Jupiter's Kyle Kirkwood grabs first IndyCar Series victory at Grand Prix of Long Beach
Kyle Kirkwood has always preferred not to approach his auto racing career bound by expectation. The rationale has served him well as he’s carved a path winning championships in all the junior series where he has competed.
And on Sunday, the 24-year old Jupiter resident claimed his biggest prize yet - his debut NTT IndyCar Series victory in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Not only did Kirkwood take his first trophy in America’s premier open-wheel series, he won the race after qualifying from the pole position – the first driver to accomplish that feat in the 2023 season.
Sunday’s victory in one of the most prestigious events on the schedule, comes in only his 19th career IndyCar start. It was the third since rejoining the Andretti Autosport team where he raced – and won – coming up through the junior ranks. His previous best race finish was 10th - scored in last year’s rookie season with the A.J. Foyt Racing team.
Back with Andretti: Jupiter's Kyle Kirkwood will be reunited with Andretti Autosport in 2023
Kirkwood at Indy 500: Jupiter's Kyle Kirkwood revved up for his rookie debut at Indy 500
“It was such a good weekend, but we had to work for it,’’ Kirkwood told The Palm Beach Post Sunday evening just before joining his Andretti teammate, Colton Herta, for a celebratory dinner.
“I’m ecstatic, so many emotions going through my mind, it’s hard to soak it all in.’’
The well-liked Kirkwood’s win was so popular, even the very drivers he beat congratulated him on social media. Best wishes and “atta-boys” came from a wide range of people who knew Kirkwood as he made his way up the ranks and others who have since become fans of the humble, South Florida surfer.
Loudest cheers in one Jupiter neighborhood for Kirkwood
If you live in Jupiter, the cheers from the longtime Kirkwood home Sunday afternoon may have been audible. His entire neighborhood – the very same one he grew up in and where he developed lifelong friendships – was outside cheering, people on their front lawns, in the moments after Kirkwood’s No. 27 Andretti Autosport Honda took the checkered flag. And it came on the streets of California’s famed Long Beach circuit – one of the longest-running, most-celebrated venues on the IndyCar schedule.
“The whole neighborhood erupted, everyone came out of their houses screaming and yelling into the street, it was really cool,’’ said the driver's mom, Peggy Kirkwood. “Everybody was high-fiving each other.’’
“For him to get pole was a huge deal,’’ she continued. “I said to everybody before the race, if he gets Top-10, I’ll be thrilled, if he gets Top-5, I’ll be ecstatic, if he gets podium, that’s amazing, if he wins, it’ll be another testimony to the grace of God in his life. I am so happy for him."
Kyle was confident he could win the race after winning the pole.
“He said after winning pole, ‘I can do this.’ And to hear Michael Andretti say that he believes in Kyle and if anybody can get it done, ‘Kyle can get it done’ meant so much," Peggy said. "To see the joy on his [Andretti’s] face and the team congratulating Kyle. [Teammate] Romain Grosjean came over to congratulate him and had his arm on him on the podium.
“He’s back and he feels good about himself. And as a mom, that’s all you care about, that your children are happy.’’
In the younger Kirkwood’s case, he can be really happy.
Soccer gave way to racing for the young Kirkwood
After splitting time as a kid between go-kart racing and playing soccer – his father was a professional player - Kirkwood ultimately decided to pursue racing. And what may have been a fun hobby in the early going quickly began to look like a viable career route. His natural ability was evident from the beginning and he worked hard to hone his craft. The result has been nothing but trophies and championships. Lots of them.
He’s still the only IndyCar driver to win titles in every single junior open-wheel series he competed in, working up the ranks – from Formula Fords to IndyCar’s Triple-A feeder series, Indy Lights – now called INDY NXT.
With Andretti’s stable full in 2022, Kirkwood embarked on his rookie IndyCar campaign with the legend Foyt’s team. Smaller and less-funded than most of the teams on the grid, however, Kirkwood had a season of high-speed education. Despite being a rookie and on an “underdog” team, he led laps and earned a Top-10 – ironically scoring that previous best finish on the same Long Beach streets where he won this past weekend.
And now even after a pair of challenging races to open the 2023 season – an accident at both St. Petersburg and Texas Motor Speedway - Kirkwood is ranked a career-high fifth in the championship standings heading into the next IndyCar Series race – a permanent road course at Alabama’s Barber Motorsports Park on April 30.
He’ll take part in a test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway later this week in preparation for the road course race there in mid-May and then the biggest race of the year, the May 28 Indianapolis 500.
It’s safe to say, Kirkwood will go into those premier events having earned a big confidence boost.
“And I’ll cherish the moment the rest of my life,’’ he said of Sunday’s debut on top of the winner’s podium.
Humble, grateful, devoted and fast, there is no question Kirkwood is again on a path he is familiar with: winning.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Kyle Kirkwood has first IndyCar Series win at Grand Prix of Long Beach
