The Trackside Report

Long Beach, Calif – If you ask Kyle Kirkwood what needs to happen to take down Alex Palou in 2025, it unfortunately does not involve consuming a pre-race Triple Dipper from Chili’s.

The start of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series has Kirkwood and his No. 27 Chili’s Honda Andretti team feeling optimistic about the season ahead, as they try to cool down the hot start by Ganassi Racing driver Alex Palou. Kirkwood finds himself sitting in sixth in the championship points, and one of six drivers to post top-10 finishes in the first two races of the early season.

Kirkwood admits that chasing down the two-time defending series champion will be a tall task for the field, as Palou has started to runaway with things early in the season.

“We got to win races,” said Kirkwood. “We can’t let them get a big head start. That is one thing that Palou has done in the past couple years, gets a huge head start, then everybody claws back at him at the end of the season.”

The former USF2000 (2018), USF Pro 2000 (2019), and INDY NXT by Firestone (2021) champion is coming off his best overall season of NTT IndyCar competition with an average finish of 8.7 and a seventh-place finish in the championship standings in 2024. Regardless of the fast start, Kirkwood admits that there is still room to grow in 2025.

“I mean, I think I’m doing a decent job,” said Kirkwood. “The team has also put a huge effort into making sure that we’re quicker at some of these other tracks. I feel like I’m chipping away at it. I’m disappointed that we haven’t gotten the wins we had in 2023. We’re also putting ourselves in positions to be a lot closer to a lot more wins.”

Heading into the 50^th running of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, Kirkwood knows a thing or two about running competitive at the infamous 1.968-mile, 11-turn street course. In his three-seasons at the southern California circuit, he’s amassed three top-10 finishes, completed 100-percent of his laps, and dominated the event two years ago, by leading 53 of the scheduled 85 laps and winning by .9907 seconds over then teammate, Romain Grosjean.

“That place is just an enjoyable place to drive,” said Kirkwood. “It’s very unique for a street course. I’’s not just 90-degree corners, like most of them are. The constant change in asphalt makes you adapt very quickly to what the grip level is going to be in one corner versus the next.”

But what about containing Palou at a place that has proven successful for Kirkwood?

“This is a very crucial weekend for us to turn things around in the championship hunt,” said Kirkwood. “Even though it’s still early in the season, a lot of people don’t look at points. If the guy [Palou] is 60 points ahead of you, you got to kind of pay attention to that.”

The NTT IndyCar Series Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach kicks off on Sunday, Apr. 13 at 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the IndyCar Radio Network.