Kyle Kirkwood choked back tears in victory lane as the reality of his first IndyCar Series win began to dawn on him.
The Andretti Autosport newcomer held out teammate and ex-Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean to the win on the streets of Long Beach in a chaotic 85-lap encounter.
After a tough start to his second season in the series, Kirkwood claimed victory in just his third start for the Andretti family who were there to greet him for the post-race celebrations.
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It was a near-perfect result for the team with Colton Herta finishing just shy of the podium in fourth behind Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Ericsson.
“I just had a moment of relaxation, to be honest. I was just like – finally!” said Kirkwood.
“It’s not like ‘finally’ because we’re only three races in, but it felt like it for me.
“I felt like I needed this win and we got it today. A moment of relief, no doubt. I can’t thank the team enough.”
Kirkwood’s strategist Bryan Herta told the 24-year-old to take a moment, look at everything, and soak it in.
“Nearly put me in tears,” Kirkwood said of the cool-down lap.
“It was a really cool moment, no doubt.”
It was a clinical performance from Kirkwood but by no means an easy one despite starting from pole position.
Having got the holeshot, the race was brought under the control of the safety car thanks to Meyer Shank Racing’s Helio Castroneves, who crashed at the first turn.
Kirkwood led the restart with Ericsson and Grosjean in tow.
It was a relatively tame first stanza until McLaren’s Pato made contact with Scott Dixon trying to make a pass at turn eight, which sent the Chip Ganassi Racing star into the wall.
That drew the second safety car invention of the day, which caused more chaos when the race restarted on lap 26.
Having suffered a puncture earlier in the race, Callum Ilott found himself out of sequence. He pitted just before the race restarted and pulled out of the pit lane in front of the field.
Ilott’s Juncos Hollinger Racing teammate Agustin Canapino led the race, albeit out of sequence, with the lapped Castroneves between he and effective race leader Kirkwood.
In his bid to un-lap himself, Castroneves went around the outside of Canapino and made contact. Canapino got loose and baulked Kirkwood.
That allowed a hard-charging Josef Newgarden, who made his way to second after the first safety car, to sneak through and into the lead.
Further behind, O’Ward passed Grosjean at turn seven before trying to get by Ericsson and Kirkwood in one turn – making it three-wide.
However, O’Ward’s ambitious manoeuvre didn’t pay off. He locked up his rear wheels, and spun out.
Luckily, the field managed to avoid a pile-up and O’Ward got going, albeit falling down the order to 15th.
As half-race distance approached, two battle packs formed. The first was led by Newgarden who had Kirkwood and Grosjean breathing down his neck. A few seconds back, Scott McLaughlin fought to keep Herta and Ericsson behind.
Strategy would prove to be the deciding factor in the race. Team Penske’s McLaughlin began to plummet down the order as his soft compound tyres faded while his stablemate Newgarden was forced to save fuel.
Newgarden was the first to complete their final pit stop, coming in on lap 52. Grosjean came in a lap later and leapfrogged Newgarden.
Kirkwood came in on lap 54 and returned to the race comfortably ahead of Grosjean and Newgarden.
Kirkwood controlled the pace of the race, ultimately not letting Grosjean get close enough to mount an assault, winning by one second.
Ericsson rose to third while Newgarden faded. Fuel conservation ultimately meant he fell to ninth.
Herta was fourth followed by Alex Palou. Will Power wound up sixth followed by Felix Rosenqvist, top rookie Marcus Armstrong, Newgarden, and McLaughlin.
The IndyCar Series returns on May 1 at Barber Motorsports Park.
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