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(Provided Photo)<\/p>\n(Provided Photo)<\/p>\n
(Arlington, TX) \u2013 It\u2019s been a long time since a rival driver made Alex Palou blink, but Kyle Kirkwood achieved that rare feat to win the inaugural Java House Grand Prix at Arlington on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Kirkwood took the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship lead and earned his first victory of the season despite a sluggish final pit stop by his Andretti Global crew, driving his No. 27 JM Bullion\/Gold.com Honda to victory under caution over the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of four-time series champion Palou, who has won the title the last three seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was so incredible,\u201d Kirkwood said. \u201cMan, did we have some pace. This JM Bullion Honda, Andretti, all these guys right here, they gave me the tools today. It\u2019s because of this race car we won today, because of teamwork.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne-three-four (finish) for Andretti; we\u2019re just so stacked here. I\u2019m so stoked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Andretti Global placed three drivers into the top four at the finish of the 70-lap street-circuit race around AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, and Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers. Will Power placed third in the No. 26 TWG AI Honda for his first podium finish at his new team after 16 full-time seasons at Team Penske. Marcus Ericsson, who earned his first career pole Saturday, finished fourth in the No. 28 InPwr Honda.<\/p>\n
Pato O\u2019Ward rounded out the top five finishers in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, the highest-placing Chevrolet-powered driver on the 14-turn, 2.73-mile circuit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis Andretti Honda camp is fricking strong on street courses,\u201d O\u2019Ward said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of work to do if we want to start winning races on outright pace against them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pure pace helped Kirkwood, who started seventh and overcome a tepid final pit stop to overhaul Palou down the stretch.<\/p>\n
Palou and Kirkwood were running first and second, respectively, when both made their final stops on the preferred three-stop strategy on Lap 49. The Chip Ganassi Racing crew completed Palou\u2019s stop in 7.7 seconds, while Kirkwood\u2019s service took 9.5 seconds due to a slow change of the right rear wheel.<\/p>\n
When both drivers returned to full steam on their out lap, Palou led Kirkwood by 2.2 seconds. But Kirkwood used the speed that helped him lead the pre-qualifying practice Saturday, pulling to within .323 of a second of Palou at the start of Lap 55, with both drivers on the more durable Firestone Firehawk tires in a straight-up duel for the win.<\/p>\n
Kirkwood didn\u2019t waste any time flexing muscle, diving under Palou from a long distance in Turn 13 near the end of Lap 55 and making the daring pass stick for the lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did an awesome pass; hats off to him,\u201d Palou said. \u201cIt was super clean, and it was pretty impressive. We\u2019ll get them in a couple weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kirkwood then started to pull away, building a five-second lead by Lap 66. Then that margin evaporated when ECR driver Christian Rasmussen nosed his No. 21 Java House Chevrolet into the tire barrier at pit exit on Lap 68, triggering the first full-course yellow of the race.<\/p>\n
That bunched the field for a one-lap dash to the checkered flag. Kirkwood pulled away on the restart and was able to exhale early in the final lap when the second and final full-course yellow flew due to a collision between the No. 18 BMax Honda of Dale Coyne Racing\u2019s Romain Grosjean and the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet of Nolan Siegel deep in the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot today,\u201d Palou said when asked if he thought he could have caught Kirkwood on the final lap. \u201cI was pushing really hard on the first and second stint, and I could see that the 27 (Kirkwood) and the 12 (Power) were a little bit faster than us. I was like, \u2018Oh, man, it\u2019s going to be quite hard.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Kirkwood then cruised around the circuit one last time under yellow to cheers from the capacity crowd at this event, a joint venture between Penske Entertainment, the Dallas Cowboys and REV Entertainment, the official events partner of the Texas Rangers. He leads the standings by 26 points over second-place Palou after three of 18 races.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s only race number three, so I\u2019m not looking at the championship,\u201d Kirkwood said. \u201cBut it is nice to say it\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve ever led the championship in the INDYCAR SERIES.\u201d<\/p>\n
The taut nature of the race, with its varying strategies about how often to stop for tires, resulted in terrific parity up front. Kirkwood, Palou and Power each led 16 laps to tie for the race high, with Ericsson fourth with 15 laps led.<\/p>\n
Caio Collet was the top-finishing rookie, 12th in the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet fielded by AJ Foyt Racing.<\/p>\n
Phoenix winner Josef Newgarden, who entered this event in the series lead, fell to third after finishing 15th in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet.<\/p>\n