- Andretti Autosport driver Kyle Kirkwood won his first career IndyCar race, after starting from his first pole.
- Teammate Romain Grosjean finished second, while another Andretti teammate, Colton Herta, finished fourth.
- Kirkwood’s win marks the third different winner in three IndyCar races so far this season.
It’s officially known as the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, but Sunday’s street race in the Southern California city will for at least the next year be unofficially nicknamed the Andretti Grand Prix of Long Beach.
After earning his first NTT IndyCar Series pole position on Saturday, sophomore driver Kyle Kirkwood roared back on Sunday to also win his first career IndyCar race, dominating by leading 51 of the 85 laps, while Andretti Autosport teammate Romain Grosjean finished a very strong second.
And just for good measure, yet another one of their teammates, Colton Herta, finished fourth to make it a 1-2-4 Andretti Autosport finish in the 48th year of what most consider the second-best IndyCar race of the season behind just the Indianapolis 500. (The other AA driver, Devlin DeFrancesco, finished back in the pack at 16th.)
Kirkwood, a native of Jupiter, Florida, becomes the third different IndyCar winner this season in as many races.
“It was amazing, man,” Kirkwood said. “Oh my gosh, what a day, the calmest day I’ve had in two years, and it was a win. We came out with a win at Long Beach.
“I was just so happy with the pole yesterday, but this is a memorable event right now, for everybody, the team, Auto Nation, Honda, it was just a stellar day for Andretti Autosport. Romain was keeping me on my toes and Colton in P4, just an incredible day, oh my gosh.
“I felt like I needed this win, and we got it today.”
Team strategist Bryan Herta told Kirkwood on the cool down lap to take a moment and soak in everything around him and what he was experiencing after taking the checkered flag for the first time in an Indy car.
“It nearly put me in tears, it was really a cool moment, no doubt,” said Kirkwood, who joins an all-star list of drivers who’ve earned their first career IndyCar wins at Long Beach, including team owner Michael Andretti (whose last career IndyCar win was also at Long Beach), Paul Tracy, Juan Pablo Montoya, Takuma Sato, and Mike Conway.
Helio’s, and Meyer Shank Racing’s, Struggles Continue
Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves continues to have struggles.
Early in Sunday’s race, Castroneves was involved in a solo crash when he slammed into a retaining wall. It appeared he may have hit some fluid on the track as he slipped and hit head-on into the wall.
Castroneves was fine but his car needed a new front end and wing, which his team quickly replaced. Still, he dropped two laps off the lead due to the incident.
To his credit, however, Castroneves roared back from the two-lap deficit to be the last driver on the lead lap—although the race results will still show he finished a disappointing 21st.
Castroneves, who turns 48 on May 10, finished 23rd in the season-opening race at St. Petersburg after being involved in a crash, before rallying for a 10th-place showing two weeks ago at Texas.
As for Castroneves’ Meyer Shank Racing teammate, Simon Pagenaud, he also had a less than stellar day as well, finishing 15th, although it proved to be his best finish of the season to date, having finished 26th at St. Pete (involved in a crash) and 17th at Texas.
More News, Notes
Team Penske struggled in qualifying, failing to place any of its three drivers in the Fast Six. In the race, the team still struggled, as Will Power finished sixth, while last year’s Long Beach winner, Josef Newgarden, had some trouble that led to a ninth-place finish, one spot ahead of teammate Scott McLaughlin in 10th. … Sunday marked Conor Daly’s 100th career IndyCar start. … Jack Harvey turned 30 yesterday and has had a rough start to the season, with a 22nd place finish at St. Pete (crash), 18th at Texas and a season-best finish to date of 13th on Sunday. … Rookie Agustin Canapino continues to struggle in his first season, crashing on Lap 50 and finished 25th in the 27-car field. … New Zealand native Marcus Armstrong finished eighth, the highest-finishing rookie.
Follow Autoweek contributor Jerry Bonkowski on Twitter @JerryBonkowski
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