LONG BEACH, Calif. — Kyle Kirkwood won the first pole of his IndyCar career Saturday with a flying fast lap around the downtown streets of Long Beach, giving the series three different pole winners through the first three races of the season.
The Andretti Autosport crew erupted in celebration when Kirkwood, a 24-year-old from Jupiter, Florida, returned to his pit stall. He was immediately congratulated by teammate Romain Grosjean and team owner Michael Andretti.
Kirkwood, in his second season of IndyCar, will lead the field to green Sunday in the most prestigious street course race in the United States.
“I am just ecstatic at the moment,” Kirkwood said. “I couldn’t be happier with this, the third weekend with the team.”
Kirkwood was part of the Andretti development system but after winning the Lights championship in 2021 had to leave the organization because it didn’t have an IndyCar seat for him to be promoted. So he spent last year with AJ Foyt Racing until Andretti could bring him back this season as the replacement for Alexander Rossi.
“He’s the real deal, I can tell you,” Andretti said. “He’s been a pleasure on the team. We really enjoy him.”
Andretti two weeks ago made a strategist change for Kirkwood and Colton Herta, swapping team leaders ahead of the race at Texas Motor Speedway. Kirkwood was given Bryan Herta, Colton’s father, who has guided two drivers to Indianapolis 500 wins.
“Right now it’s working out really well,” Andretti said. “Bryan being on his radio will be a lot more beneficial for Kyle and the organization. He’s great for a young driver, and he helped Colton when he started out. We just felt it was better for the team.”
Marcus Ericsson, winner of the season-opening race, qualified second for Chip Ganassi Racing and was followed by Grosjean. Ganassi drivers Alex Palou and Scott Dixon qualified fourth and fifth as Honda drivers took the top five spots.
Pato O’Ward, the IndyCar points leader after back-to-back runner-up finishes to start the season, qualified sixth and was the only Chevrolet to advance into the “Fast Six” round. O’Ward had dominated every session until the final round of qualifying, when he seemed to lock his tires and fell out of pole-winning contention.
No Team Penske cars advanced into the Fast Six. Will Power was eliminated in the first round, Scott McLaughlin was eliminated in the second round, and defending race winner Josef Newgarden was bounced in the final minute of the third round.
Newgarden will start…
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