KYLE KIRKWOOD – INDYCAR PHOTO
LONG BEACH, Calif. (Saturday, April 12, 2025) – Just when it appeared
reigning NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion and points leader Alex Palou looked
invincible on the streets of Long Beach, Andretti Global stepped forward
to make a statement by locking out the front row in qualifying Saturday
for the 50th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Kyle Kirkwood earned his first NTT P1 Award of the season and third of
his career with a top lap of 1 minute, 6.1921 seconds in the No. 27
PreFab Honda on his last lap in the Firestone Fast Six. Kirkwood’s
first career pole also came at Long Beach, in 2023 when he also won the
race on the iconic 11-turn, 1.968-mile Southern California temporary
street circuit.
“When you’re in an Andretti Global car at Long Beach, you know
you’re going to be quick,” Kirkwood said. “You’ve got to be so
happy with that, right? A front-row Andretti Global lockout here at Long
Beach.
“I’m shaking. That was great. That was such a good lap, such a good
qualifying. Fortunately, I didn’t put any wheel wrong or hit anything.
That’s always a question here at street courses. You’ve got to send
it to get that top spot.”
Southern California native Colton Herta qualified second at 1:06.4232 in
the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda. It was the first front-row lockout for
Andretti Global since the Honda Indy Toronto last July, when Herta won
the pole and Kirkwood qualified second. Herta also won that race.
Palou, who has won the first two races this season, qualified third at
1:06.6254 in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Felix Rosenqvist
took advantage of misfortune by a competitor in the second round to earn
a spot in the Firestone Fast Six and qualify fourth at 1:06.6358 in the
No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing.
Marcus Ericsson was the third Andretti Global driver in the top five,
qualifying fifth at 1:06.7061 in the No. 28 Bryant Honda. Scott
McLaughlin will share the third row on the starting grid with Ericsson
after qualifying sixth at 1:07.0393 in the No. 3 DEX Imaging Team Penske
Chevrolet.
Up next is the pre-race warmup at noon ET Sunday (FS1, FOX Sports app,
INDYCAR Radio Network), followed by the 90-lap race at 4:30 p.m. (FOX,
FOX Deportes, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).
Palou took the top spot in the Firestone Fast Six with about 30 seconds
to go in the session. But Kirkwood then blasted his pole-winning final
lap seconds later, followed by Herta’s quickest lap.
Herta ran out of time for a proper warmup lap for his final run, and he
said the delay in raising the temperatures of his Firestone Firehawk
alternate tires could have been the reason for Kirkwood’s gap to the
rest of the field, the largest in qualifying this season through three
races.
“The prep lap is what we do to try to get the temperatures in the
right window, try to get the front and rear (tires) equal as we can,”
Herta said. “I didn’t have that, so the tires started out a little
cold. But they got there in the end, after maybe three or four corners.
“I’m guessing that maybe the time lost to Kyle is probably in those
first few corners. Still can’t be mad at a front row, an Andretti 1-2,
and Marcus is right there in fifth. All of us in the Fast Six. Shows we
got a strong program here to go into the race with tomorrow.”
Christian Lundgaard, fourth in points, possibly lost a spot in the
Firestone Fast Six when he hit the tire barrier in Turn 6 on his final
qualifying lap in the second segment.
Lundgaard was fifth on the time charts when his No. 7 Arrow McLaren
Chevrolet speared the barrier, triggering a red flag just moments after
the checkered to end the session. INDYCAR qualifying rules state any
driver who causes a red flag in qualifying loses their two quickest laps
and cannot advance to the next session. That penalty placed Rosenqvist
into the Firestone Fast Six.