Kyle Kirkwood scored his maiden INDYCAR pole at Long Beach. (Photo: Logan Skidan | The Podium Finish)
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Kyle Kirkwood’s genuine arrival in the NTT IndyCar Series came to fruition at Long Beach.
The highly touted Floridian made his presence known during Saturday’s qualifying session for the 48th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, scoring his maiden INDYCAR pole.
Kirkwood’s time of 66.2878 seconds was 0.0375 seconds quicker than reigning Indianapolis 500 pole sitter Marcus Ericsson, who will start alongside him for Sunday’s 85-lap contest.
After dealing with growing pains at AJ Foyt Racing where he retired seven times and finished 24th in points last year, Kirkwood’s confidence blossomed once returning to Andretti Autosport in the offseason, showcasing why many people arguably consider him as Road to Indy’s greatest scholar. Everywhere he has raced, he has been a proven winner.
Although his first two rounds in the No. 27 Honda were not ideal due to incidents, Kirkwood’s performance was there and winning the NTT P1 Pole Award comes a long way, especially at a venue like Long Beach where track position is everything.
“One thing about how car is we needed that second lap. If we didn’t have that second lap, it would have been more of a struggle. I feel like there were a lot of other cars that were able to do it on the first lap. Us not so much. Our car was extremely fast,” said Kirkwood.
“I’m ecstatic, right? Starting in the front of a field in a street course is always super beneficial. That first pole is extremely meaningful to someone. To have it here at Long Beach with such a big crowd is such a cool thing.”
When asked what has been clicking for him during the post-qualifying press conference, Kirkwood reflected on his karting days where his learning experience from it has paid dividends.
“I’m not really sure what’s, but I feel comfortable up against walls. I found that I’ve thrived on it,” said Kirkwood. “That kind of comes from karting. We used to have a karting event called Super Nuts. I’d always do phenomenal there regardless of the equipment I was in.
“I guess that has translated over to INDYCAR now. It’s just stuff that I’ve enjoyed. I feel like I understand the limits of the car very well.”
Kirkwood currently sits 20th in points after two rounds. (Photo: Maddie Skidan | The Podium Finish)
Andretti Autosport owner and 1986 and 2002 Long Beach winner Michael Andretti emphasized how Kirkwood’s otherwise rough rookie campaign at Foyt is part of the learning progress.
Having Kirkwood on his team in his sophomore year has proven to be beneficial for all parties as Andretti was elated to see the 24-year-old on pole.
“He’s the real deal and I’m happy for him. He’s been a pleasure on the team. We’re really excited, really happy for the results. Romain did a great job. Obviously he was on used tires. Kyle was on new tires. He put in a really good lap,” said Andretti.
Ericsson has shown some muscle at Long Beach this weekend, and while he has not topped the sessions compared to Kirkwood and sixth-place starter Pato O’Ward, he said it has been a really good weekend up to this point.
“From the get-go we’ve been fast. Practice yesterday, practice this morning,” said Ericsson.
“Qualifying was a bit hectic with the red flags and stuff going on. Q2, we were on a really good lap, the red came out, we had to go for another set of tires to make sure we could transfer. Didn’t have that sticker set then, which would have been nice.
“Still it was a really good effort. Tied my best qualifying result in INDYCAR, so I’m really happy about that. I worked really hard this winter to improve my qualifying performance. I’ve talked about it a lot, focused a lot on it, worked on it by myself and with my team.
“P4 in St. Pete and P2 here, that’s progress. I’m really happy with that. Going to take the fight with these guys.”
Marcus Ericsson looks to go 2-for-2 on street courses this season. (Photo: Maddie Skidan | The Podium Finish)
Those aforementioned red flags in qualifying proved costly for last year’s Rookie of the Year David Malukas and 2023 rookie contender Marcus Armstrong.
