Kirkwood outduels Palou for Arlington GP win

Andretti Global did its best to give away the win at the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington, but Kyle Kirkwood, Will Power and Marcus Ericsson wouldn’t be denied as they finished first, third and fourth for the team to sandwich Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou at the 70-lap street racing contest.

Kirkwood lost multiple seconds at both of his pit stops as wheel nuts were dropped on consecutive visits to pit lane, but despite the compounding setbacks, the Floridian tore through the 2.7-mile circuit and overcame the deficits with blistering laps in the No. 27 Honda.

Whether it was on Firestone’s faster alternates or the primaries, Kirkwood was capable of running a few tenths of a second ahead of Palou and chased him down after their last stops were made.

Palou destroyed the field at St. Petersburg with raw pace produced from exceptional tire longevity and Kirkwood deployed the same exact formula at Arlington and used it to beat Palou and take command of the drivers’ standings heading into Barber Motorsports Park in two weeks.

It was a caution-free race until the last few laps when Christian Rasmussen’s car stalled as Kirkwood held a 8.5s gap to Palou. Going green on the last lap, Kirkwood held position and had his performance cemented when another caution came out for the crash between Nolan Siegel and Romain Grosjean as Honda-powered cars took control of the top four.

“Thank you guys. What an incredible car. This was a rocket ship,” Kirkwood said. “One, three, and four for Andretti. That’s absolutely incredible.”

Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward was the first home for Chevrolet in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Entry ahead of Team Penske’s David Malukas in the No. 12 Chevy who completed the top six. Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist was originally credited with sixth, but was moved to the back of the running order for passing Malukas prior to the restart line on the final lap.

Ericsson, polesitter in the No. 28 Honda, surrendered the lead to Palou during their first stop with an issue, and Power and Kirkwood were also delayed – twice for the race winner on his three-stop strategy – but the sheer speed made the difference.

Elsewhere, Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard starred after being spun on the opening lap and firing from the back of the field to seventh. Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin started 25th and last and ripped his way to 12th at the finish line. AJ Foyt Racing’s Caio Collet was the top rookie in the event for the home state team in an impressive 13th.

Former championship leader Josef Newgarden completed a luckless weekend after recovering in qualifying in a spare car and was running inside the top 10 but was tipped into a spin by teammate Malukas and fell to 15th.

RESULTS

AS IT HAPPENED...

The 70-lap Java House Grand Prix of Arlington featured a front row of polesitter Ericsson and Palou, and before the green flag waved, Armstrong reports his right-rear tire is deflating.

Lap 1 and it’s a clean run up front for all as Ericsson leads Palou, O’Ward, Power and Kirkwood. Top five cars are on alternates; Felix Rosenqvist in sixth is the first on primaries.

Lap 3 and Armstrong pits to trade alternates for primes. Lundgaard gets spun by Mick Schumacher.

Lap 4 and Power takes P3 from O’Ward.

Lap 5 and Ericsson leads Palou by 0.9s and Power by 1.2s. Dixon pits.

Lap 6 and Schumacher is penalized with a drive-through penalty. McLaughlin is up to P21 from P25.

Lap 7 and Rosenqvist turned a 1m36.9s on primes to Ericsson’s 1m36.6s on alternates.

Lap 10 and Palou is 0.3s behind Ericsson. Ericsson turned a 1m35.8s to Rosenqvist’s 1m36.9s.

Lap 11 and Ericsson pushes the lead out to 1.1s. Ericsson: 1m36.2s. Palou: 1m36.7. Rosenqvist: 1m37.0s

Lap 13 and Ericsson leads Palou by 1.5s and Power by 2.5s. Malukas and Newgarden demote Rasmussen to P9.

Lap 14 and Kirkwood pits from P4, first leader to shed his first set of alternates and takes another set of alternates. Slow stop as the right-rear wheel nut falls off.

Lap 15 and O’Ward pits.

Lap 16: Ericsson: 1m37.3s Palou: 1m37.2s. Rosenqvist: 1m36.1s. Alternates are falling fast. Ericsson’s lead is 0.4s on Palou and 2.0s over Power and 4.0s on Rosenqvist.

Lap 17 and Ericsson and Palou pit. Slow stop for Ericsson as the right-front takes forever. Palou emerges in front as Power stays out and takes the lead.

Lap 18 and Power leads Rosenqvist by 0.9s.

Lap 19 and Malukas pits from P4.

Lap 20 and Rosenqvist is into the lead as Power saving his tires. Last lap for Power: 1m38.8s. Rosenqvist: 1m36.8s. Rosenqvist pits. Power stays out.

