IndyCar comes to the streets of Arlington for the first time, marking the series’ grand return to Texas following its 2023 race at Texas Motor Speedway. This is the final race of a triple header that saw IndyCar’s return to St Petersburg and Phoenix Speedway alongside NASCAR.
During the last time out in Phoenix, it was an incredibly exciting Short Oval race that saw Alex Palou not finish the race and Josef Newgarden score his first win of the season. It was a Penske Perfect weekend, with all three drivers in the top 10 and both Newgarden and Malukas on the podium.
Now, in Arlington, qualifying left fans hungry for the race as Marcus Ericsson of Andretti scored his first career podium after eight seasons in IndyCar, and third with Andretti. He was closely followed by Alex Palou and the home favorite Pato O’Ward to fight for the very first win on the Streets of Arlington.
It was Kyle Kirkwood who took home the victory, with shocking pace over Chip Ganassi’s Alex Palou and teammates Power and Ericsson.
Perilous Pit Exit
The exit of the pit – as with many street circuits – is narrow, as is the track itself. On the Streets of Arlington, though, the pit exit sits just after a hard left-hander out of Turn 1 and straight into the hard right of Turn 2. This makes for some interesting exits.
Kyle Kirkwood Andretti | Penske Entertainment: Chris Jones
Nearly back-to-back, Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti and Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank almost came together upon exit, and then teammates at Team Penske, Josef Newgarden and David Malukas, did collide in the same place.
While all of the cars made it out of the pit exit “okay,” the speed of the cars navigating Turns 1 and 2, as well as the fresh tires of the cars exiting the pit, made for exciting side-by-side racing. Most crucially for Rosenqvist and Kirkwood fighting for top 10’s and an eventual race win, the drivers were able to navigate without contact.
Strong Showing for Andretti Alongside Pit Stop Troubles
Although Marcus Ericsson, the pole sitter, did not take home the win on the Streets of Arlington, the Andretti trio of Kyle Kirkwood, Marcus Ericsson, and Will Power brought home their best team results in well over a season. All three drivers finished in the top 10, with Kirkwood fighting with Alex Palou for the lead for much of the race.
Will Power Andretti | Penske Entertainment: James Black
Even though the team did have strong results, there were issues, especially with the pit stops. All three drivers faced their own issues during their pit stops mid-race. Kirkwood and Ericsson both had slow pit stops due to issues with wheel guns and nuts.
Meanwhile, Power had to hold for an extra 3 seconds in his pit box when RLL’s Louis Foster ‘cut him off’ entering his own pit box.
Pit stops and strategy often ‘make or break’ IndyCar races on street circuits, so all three Andretti crews overcoming their slow stops speaks directly to the speed of their cars this weekend. After all, Kirkwood took home the race win with over a 5-second gap to Alex Palou
The question now remains if the trio can take the fight to the likes of Penkse’s on Ovals and Palou on… well, every track.
IndyCar Java House Grand Prix of Arlington Results
Position
Driver / Team
Time Diff from Lead
1.
Kirkwood/ Andretti
–
2.
Palou/ Chip Ganassi
+0.314
3.
Power/ Andretti
+3.586
4.
Ericsson/ Andretti
+4.913
5.
O’Ward/ McLaren
+5.934
6.
Malukas/ Penske
+7.448
7.
Lundgaard/ McLaren
+ 8.750
8.
Dixon/ Chip Ganassi
+ 9.632
9.
Rossi/ ECR
+10.708
10.
Armstrong/ Meyer Shank
+12.489
11.
McLaughlin/ Penske
+13.889
12.
Collet/ AJ Foyt
+14.744
13.
Foster/ RLL
+16.203
14.
VeeKay/ Juncos
+16.868
15.
Newgarden/ Penske
+18.754
16.
Hauger/ Dale Coyne
+21.293
17.
Ferrucci/ AJ Foyt
+22.289
18.
Rahal/ RLL
+24.734
19.
Simpson/ Chip Ganassi
+27.629
20.
Rosenqvist/ Meyer Shank
+33.605
21.
Robb/ Juncos
+1 Lap
22.
Schumacher/ RLL
+1 Lap
23.
Grosjean/ Dale Coyne
DNF
24.
Siegel/ McLaren
DNF
25.
Rasmussen/ ECR
DNF
Final Lap Carnage – Finishing Under Caution
With only four laps to go in the race, the grand prix hit its first caution window when ECR’s Christian Rasmussen’s car stopped knocking him out of the race. This led to a three-lap Full Course Caution bunching up the field and taking away the gaps between most of the grid, including that of a 5+ second gap between Kirkwood and Palou.
Alex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing | Penske Entertainment: Joe Skibinski
Upon restart, Kirkwood had a powerful jump off the start and was set to hold on to the lead into the finish. However, that wasn’t the case. Halfway through the lap, Grosjean and Siegel came together, throwing the grid back under caution. Additionally, Meyer Shank’s Felix Rosenqvist received a massive penalty for jumping the start, moving him from P6 to P20.
“When I passed Palou… It’s very rare in a race to say that. Palou’s a smart person. Smart driver. He’s someone that’s very trustworthy to race against. You can trust that he’s not going to drive you into a wall.”
Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti
In the end, though, it was Kyle Kirkwood – the ‘king of the streets’ – who became the inaugural winner of the Grand Prix of Arlington. The race will continue for at least two more years.
The next IndyCar race is in two weeks at the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix, affectionately known as Barber, on March 29th at 1 pm ET.