For the first time in 20 races, Kyle Kirkwood returned to victory lane.
The driver of the No. 27 Andretti Global Honda led a race high of 46 laps to win the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
“Yeah, it’s really good, right? To win here, the 50th, with this team, with this group, with Honda, an Acura-sponsored event is absolutely massive,” he said. “This was a flawless weekend for myself, for the team, for the crew, for everyone involved.
“When you have flawless weekends like this, you tend to win. This is a big step in the right direction. I know coming into this event, this was our time to turn things around. Fortunately we were able to get it done.
“This is probably one of our top three circuits I think on schedule. It’s important that we win those to have any chance of winning a championship. This is a start. Hopefully this is a continuation of great things.”
It’s his third career NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory and first since the 2023 Music City Grand Prix.
Alex Palou’s win streak to start the INDYCAR season ends at two, as he came home runner-up. Christian Lundgaard, who led 26 laps, rounded out the podium.
Felix Rosenqvist and Will Power rounded out the top-five.
Scott McLaughlin, Colton Herta, Scott Dixon, Sting Ray Robb and Kyffin Simpson rounded out the top-10.
Race summary
Kirkwood led the field to green at 4:54 p.m. ET. Josef Newgarden stopped for Firestone black tires on Lap 1. McLaughlin and Herta followed suite on Lap 4, pitting from the top-five. Kirkwood pit from the lead on Lap 6. Marcus Armstrong pit the following lap from the lead.
Lundgaard started the race on hard tires. So he stayed out during the opening wave of stops to inherit the lead. As did the other five cars that made up the top-six. Santino Ferrucci was the first of that group to pit on Lap 26. Lundgaard pit from the lead on Lap 27 and took Firestone reds. Dixon pit a lap later and also took soft tires. Lungaard cycled out ahead of Dixon on the undercut.
Kirkwood cycled back to the lead on Lap 28. He pit from the lead on Lap 34 and took soft tires.
Dixon pit from second on Lap 36, but his team bobbled the right-rear tire and cost him some time. Lundgaard pit from the lead on Lap 39. Robb pit from the lead on Lap 52. Robert Shwartzman pit from the lead on Lap 53 and Kirkwood cycled back to the lead.
The final cycle of green flag stops commenced on Lap 60. Kirkwood pit from the lead on Lap 64 and cycled out ahead of Palou. He retook the lead when Kyffin Simpson pitted on Lap 68 and drove onto victory.
What else happened
Newgarden made an unscheduled stop on Lap 62, because his seatbelt came undone.
Nuts and bolts
The race lasted one hour, 45 minutes and 51 seconds, at an average speed of 100.395 mph. There were nine lead changes among six different drivers and zero cautions.
The NTT IndyCar Series returns to action on May 4, 2025, at Barber Motorsports Park.