Lap 22 and Power turns his best lap, a 1m36.1s, which is remarkable. Newgarden and McLaughlin pit. Malukas makes contact with Newgarden as he was leaving the pits and Newgarden does a half-spin. Oof.

Lap 23 and Power pits as Palou takes the lead. Palou sets his best lap at 1m35.7s. Power’s team sends him as Louis Foster is about to pull in and has to stop to avoid hitting him.

Lap 24 and Palou leads Ericsson by 1.9s and O’Ward by 3.5s.

Lap 25 and Plaou drops his best lap to a 1m35.3s. Ericsson is 2.7s down and O’Ward is 4.5s back. Is Palou pushing his last set of alternates too hard too soon into the stint, or is he planning to stop early to get onto primes?

Lap 26 and Palou does a 1m35.8s to Ericsson’s 1m36.5s. The lead is now 3.4s.

Lap 28 and Palou does a 1m36.3 to O’Ward’s 1m37.6s as Ericsson falls to third with a lap of 1m40.0s as Ericsson pits. Kirkwood pits. Another calamity on pit lane with a wheel nut, this time on the right-rear tire. Ericsson was also slow to leave.

Lap 29 and Palou pits from the lead and is joined by O’Ward.

Lap 30 and McLauglin pits.

Lap 31 and Rosenqvist is back to the lead with Power in P2.

Lap 34 and Rosenqvist leads Power by 0.8s.

Lap 35 and Rosenqvist pits. Power takes the lead and has 5.0s over Rossi and 6.3s on Palou.

Lap 37 and Palou takes P2 from Rossi. Power leads Palou by 6.7s. Both turn 1m36.4s laps with Power on alternates and Palou on primes.

Lap 38 and Rossi pits. Kirkwood takes P5 from Ericsson.

Lap 39 and Palou is pushing, turns a 1m35.8s to Power’s 1m36.9s. The lead is down to 5.6s. Newgarden stops and it’s a long one. Schumacher has spun after hitting Newgarden.

Lap 40 and Kirkwood takes P3 from Lundgaard. He’s flying.

Lap 41 and Power’s lead is down to 4.0s. He’s trying to make it a two-stop race while Palou is on a three-stop.

Lap 42 and Power’s shedding speed with the lead down to 2.9s. Power: 1m35.6s. Palou: 1m35.5s. Kirkwood: 1m35.3s.

Lap 44 and Power’s lead is 0.9s to Palou and 6.5s to Kirkwood. Ericsson is in P4 ahead of Rosenqvist and O’Ward, Malukas, Rossi.

Lap 45 and O’Ward takes P5 from Rosenqvist.

Lap 46 and Power dials it up with a 1m35.4s lap to Palou’s 1m35.7s.

Lap 47 and Power pits. It’s Palou leading Kirkwood by 3.9s.

Lap 48 and it’s Palou, Kirkwood, Ericsson. O’Ward, Power, Malukas, Rosenqvist, Lundgaard, Rossi, and McLaughlin as the top 10.

Lap 49 and Palou turns a 1m35.1s to Kirkwood’s 1m34.6s; the lead is down to 3.3s in the battle of primary tires.

Lap 49 and Ericsson pits.

Lap 50 and Palou and Kirkwood pit. Another slow right-rear tire change for Kirkwood.

Lap 52 and Palou leads Kirkwood by 1.5s and Power by 4.4s.

Lap 53 and the lead is down to 1.0s. Kirkwood is on the hunt.

Lap 54 and the lead is down to 0.7s while Power is 6.0s shy of Palou. Kirkwood is consistently lapping in the 1m34s range, the only driver to do so.

Lap 55 and Kirkwood’s on Palou’s gearbox. This is inevitable.

Lap 56 and Kirkwood takes the lead from Palou in a ballsy pass.

Lap 57 and Kirkwood is already gone, up 1.6s on Palou and 7.7s on Power.

Lap 59 and the lead is 2.1s.

Lap 62 and Kirkwood leads by 3.4s. Power is 10.2s arrears.

Lap 65 and Kirkwood turns a 1m34.1s lap to Palou’s 1m34.8s and leads by 5.2s. This is a demolition.

Lap 67 and caution for Rasmussen who is stalled on course. Kirkwood was up by 8.5s.

Lap 68 and it’s going to be a single-lap run to the checkered flag.

Lap 70 and Kirkwood holds the lead on the restart and it goes yellow again for another incident. Kirkwood wins.