- Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood records first career win on an oval and third victory on the season.
- Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward finishes runner-up in Bommarito Automotive Group 500 for the fourth time.
MADISON, Ill. (June 15, 2025) – Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood rallied late to earn his first career NTT INDYCAR SERIES oval victory in Sunday night’s primetime Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Kirkwood grabbed the lead with five laps remaining in the 260-lap event and held off Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward by .5398 of a second to secure his third win of the season and second in a row. For O’Ward, it was his fourth runner-up finish in six career starts at World Wide Technology Raceway. Christian Rasmussen of Ed Carpenter Racing rounded out the podium with a career-best, third-place finish.
Kirkwood’s fifth career victory came in the first-ever scheduled primetime NTT INDYCAR SERIES race to be held on a Sunday night with FOX that featured a track record-tying 254 passes for position.
“I mean, it’s kind of funny, right?” said Kirkwood, who won the previous race on the streets of Detroit. “You get on this streak where it’s like, oh, he’s doing so well, he’s winning races, street courses. But then you get your fourth and people are like, another street course for Kirkwood. It’s not as big of a deal now. When is he going to win something else?
“Everybody knows you’ve got to be diverse in this series. You’ve got to win at multiple circuits. You’ve got to win at multiple venues. Whether it’s a short oval, long oval, street course, road course, whatever it might be, you’ve got to win at all of them. A step in the right direction for sure.”
AJ Foyt Racing’s David Malukas and Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin set the pace early with Malukas leading the first 50 laps and McLaughlin the following 51. The race, however, was shaping up to be a repeat of four of the last five seasons with Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden charging from his fifth starting position to first on Lap 105.
Newgarden, the defending race winner who had won four of the last five at WWTR, took command of the race as he led 25 laps and opened up a six-second cushion over second-place Malukas. But then calamity struck.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing rookie Louis Foster hit the Turn 4 wall and then careened across the track. Newgarden took the low line to avoid the incident, but Foster left him nowhere to go except over the top of his car. Newgarden’s car launched, flipped upside down and slid down the frontstretch before coming to rest near the start/finish line. Both drivers were uninjured in the dramatic crash.
Malukas, O’Ward and Conor Daly of Juncos Hollinger Racing took extended turns in the lead before several drivers were taking strategic gambles on fuel to secure the win. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon took his first lead of the race on Lap 194 and held the point for 43 laps before being forced to dive into the pits for fuel. Five drivers would then exchange the lead before having to pit and Kirkwood, with plenty of fuel, moved into position for the win.
“I understood the strategy pretty well,” Kirkwood said. “I understood that some of those guys there at the end were trying to make the fuel work and if they got a caution, they would have. It would have been pretty easy for them to make it to the end if there was just one caution.
“Everything worked to plan accordingly. If I’m being honest, we didn’t start with an amazing race car; we finished with one. That was just due to the work that the crew did and due to the work that Honda did.”
Dixon would finish fourth while AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci, driving the No. 14 Bommarito Automotive Group Chevrolet, rounded out the top five. Graham Rahal of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing finished 22nd in his 300th career start.
Earlier, Andretti Global rookie Lochie Hughes won the INDY NXT by Firestone race for his second victory of the season. Hughes passed polesitter and leader Caio Collet to take the lead on Lap 62 of 75 and then cruised to a 4.3521-second victory over runner-up Myles Rowe of ABEL Motorsports w/ Force Indy. Collet took the final podium spot, finishing third and 5.5196 seconds back. Hughes, currently second in the series championship, cut the deficit in half to 19 points behind leader and rookie teammate Dennis Hauger, who finished fifth.
