First Oval Win For Kirkwood Comes In Wild Gateway Affair

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Kyle Kirkwood survived a wild Sunday evening at World Wide Technology Raceway to notch his first-career NTT IndyCar Series oval win in the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline.

The Jupiter, Fla., driver’s Andretti Global crew played the fuel strategy and restarts perfectly in the closing moments, pitting from second place for fresh tires and fuel with 25 laps remaining.

Briefly, the fight for victory seemed to be between Kirkwood’s No. 27 Siemens Honda, PREMA Racing’s Callum Ilott, and Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward, until the No. 90 of Ilott bailed to pit with four to go.

By then, however, Kirkwood had built enough of a gap to keep O’Ward away from his rear wing, and brought home his third win of the season, as well as his second in a row following his victory at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix on June 1.

In doing so, Kirkwood kept Honda undefeated as a manufacturer this season, and remained the only driver other than Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou to win an IndyCar Series a race through eight rounds.

The win is the fifth for Kirkwood in 59 career Indy car starts over four years. The 26-year-old was strong all night, but led just eight laps officially en route to victory from 10th on the grid.

Reflecting after a sour Saturday, Kirkwood tipped his car seemed to come together over the nighttime transition on the 1.25-mile egg-shaped oval.

“Man, the starts and the restarts were big. That was absolutely huge,” said Kirkwood in victory lane. “We were not too happy with the car yesterday, and we got some help from the teammates [that] made the car really good and let us go on track with an amazing car. In the beginning, I really didn’t think we had it, but as it got dark and it cooled down, this Honda just came alive.

“My first oval win. I’m over the moon right now,” he added. “Ovals have eluded me for a very long time, so it’s nice to get that first one [checked] off and break that ice.”

Kirkwood leaves Gateway third in the championship standings at the midpoint of the season, 75 points behind Palou, and just two points back of O’Ward.

He pointed out several times afterward what getting the job done on something other than a street circuit means for his long-term future. Sunday night’s race win simply meant more.

“[It means] way more than a street course, I’m not gonna lie,” Kirkwood said. “An oval win and a road course win is what I wanted. I didn’t want people to think of me as just a street course guy … or else, they’ll just have me only go to the street courses. I feel like I earned a little bit of job security there.

“This is a big one.”

The race was a thriller, with plenty of side-by-side battles and spectacular moments to boot, with 20 total lead changes among 14 drivers.

One of those leaders was Arrow McLaren’s O’Ward, who ended the night in second, familiar and bitter territory for the Mexican-born racer.

Despite feeling a little left out to dry by teammate Nolan Siegel – who was a lap down late – in his pursuit of the leader, O’Ward did end up with his fourth podium of the year.

“It’s fantastic to be racing under the lights here again, and I was really happy with my car,” he said. “Just, that last little restart, I think good ol’ Nolan [Siegel] was sleeping a little bit and I think it gave [Kyle] Kirkwood an opportunity, and I was kind of stuck.

“I just think it was a bit of a hiccup there, but all in all, a very good points day for the Arrow McLaren No. 5 Chevy, and I just would have loved to have gotten that [win] for Team Chevy. We’re still winless all year, but we’re going to keep pushing.”

O’Ward ranks second in the standings, 73 points behind three-time series champion Palou, whose most recent win remains the 109th Indianapolis 500.

Third-place finisher Christian Rasmussen was the night’s biggest mover, advancing his No. 21 forward 22 positions from 25th starting spot and even rallying from his left side pod being ablaze during an early pit stop.

The Danish driver’s efforts earned him his best career finish, and the final step of the podium for Ed Carpenter Racing.

Six-time series champion Scott Dixon came home fourth with the third-most laps led of the night (43), after catching the night’s final caution flag to gain track position up front, followed by Santino Ferrucci in another impressive drive for A.J. Foyt Racing.

Indiana’s Conor Daly also showed major promise during the race, commanding 36 of the total 260-lap distance before finishing sixth. Rinus VeeKay, Palou, and Marcus Armstrong were seventh through ninth, respectively, and Robert Shwartzman scored a first top-10 for both himself and for PREMA Racing.

Chicago young gun and rising Indy car sensation David Malukas, who led a race-high 72 laps, scrubbed the wall on lap 196 to bring out the fourth and final caution. He soldiered on to a 12th-place result.

But the most spectacular and horrific moment of the race came right at halfway when Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden – then the race leader – and RLL’s Louis Foster made contact after Foster got into trouble off of turn four.

Newgarden attempted to thread the needle on the inside lane on the frontstretch to avoid contact, as Foster’s car shot left across the racing line, but couldn’t get through cleanly before disaster developed.

The violent impact left the No. 2 PPG Chevrolet sandwiched into the SAFER barrier before landing upside down on the front straight, just barely remaining on the track side of the pit wall.

Newgarden and Foster finished 25th and 26th, respectively, but were both checked and cleared by the IndyCar Medical Unit.

It was only one part of Team Penske’s nightmarish woes in St. Louis, as polesitter Will Power had already been taken out from contact with the wall on lap 47, and Scott McLaughlin fell out later on due to a mechanical issue on lap 216.

A busy summer stretch for the NTT IndyCar Series continues with the Xpel Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR on Sunday, June 22 at 1:30 p.m. ET, live on FOX, the IndyCar Radio Network, and SiriusXM IndyCar Nation, channel 218.