Kyle Kirkwood Converts Pole to 1st IndyCar Win

Kyle Kirkwood kept himself in the conversation from green flag to checkered flag to win Sunday’s (April 16) Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, the first win of his young IndyCar career. Kirkwood’s Andretti Autosport teammate, Romain Grosjean, followed suit for a his second consecutive runner-up result at Long Beach.

“What a day; the calmest day I’ve had in two years!” Kirkwood told NBC’s Marty Snider after the race. “I was so happy with just the pole yesterday, but this is… I’m over the moon right now. Man, this is incredible for the whole team, for everyone … we had a stellar day as a team.”

Kirkwood led the race from pole and maintained control for the first 22 laps. Following the first caution period of the day after Scott Dixon was planted in the wall, Agustin Canapino briefly assumed the race lead by staying out under caution, before he was cutoff on the race restart as his teammate Callum Ilott rejoined the track from pit lane, directly in front of the Argentinian.

Josef Newgarden was able to wrestle the lead from Kirkwood in the ensuing chaos, and maintained control of the race until Kirkwood retook the lead on pit strategy with 31 laps remaining. Grosjean likewise jumped Newgarden, who dropped like a rock and was running damage control for the rest of the day. The defending Long Beach winner finished the day in eighth place.

Dixon was made to settle for a last-place result after retiring on lap 38 due to a lack of oil pressure. Dixon had found himself parked in the Turn 8 tire barrier on lap 20 after contact with Pato O’Ward, though his No. 9 Honda miraculously kept its front wing and was able to continue until the aforementioned oil pressure problem.

O’Ward’s day was undone shortly after Dixon’s when the young Mexican driver attempted an ambitious dive on Kirkwood the likes of which he had attempted on Dixon eight laps earlier. O’Ward suffered damage to his front wing in the incident and never properly recovered, being lapped by Kirkwood on lap 82 and coming home for a 17th-place finish.

The NTT IndyCar Series will take the green flag for the fourth round of the 2023 season on Sunday, April 30, for the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park. Coverage will begin at 3:00 p.m. ET on NBC.