Kyle Kirkwood doused Alex Palou’s red-hot run to start the season by winning the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday in Long Beach, California.
Kirkwood started from pole position and led 46 out of 90 laps, fending off Palou all the while. The 26-year-old from Florida grabbed the checkered flag 2.6859 seconds ahead of the Spaniard, who won back-to-back races at St. Petersburg, Florida, and Thermal, California, to kick off 2025.
The race did not feature any caution periods, so Kirkwood and his No. 27 Honda had to stick to a strict strategy to defend first place.
‘We controlled the race from — even from practice, right? We felt like we were in control,’ Kirkwood said. ‘Really good qualifying, amazing race, amazing strategy. But it was just execution all across the board is what won us that race here today, because if Palou was in front he would have beat us for sure. This was a track position race here today without any yellows.’
Palou, the defending IndyCar Series champion, said he ‘absolutely’ felt happy with two wins and a second to start the year.
‘You never feel amazing when you finish second, but honestly, the 27 car, Kyle, they were amazing all weekend, super fast,’ Palou said. ‘I tried, I tried my chances but we couldn’t really make it work. Had a really bad start on my side and that kind of put us in the back foot.’
It was Kirkwood’s third career IndyCar title, his second at Long Beach and his first win since August 2023.
‘This is a good one. It’s been a long time. I had a drought last year of no wins and this is huge for me, huge for my morale, huge for the 27 crew, huge for Honda,’ Kirkwood said.
Christian Lundgaard of Denmark, who led 26 laps, placed third, followed by Sweden’s Felix Rosenqvist and Australia’s Will Power.