixth on the road, however a post-race penalty for jumping the final restart puts him back to 20th in the final running order.
The late penalty brings Team Penske’s David Malukas to sixth, Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard, seventh, six-time IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon finished eighth in his #9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, ahead of ECR’s Alexander Rossi in ninth and Marcus Armstrong 10th.
Kirkwood, Palou, and Power each led 16 of the 70 laps, with Ericsson out front for 15. There were eight lead changes among five drivers.
The Race
Pole-sitter Ericsson led the field to the alternate start line on the backstretch, with the following lap seeing contact behind as Christian Lundgaard spun after contact from rookie Mick Schumacher. The race stayed green as Lundgaard got going again after dropping to 23rd.
Meanwhile, a tire puncture found during the warm up laps led to Marcus Armstrong with a delayed pit on Lap 2 - satisfying the two-lap requirement before swapping for another set of fresh soft tires.
The opening five laps saw Ericsson’s lead hold at 0.6s over Palou, with Power in third at 1.2s behind.
Palou began reeling in and stalking Ericsson, pulling to within 0.3s of the race lead as a rotation of pit stops happened for several drivers opting for a three-stop option.
The top five through 10 laps were Ericsson, Palou, Power, O’Ward, and Kirkwood.
Ericsson was able to put a sizable gap on Palou, widening to a 1.6s lead by Lap 12.
Ericsson and Palou both pitted from the front on Lap 16, which saw an error on the right-front by Ericsson’s crew and fell behind the Spaniard. Both drivers traded worn alternates for a fresh set of the softer compound. Power assumed the race lead, with Rosenqvist, who started on a set of the harder primaries, in second.
Rosenqvist took the lead on Lap 19, but pitted the next lap and switched to a set of fresh alternates. Power reassumed the lead and pitted on Lap 23. However, it was another pit road gaffe by Andretti Global as Power endured a delayed release after Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Louis Foster was coming in.
Moments later, Newgarden attempted to make an inside pass on Malukas in Turn 3, but the two made contact. As a result, Newgarden spun and fell to 20th while Malukas continued on ninth.
With the cycle of pit stops complete, Palou took over the race lead, followed by Ericsson, O’Ward, Kirkwood, and Rosenqvist.
Ericsson and Kirkwood both pitted on Lap 27 to go, relinquishing second and fourth, with both trading worn softs for a set of used primary tires. Palou and O’Ward pitted the following lap as both changed to hard tires, promoting Rosenqvist to the lead.
Rosenqvist maintained the lead until he pitted on Lap 35, and took on another fresh set of softs. Power assumed the race lead, with a 6.5s advantage over Palou. Kirkwood managed to pass his teammate Ericsson entering Turn 10 to take over fifth, but behind Palou on the strategy.
Schumacher spun in Turn 1 on Lap 39 after contact with Newgarden, who was exiting the pits. Despite the incident, the race remained green.
Power, rolling the dice on a two-stop strategy, held a 4s lead over Palou, with Kirkwood 9.2s behind with 30 laps to go. Palou cut the gap down to under 1s three laps later.
After an extended stint on the softer tires, Power finally pitted from the lead with 25 laps to go. Palou took over the lead, with Kirkwood trailing by 4s. Power came out in fifth, behind Ericsson in third and O’Ward in fourth.
Kirkwood ran a 1m34.6679s lap on Lap 47 - the fastest lap of the race to that point - and cut down Palou’s lead to 3.3s. Meanwhile, Ericsson pitted from third on Lap 48.
Palou and Kirkwood dove to pit lane on Lap 49, with both staying on the harder primaries. The gap between the two trickled down to 2s as Palou cycled back to the lead with Kirkwood in tow.
With 17 laps to go, Kirkwood was within 0.3s of Palou for the race lead.
Kirkwood made a late dive on Palou in Turn 14 and took the race lead with 16 laps to go.
After taking over the lead, Kirkwood didn’t relent and built a gap of over 2s on Palou through the next five laps. With 10 to go, Kirkwood reset the fastest lap of the race to 1m34.4376s.
The first caution came out with four laps to go after ECR’s Christian Rasmussen was stopped in Turn 1 near the exit of pit road.
The restart set up a one-lap shootout, with Kirkwood getting away clean from Palou. The caution returned moments later after Nolan Siegel and Romain Grosjean came together and were stuck in Turn 14.
Kirkwood coasted around to collect the win, ahead of Palou and Power.
Read Also: Official race results: 2026 IndyCar Grand Prix of Arlington
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