LONG BEACH, Calif. — Kyle Kirkwood won the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach from the pole for the second time in the past three attempts in Sunday’s 50th running of this event.
It also ended Alex Palou’s two-race winning streak to start the NTT IndyCar Series season.
Kirkwood’s third-career victory came in a race that ran the full distance without a caution. It’s the second-straight IndyCar Series race that has run green flag for start to finish. The first was at The Thermal Club on March 23.
Kirkwood started on the pole and led 46 laps in the 90-lap race.
“To win here, the 50th with this team, this group and the event sponsored by Acura is awesome,” Kirkwood said. “When you have flawless wins like this, you tend to win.
“This was our time to get things done. This is one of the top three circuits on the schedule and it is important to win them. Hopefully, this is the start of even better things to come.”
Kirkwood defeated Palou by 2.6859 seconds. Although the three-time and back-to-back NTT IndyCar Series Champion from Chip Ganassi Racing did not score a season-opening three-peat, he was far from disappointed with a second-place finish.
“I’m not disappointed,” Palou said afterwards. “I’m super happy to be here, honestly.
“It’s a shame we couldn’t make it more exciting for the fans, but I’m super happy to be here today.”
Winning team owner Dan Towriss went “Coast To Coast” by watching his Spire Motorsports team at Bristol, then Formula E at Homestead and finally the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
This was Towriss’ first IndyCar win as a majority team owner after taking full control of Andretti Global last September.
“It’s a great win,” Towriss said. “This Long Beach race is so special.
“To be able to bring Kyle home from the pole to the W was outstanding.
“This is an extra special win for me personally. To get this win with Kyle is something I will be thinking about for a very long time.
“I’m just very proud of Kyle.”
Christian Lundgaard finished third for Arrow McLaren after leading 26 laps.
Felix Rosenqvist was fourth for Meyer Shank Racing and Team Penske’s Will Power rounded out the top five.
It was a race that favored the Firestone “Black” primary tires, so teams quickly used the mandated sting of the Firestone “Green” alternate tires, so most of the race the field was on the primary tires.
It was an extremely clean race without any cautions and when Kirkwood regained the lead on Lap 69, he was able to maintain his gap over Palou all the way to the checkered flag.
Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden finished last in the 27-car field. When he pitted on Lap 53, he had a seat belt issue and in the interest of safety, the crew had to make sure it was repaired properly before he could return to the track.
When he resumed racing, he was two laps down and finished last.
Palou still leads the NTT IndyCar Series points with 142. Kirkwood moved up to second with 108.
“This might be the highest I’ve ever been in the championship, if I’m not mistaken,” Kirkwood said. “This was a big win for us.
“These are the days that you live for, to go out and dominate as a team. These are important for us, and this is what you want to see happen.
“A step in the right direction and hopefully many more wins to come.”
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