Both racers crashed in separate incidents, marking the end of their sessions. In this case, Malukas and Armstrong will have their work cut out as they will be dealing with heavy traffic. Armstrong will roll off 12th while Malukas starts in 25th out of the 27-car field.
O’Ward was quickest in both practice sessions, but second round of qualifying proved to be a turning point regarding his odds of winning the pole. While he made the Firestone Fast Six, O’Ward’s chances were shot due to the set of tires and wound up sixth.
“We sold ourselves short on that first attempt in Q2, which made us put on a second set of tires to end the session which meant we wouldn’t have a fresh set for Q3. That put us at a disadvantage with some of the other guys, especially Kyle Kirkwood,” said O’Ward.
“In Q3, I was on a good lap, not as good as what Kirkwood threw down. I knew I would have to bring out a mega lap on used tires in order to get Kirkwood. Obviously being a racing driver, I went for it and lost a little bit of time in Turn 9 being a little greedy, but we’re starting sixth tomorrow. We’ll give ourselves a good race car and we’ll see what we can pull off.”
As HAIM’s “I Know Alone” goes, “When Sunday comes, they expect me to shine.”
Kirkwood hopes to shine bright and become the latest first-time INDYCAR winner. At a venue that has only seen five drivers (since INDYCAR began racing at Long Beach in 1984) ever win from the pole., the last man to accomplish this feat was Alexander Rossi in 2018 and 2019.
Drivers who won the Grand Prix of Long Beach from pole position:
- Clay Regazzoni (F1 – 1976)
- Carlos Reutemann (F1 – 1978)
- Gilles Villeneuve (F1 – 1979)
- Nelson Piquet (F1 – 1980)
- Mario Andretti (CART – 1984, 1985 and 1987)
- Al Unser, Jr. (CART – 1989 and 1990)
- Helio Castroneves (CART – 2001)
- Sebastien Bourdais (Champ Car – 2007 and 2008)
- Alexander Rossi (INDYCAR – 2018 and 2019)
Alexander Rossi leading the field into the first turn in 2019, a race he won after leading 80 of 85 laps. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
Kirkwood explained he would rather be in a spot where he has control of the race instead of scratching and clawing his way towards the front.
“It’s quite a lot easier starting from the front than it is mid pack, that’s for sure. You kind of control the race from there, control the pace. Usually you’re only fighting one or two guys that are behind you versus six guys on either end of you. You’re trying to manage the gaps with that,” Kirkwood explained.
“This place gets tough if you’re not in the lead, you don’t have a gap in front of you, because the accordion effect that comes in the last corner can really catch you out.
“It honestly makes my job a lot easier being at the front, given that we need to win the race, saying at the end of the day that is our ultimate goal, to win the race. Being up front is going to make that a lot easier.”
Live coverage of Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach begins on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on NBC. Defending race winner Josef Newgarden rolls off eighth.
48th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Starting Lineup:
- 27 – Kyle Kirkwood
- 8 – Marcus Ericsson
- 28 – Romain Grosjean
- 10 – Alex Palou
- 9 – Scott Dixon
- 5 – Pato O’Ward (fastest in both practice sessions)
- 26 – Colton Herta
- 2 – Josef Newgarden
- 3 – Scott McLaughlin
- 6 – Felix Rosenqvist
- 7 – Alexander Rossi
- 11 – Marcus Armstrong (R) (crashed in Round 2 qualifying)
- 12 – Will Power
- 60 – Simon Pagenaud
- 30 – Jack Harvey
- 06 – Helio Castroneves
- 45 – Christian Lundgaard
- 14 – Santino Ferrucci
- 21 – Rinus VeeKay
- 29 – Devlin DeFrancesco
- 51 – Sting Ray Robb (R)
- 77 – Callum Ilott
- 55 – Benjamin Pedersen (R)
- 15 – Graham Rahal
- 18 – David Malukas (crashed in Round 1 qualifying)
- 78 – Agustin Canapino (R)
- 20 – Conor Daly
