Kyle Kirkwood goes from promising to proven with Grand Prix of Long Beach win
Kyle Kirkwood was a phenom on training wheels, perhaps the most successful driver ever along the Road to Indy — what amounts to the bush leagues of racing. Yet after a little more than one year in the IndyCar big leagues, his reputation had turned.
He found trouble. He caused trouble. Somehow, some way, he’d torpedo his own chances and even the chances of others.
Still, his talent was undeniable. So a few weeks ago, race strategist for Andretti Autosport, former driver Bryan Herta, was switched from advising his son Colton — a rising star in his own right — to work with Kirkwood, the newest member of the Andretti team.
The transformation was immediate, lifting Kirkwood to the pole at the Grand Prix of Long Beach and to the top of the podium Sunday. It was the first IndyCar win for the 24-year-old from Jupiter, Fla.
“To have my first win at Long Beach is incredible and Bryan did a fantastic job on strategy,” he said. “Besides [the Indianapolis 500], this is our most prestigious race. When I won, I was trying to hold tears back in the car. I’ve never felt that before.”
On an ideal day before a sold-out crowd, the 48th running of the Grand Prix through palm-lined streets of Long Beach provided plenty of pathos, intrigue and triumph for the film crew shooting “100 Days to Indy,” a six-episode docuseries that will premiere April 27 and culminate with a finale focused on the Indy 500 on May 28.
Fellow Andretti Autosport drivers Romain Grosjean and Colton Herta finished second and fourth, respectively, and the top five finishers drove Hondas. Marcus Ericsson (third) and Alex Palou (fifth) drive for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Grosjean, who finished second at Long Beach last year as well, didn’t try to pass Kirkwood, even though he’d conserved fuel and during the last few laps could have utilized push-to-pass — a button on the steering wheel that provides a driver with the ability to give his car a short burst of speed if he has sufficient fuel.
Late in the first race of 2023 at St. Petersburg, Fla., Grosjean was in a tight battle for the lead with Scott McLaughlin when their cars made contact and they both crashed into the tire barrier.
Grosjean wasn’t about to allow something similar to occur abreast the iconic dolphin fountain at Long Beach, especially not with his teammate Kirkwood the leader.
“I didn’t even once try to win today,” Grosjean said. “I guess I saved too much fuel.”
Kirkwood led for 53 of the 85 laps, conjuring memories of his 2021 season driving in the Indy Lights series, when he won 10 of 20 races for Andretti. Last year, however, Andretti didn’t have an IndyCar slot for him, so Kirkwood spent a frustrating, winless rookie year driving for A.J. Foyt Enterprises.
A spot with Andretti opened last offseason, a deal with Kirkwood came together quickly and Bryan Herta became his strategist before the race at Texas a few weeks ago.
“Kyle is easy because despite his relative inexperience, he probably had the most successful junior career of any American driver ever,” Bryan Herta said. “What I told him before the race was, ‘You’ve won so many races, you know how to win, and this is no different.’ "
Kirkwood’s toughest competition could have been Ericsson, who won at St. Petersburg and finished eighth at the Grand Prix at Texas, the only other IndyCar race this year ahead of Long Beach. Ericsson leads all drivers in championship series points and is the Indianapolis 500 defending champion.
An aggressive move by Pato O’Ward on the 20th lap resulted in wheel-to-wheel contact that knocked Scott Dixon into a tire barrier and clipped Ericsson’s nose. Ericsson fought back in a race that had more passes — 253 — than any other Grand Prix of Long Beach since officials began recording the statistic in 2009.
“Got involved in that incident when Pato dive bombed on a few guys, hit my front wing and did some damage and I lost five, six positions,” Ericsson said. “I’m not blaming him too much. It was just a low-percentage move."
O’Ward, a 23-year-old rising star and a native of Monterrey, Mexico, had a huge contingent of fans who cheered and chanted his name afterward even while he admitted during a television interview to being too aggressive.
Attention soon shifted back to Kirkwood and his team owner, Michael Andretti, whose first and last IndyCar victories came at Long Beach.
“It makes it extra special to do it at a place like Long Beach," said Andretti, whose father, racing legend Mario Andretti, won four times at Long Beach. "It’s such a huge event, an iconic event. It’ll always be special to Kyle, I can assure you.”
Driving like it’s 1983
Patrick Long was all of one year old when Keke Rosberg won the Monaco Grand Prix in 1983 driving the Williams FW08C Formula One car.
No matter. Forty years later, Long, who retired from full-time racing in 2021, drove the same car to victory Sunday in a race of historic F1 cars ahead of the Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Long, who amassed more than 50 wins and six major championships during a 20-year career, was excited to win for filmmaker and director Erich Joiner, who now owns the historic car. Long’s fastest lap was the 11th and last at 1;18.633.
“Driving [the Williams] is very visceral and very rewarding,” said Long, who added that the trophy he was presented will end up with all his others “in the cheap seats in the garage man cave.”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
