Kirkwood starts on pole in just his third race with Andretti Autosport. Photo: IndyCar
Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session on the streets of Long Beach resulted in Kyle Kirkwood earning his first ever NTT IndyCar Series pole.
The sophomore driver was able to stay out of the wall and drove his Andretti Autosport Honda around the tricky street course in 1:06.2878 by utilizing a final set of sticker tires to his advantage.
“A step in the right direction, for sure,” said Kirkwood after he climbed from the car. “I knew this day would come. I didn’t know if it would come later or this early. It’s a good moment, no doubt. Our car is on fire this weekend.”
Marcus Ericsson nearly took pole for himself, but ended up just 0.0375 seconds off the pace when the checkered flag flew.
Kirkwood’s team-mate Romain Grosjean set the third fastest time of the afternoon, continuing his streak of good pace in the third race weekend of the 2023 season.
A pair of Ganassi drivers took the next couple positions, with Alex Palou and Scott Dixon earning the fourth and fifth starting position respectively.
Pato O’Ward was the lone Arrow McLaren driver to make it into the Firestone Fast 6, and the only Chevrolet-powered representative in the final qualifying round, but was only able to set the sixth fastest time.
That result was a bit surprising considering the Mexican driver had handily topped the timesheets for both practice sessions leading up to qualifying.
Rookie Marcus Armstrong overshot turn 9 in the second round of qualifying, bringing out the red flag and ruining a lot of drivers’ fast lap attempts. A lengthy cleanup process to remove water that spilled out of the protective tire barrier left everyone with just one lap to decide who advanced to the Fast 6.
Colton Herta and Josef Newgarden were the ones that lost out most from that final lap, and were relegated from advancing positions down to seventh and eighth respectively for Sunday’s race.
Will Power, IndyCar’s all-time pole leader, was not able to advance out of the first round. He was knocked out by his team-mate Josef Newgarden, and will start from the seventh row.
Grosjean nearly earned his second pole of the season, but will start third. Photo: IndyCar
David Malukas was the first driver to retire from qualifying when he backed his Dale Coyne Racing Honda into the barriers.
A slight touch to the wall earlier in his lap damaged his suspension, and he had no way to save his car once it came around on him. The sophomore driver will start down in 25th on Sunday.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing continued their 2023 woes, and had all three drivers eliminated in the first round.
Jack Harvey’s 15th-place qualifying effort was the best of the bunch, and seems to be the team’s best hope for a top 10 finish on the seaside course.
IndyCar’s 85-lap race will take place on Sunday afternoon, after IMSA has had a chance to run their own race on the same circuit late Saturday.
Keyword: Kirkwood rockets to first IndyCar pole at Long Beach