have discovered themselves in just a few battles over the previous few seasons, with the inaugural Grand Prix of Arlington the newest of their budding rivalry.
This newest one offered one thing totally different, although.
Not like final 12 months on the streets of Lengthy Seaside when Kirkwood fended off the Spaniard to win, this one required the Florida native to chop down a large hole and go Palou – a uncommon feat since Palou joined in 2021.
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Kirkwood already had an uphill climb to begin the day after a psychological lapse in qualifying left him beginning seventh, however it was compounded when his pit crew made repeated errors on every of their three pit stops all through the race. Undeterred, although, he displayed unrelenting tempo within the #27 Andretti International Honda to beat the gaffes and a 7s deficit, pulling off a late lunge on Palou into Flip 14 with 16 laps to go. He constructed up a 5s benefit earlier than a pair of late cautions – together with one on a remaining lap restart – barely delayed his run to victory.
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“It is a assertion on how good we’re on road programs,” stated Kirkwood, 27.
“We’re in a position to do that at just a few road programs. It is unimaginable to see that we’re in a position to do it at one other one. We’re including road programs to our calendar.
“Loads of it is as a consequence of this man (pointing to Dan Towriss, CEO of TWG Motorsports and main investor/proprietor in Andretti International), the engineers, and the group that he is been in a position to rally collectively to provide us this efficiency. It is not simply me on the market driving certainly one of these automobiles. It is all of the arduous work that goes into certainly one of these road programs is why we’ve got the efficiency we’ve got. It is the explanation why we had the pole, completed 1, 3 () and 4 (). Palou is at all times there.”
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It marks the sixth victory of Kirkwood’s profession, and he additionally provides Ron Ruzeweski his first win as staff principal. Moreover, the win vaulted Kirkwood to the championship lead for the primary time in his profession. He holds a 26-points lead over Palou (126-100).
Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti International w/ Curb-Agajanian
Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti International w/ Curb-Agajanian
When requested by if he looks like the largest risk to Palou this season, Kirkwood remained assured but additionally aware together with his reply.
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“I’d hope so,” Kirkwood stated. “We’re three races in. I do not need to focus an excessive amount of on the championship. I need to give attention to the following race in entrance of us, maximizing our efficiency.
“In fact, we’re good at road programs. We have found out quick ovals now. We’ll a highway course subsequent. That is the place we have to thrive.
“There’s quite a lot of work to do. We need to be the largest risk. Each driver does. We’re at the moment the largest risk to him and your entire remainder of the sphere. However we have to proceed that as a result of we obtained quite a lot of races to go.”
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