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Motorsport

Kyle Kirkwood snags second IndyCar Long Beach pole to claim an Andretti 1-2

Kyle Kirkwood Andretti Christian Lundgaard Colton Herta Long Beach Nolan Siegel Scott Dixon Andretti Global Felix Rosenqvist Will Power

For the second time in his young NTT IndyCar Series career, Florida’s Kyle Kirkwood is set to lead the field to green in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. The Andretti Global star laid down a top time of 1:06.1921 to score his third-career pole and second in Long Beach.

“I’m shaking,” an excited Kirkwood told FOX Sports afterward. “That was great. Such a good lap, such a good qualifying. Fortunately, I didn’t put any wheel wrong and hit anything. That’s always a question here at street courses. You’ve got to send it to get that top spot.”

Kirkwood’s effort was one of a trio of solid results for Andretti Global. Teammate Colton Herta followed in second, with Marcus Ericsson just three spots behind in fifth.

“When you’re in an Andretti Global car at Long Beach, you know you’re going to be quick,” Kirkwood said. “I’m so happy to capitalize on that here today. Front row lockout with Colton. I thought it was going to be him or I after that first quali run. He was super quick, I was super quick. I knew it was going to be a dogfight between him and I.”

Herta settled for second after a busy session, slapping the wall at the exit of the final corner after advancing to the Fast 12 and having to run without a prep lap in the final round. The 2022 polesitter felt the circumstances kept him from a potential pole run.

“That was a difficult one,” Herta said. “The prep lap is what we do to try to get the temperatures in the right window, try to get the front and rear as equal as we can. I didn’t have that, so the tires started off a little bit cold. But they got there in the end, after three or four corners.

“I’m guessing the time loss to Kyle is probably in those first few corners. It sucks. This is a pole that I feel like I should have gotten without getting that penalty and going off in the first run. But I still can’t be mad at a front row and an Andretti 1-2.”

Championship leader and undefeated driver to this point, Alex Palou, slotted in third for Chip Ganassi Racing. Defending pole-sitter Felix Rosenqvist took fourth for Meyer Shank Racing, with Ericsson and Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin rounding out the Fast 6.

As the Fast 12 unfolded…

Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren (Photo by: Penske Entertainment)

Kirkwood led the way in a Fast 12 impacted by a late red flag when Christian Lundgaard, who was sitting fifth at the time, slid wide and collided with the tire barrier.

Lundgaard’s exit brought an unexpected end to the Fast 12, stopping the proceedings when drivers were on their final laps. It brought an end to the session for all three Arrow McLaren entries, who were on the wrong side of the cutline at the time of stoppage.

“I’m glad that we have good pace,” Nolan Siegel said. “It’s just frustrating to not get to show that. I think that we probably could have transferred and had the pace to do that. It would have been nice to actually make it happen, but we’ve got another day tomorrow. That’s when it counts.”

“I’m glad Christian’s alright, but (it’s) a bummer for me, bummer for Nolan as well,” Pato O'Ward said. “He didn’t get his lap in, too. I think we all had the pace to be in there. Sad to see there’s only one Chevy in there, but we can fight from ninth.“

Rosenqvist was seventh as the red flag flew, but snuck through to the Fast 6 after Lundgaard lost his top two lap times for causing the stoppage. Marcus Armstrong and Alexander Rossi sat seventh and eighth, with O’Ward, David Malukas, Siegel and Lundgaard completing the Fast 12.

Before his second round shunt, Lundgaard topped the opening group session, sneaking through to the Fast 12 with his final lap. Herta, Rosenqvist, O’Ward, Armstrong and Malukas followed. Kirkwood led the second group over Palou, McLaughlin, Siegel, Ericsson and Rossi.

Former champs suffer difficult qualifying days

Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing (Photo by: Penske Entertainment)

Defending Long Beach winner Scott Dixon will have to rally from the midfield if he hopes to repeat last year’s heroics in the iconic street race. The Kiwi and his No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing team endured a difficult Saturday, starting early with an unusual hit into the wall in second practice.

Dixon’s crew spent the hours between practice and qualifying repairing his stricken No. 9. But when qualifying finally came, another atypical mistake from the typically-consistent ‘Ice Man’ kept him from advancing into the Fast 12.

“The lap I was on was good for, I think, almost quick time, but I clipped the wall on the exit of (turn) 6 and it bent the toe link, so I had to abort,” Dixon said. “Just kind of frustrating. I should have done it a lap earlier, but with car spacing. I think the car aborted in front of me on the first lap so I had to do the same thing. So the second lap wasn’t as quick as it should have been.

“I think we were up on our teammate by about a tenth-and-a-half at that point, so (I would have been) easily through on that session.”

It was another difficult qualifying day for Team Penske, who saw star drivers Will Power and Josef Newgarden fail to advance out of group qualifying for the second-straight race. Power’s qualifying effort was impacted by a hit in the turn 6 wall. Newgarden felt his run was impeded by a slow Rosenqvist in the hairpin, but no penalty came of the lodged complaint.

“It was kind of difficult to get a clear lap with people backing up a lot. … Almost needed to go on the first lap, I guess,” Power told FOX Sports afterward. “It’s hard to have a good out lap. Then you’ve got to (create a) gap and let people go. Then people stop at the hairpin.

“No excuses, man. I mean, we’re quick in practice. Every single practice this year we’ve been fast. Every single one. And we haven’t gotten (into) the top 12 yet. You can make as many excuses as you want. We’ve just got to get it done when it counts on the soft tires.”

Power’s three-straight races without a Fast 12 appearance are the most for the Australian since a run of four races from Belle Isle through Toronto in 2022. It would have been a second-straight race without a Fast 12 qualifier for series owner Roger Penske’s squad had McLaughlin not made it through the second group.

It was a difficult qualifying session for several drivers, with many suffering damage after contact with the wall. Lundgaard was the only one to crash out of a run, but Herta, Power, Dixon and Santino Ferrucci all went wide at different corners along the treacherous street circuit.

Ferrucci’s incident at the end of group qualifying forced him to stop in the runoff area. The Fast 12 was briefly delayed so his vehicle could be retrieved.

Sunday’s race will go live on FOX and the INDYCAR Radio Network at 4:30 p.m. ET.