Four takeaways from Kyle Kirkwood's victory in inaugural Grand Prix of Arlington
- Jeffrey Hrunka
- Mar 15
- 3 min read
Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor
Once Kyle Kirkwood passed Alex Palou with 16 laps to go, he didn’t look back, holding the four-time champion for the inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington Grand Prix victory. Kirkwood capped off a dominant weekend by Andretti Global, as the team led 47 laps with all cars finishing inside the top four.
"I passed Palou, which is a very rare thing to say, in a race” Kirkwood said. “It was all or nothing. He was so good in 4-5-6-7-8-9 section, that whole tight and twisty bit it was so hard to get to his gearbox… it put me in a position where we were good on the straights, more trimmed them him. Just had to do a bit of a late lunge and surprise him.”
An important off week for Alex Palou
After Alex Palou, driver of the No.10 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevorlet, won five of the opening six races last season, it was going to be hard to see anyone take his crown at the top of the driver standings. It was a feat he held for nearly two years before crashing out at Phoenix Raceway in the GoodRanchers 250.
It's rare that someone wins a straight-up on-track duel with Palou, with the last instance being at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, where Scott Dixon, driver of the No.9 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevorlet, passed Palou after he went off course into the grass. However, Kirkwood was able to beat Palou on straight-up pace and without the Spaniard making a mistake.
The real testament to this statement will be in two weeks' time at Barber Motorsports Park, where Palou has won twice and stepped on the podium three times.
Andretti Global will be a force to be reckoned with
This weekend marked several firsts for Andretti Global. After Will Power, driver of the No.26 wrecked in the first two races of the season, he earned his first poduim with a third-place finish. Marcus Ericsson cemented this momentum with his first career pole to open the weekend, and backed it up with leading the opening 16 laps before losing the lead off of pit stops. He rallied back for a fourth-place finish.
While they will need to see more weekends with these type of results before they can be called a championship contender, having two drivers inside the top-10 in points, including Kirkwood’s three straight top-5s to open the year, after second and fourth-place finishes at Phoenix and St. Petersburg, respectively, show promise in the early going this year.
Nolan Siegel is running out of time
It’s difficult to continue to make a case for Nolan Siegel, driver of the No.6 Arrow McLaren Chevorlet, in his second full season with Arrow-McLaren. While his teammates Pato O’Ward, driver of the No.5 Chevorlet, and Christian Lundgaard, driver of the No.7 Chevorlet, battle for wins and podiums, he consistently runs in the top-20, having only three career top-10s in 29 starts.
A last wreck on the Streets of Arlington with Romain Grosjean, driver of the No.18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda, resulting in a 24th-place finish, makes it harder to defend his performances.
INDYCAR needs more high-speed street courses
High speed and heavy braking have been the recipe for success in the creation of the Arlington Grand Prix's first visit to Arlington. Not only were there eight lead changes, including an on-track pass for the lead between Alex Palou and Kyle Kirkwood, but unlike street courses such as St. Petersburg or Detroit, it already had facilities and concourses from AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Stadium for fans to use.
If this weekend provided any ideas for future races on the IndyCar schedule, it's to return to these billion-dollar stadiums that already have ample room, track design, outside the track, but provide room for extensive fan activity and hospitality.
INDYCAR Java House Grand Prix of Arlington Results:
Kyle Kirkwood #27 - (WINNER)
Alex Palou #10 -0.314s
Will Power #26 -3.586s
Marcus Ericsson #28 -4.913s
Pato O’Ward #5 -5.934s
David Malukas #12 -7.448s
Christian Lundgaard #7 -8.75s
Scott Dixon #9 -9.832s
Alexander Rossi #21 -10.708s
Marcus Armstrong #66 -12.489s
Scott McLaughlin #3 -13.889s
Caio Collett #4 (R) -14.744s
Louis Foster #45 -16.203s
Rinus Veekay #76 -16.868s
Josef Newgarden #2 -18.754s
Dennis Hauger #19 (R) -21.293s
Santino Ferrucci #14 -22.289s
Graham Rahal #15 -24.734s
Kyffin Simpson #8 -27.629s
Felix Rosenqvist #60 -33.605s
Sting Ray Robb #77 -1 lap
Mick Schumacher #47 (R) -1 lap
Romain Grosjean #18 -2 laps (DNF)
Nolan Siegel #6 -2 laps (DNF)
Christian Rasmussen #21 -4 laps (DNF)
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES will head to Barber Motorsports Park in two weeks for the first road course race of the season. They hit the racetrack on Sunday, March 29, at 1:00 pm for the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix on FOX.
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