Kirkwood heads Palou in second Arlington GP practice

The second practice session at the Java Grand Prix of Arlington got under way early Saturday morning in cool Texan air and saw two of IndyCar’s supreme street course talents engage in a fastest-lap battle during preparations for this afternoon’s qualifying session.

It was Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood who came out on top with a 1m33.1409s tour of the 14-turn, 2.7-mile circuit in the No. 27 Honda to lead Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou, whose 1m33.5008s lap in the No. 10 Honda stood at the best until Kirkwood carved more than a quarter-second from the time.

Ganassi affiliate Meyer Shank Racing was third with Marcus Armstrong in the No. 66 Honda (1m33.9702s) and then it was the rest of Andretti’s camp as Will Power took fourth in the No. 26 Honda (1m34.0228s) and Marcus Ericsson was fifth in the No. 28 Honda (1m34.0695s). Team Penske’s David Malukas was first among the Chevy-powered drivers with the No. 12 car (1m34.3889s) to close the top six.

The opening 40-minute session went live just past 8:30am local and after five minutes of running, Ericsson was the first to set a representative time at 1m36.562s. Nine minutes in and the first contact of the day occurred as Scott Dixon spun and attempted to get pointed the right way just as Will Power rounded the blind corner and the Andretti driver hit the Ganassi driver’s car. 

The collision wasn’t bad; Power’s front wings broke from hitting and flattening the left-rear tire and wheel on Dixon’s machine. Dixon’s car required more time and parts to fix the area where it was struck.

Returning to green with 15 minutes gone, Kirkwood was P1 at 1m35.5291s. Penske’s Scott McLaughlin was P2 at 1m35.5497s. As tires warmed, the leaderboard changed after 22 minutes elapsed as Ericsson returned to P1 at 1m34.9667s and then Kirkwood topped it almost immediately at 1m34.5315s which was best of the event so far.

Palou took the new standard down to a 1m34.3733s on new primary tires with 28 minutes gone.

Down to five minutes to go, Kirkwood went to P1 by a mile with a 1m33.6340s ahead of teammate Ericsson at 1m34.0695s in P1. Penske’s Josef Newgarden triggered a stoppage with light crash in the final minutes as instability over the bumps sent his car into the wall where the front wing and left-front suspension met the wall. Newgarden jumped from the car as it was removed, but the 40 minutes expired and brought and end to the full-field session.

Shifting to the first 12-minute run for half of the entrants, 13 drivers pulled away from pit lane and a red flag was thrown immediately as three people were shown walking across the track and into a runoff area. Once the course was cleared, the first 10 minutes saw Palou set another new standard with a 1m33.5008s lap to take P1 but another stoppage was required after Armstrong spun and stalled. He was able to refire after sitting idle for a brief while as the red flag froze the clock at 2m23s left.

On the overall list for the morning, Palou had Kirkwood in P2 at 1m33.6340s and Armstrong who climbed to P3 before his spin at 1m33.9702s. Drivers had enough time to get one more flying lap but the top three held position as the checkered flag wave and the other 12 drivers prepared to get their 12-minute qualifying preparations under way.

Kirkwood took the opportunity to blitz the field with a 1m33.1409s lap to take P1 and lower the lap record well beyond Palou’s best which held until the checkered flag.

UP NEXT: Qualifying, 2:35pm ET

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