By In his first season driving the No. 27 Honda for Andretti Autosport, 24-year-old Kyle Kirkwood won his first IndyCar race on April 16 in Long Beach. Teammate Romain Grosjean finished P2, securing a large haul of points for the Andretti team.
Kirkwood started the weekend with an average result in practice 1 but showed his true pace in practice 2, finishing second with a 1:06.149. The Floridian driver had a flawless qualifying topping the group 1 session ahead of Marcus Ericsson and making it into the Firestone Fast 6 behind Grosjean.
His 1:06.2878 lap in the Fast 6 secured his first IndyCar career pole in just his second season in the sport.
“Our car is on fire this weekend!” said Kirkwood post-race. “Our guys at Andretti Autosport are doing an amazing job…Only my third weekend with the team, and I’m already on pole.”
4/16/2023: Long Beach, CA- During the Long Beach Grand Prix, Kyle Kirkwood led the group and ends up crossing the finish line to place first on Sunday afternoon. Photo credit: Sonny Tapia
When the green flag came out at the start of Sunday’s race, Kirkwood broke away from the pack, keeping his lead heading into turn 1. Helio Castroneves’ crash into the wall at turn 1 caused an immediate yellow flag, but on the lap 4 restart, Kirkwood flew ahead of Marcus Ericsson, and by lap 15, he had built a 1.3372 gap between them.
The pitlane opened up on lap 22 under a yellow flag, causing the majority of the grid to jump into the pits. Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Agustín Canapino, who was down a lap on the leaders, led the pack on the restart until teammate Callum Ilott came out of the pits ahead of him.
Kirkwood got touched twice during the second restart of the race and lost the lead to Josef Newgarden in the No. 2 Hitachi. He made the charge back on Newgarden on lap 36 but couldn’t make a move stick.
4/16/2023: Long Beach, CA- Twisting and turning, Kirkwood led the pack for over half of the race as he makes a turn around turn two during his win at the Long Beach Grand Prix on Sunday. Photo credit: Sonny Tapia
Newgarden made his second pitstop on lap 53, promoting Kirkwood back into the race lead after choosing to stay out for the overcut. After waiting out Grosjean, Kirkwood came into the pits and was able to come out ahead of both Newgarden and Grosjean on cold tires.
Once the rest of the field pitted, Kirkwood was able to regain the lead of the race once more. From lap 56, Kirkwood comfortably held onto his lead with minimal challenges from teammate Romain Grosjean and Chip Ganassi driver Marcus Ericsson, who slowly crept into the podium places in the second half of the race.
“He [team boss Michael Andretti] pretty much told me…you’re gonna be surprised how easy it is to win a race when you’ve already done the hard work, when you’re already up front, when you’re already doing all the right things,” said Kirkwood in the post-race press conference.
Kirkwood becomes the sixth Andretti Autosport driver to win on the streets of Long Beach.
“To have my first win be at Long Beach is something that’s incredible,” said Kirkwood. “I just know that I’m gonna cherish this moment for the rest of my life.”
