How IndyCar's shiny new event provided a challenger to Palou's throne

It’s way too early to call it a passing of the torch, but there was something symbolic about Kyle Kirkwood’s victory in IndyCar’s inaugural Grand Prix of Arlington. The 27-year-old American overcame a mental error in qualifying and a series of bad pit stops in the race to seize the lead from four-time series champion Alex Palou with 15 laps remaining. He decisively pulled away at the front before a surprisingly clean race unfortunately ended under caution.

It was Kirkwood’s sixth IndyCar victory, five of which have come on street circuits. Years from now, he’ll look back proudly on this one. Not only did he beat the sport’s benchmark in a straight fight, he did it in the first running of what promises to be a keystone event on the IndyCar schedule given how smoothly and successfully the first year unfolded.

The Arlington GP is a joint venture between IndyCar owner Penske Entertainment, the Dallas Cowboys NFL team, and REV Entertainment, with a 2.73-mile circuit winding through a park-like property that houses AT&T Stadium (home of the Cowboys) and Globe Life Field, where the Texas Rangers play their home games. There was clearly no shortage of investment in the event, with all new walls, fences, and multi-level suites that set a new standard of presentation for IndyCar events.

The circuit itself was a revelation. At 2.73 miles in length, it didn’t look worth getting excited about on paper, but other than being bumpier than anticipated, it exceeded expectations in every regard.

The drivers raved about how it mixed a meandering mile-long back stretch with several technical sections and potential passing zones and a surprising amount of elevation change.

From a fan’s perspective, General Admission tickets allowed you to walk the grounds and get close to the cars with unobstructed views at many corners, and there was plenty of nearby parking courtesy of the sports stadium infrastructure that served as grounds for the venue. Attendance was strong on all three days, and there’s absolutely no question that the first Arlington GP was a smash hit for IndyCar.

Having Kirkwood as the race winner certainly didn’t hurt. The Florida native was the first driver to claim consecutive championships on every rung of the modern day American open-wheel ladder system, and he’s enjoyed a successful start to his IndyCar career with the Andretti Global team. He’s clean-cut, well-spoken, and smooth and savvy in a racing car – kind of an American version of Alex Palou.

Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Lumen via Getty Images

What made Kirkwood’s triumph at Arlington (a suburb between Dallas and Fort Worth in the so-called Metroplex) so significant is the way he did it.

When Kirkwood won his second Long Beach Grand Prix in 2025, he did so by holding off Palou down the stretch. This time, he caught the four-time IndyCar champion by surprise with an audacious outbraking move for the lead, then pulled away in the closing laps. Kirkwood now leads the championship for the first time in his five-year IndyCar career.

“I’m stoked about that,” he enthused.

Kirkwood, naturally, deflected the credit to his team. The weekend demonstrated the strength of the Andretti organization on street courses, as Marcus Ericsson claimed his first IndyCar pole (and first P1 start since he competed in GP2 in 2013!), Kirkwood, Will Power, and Ericsson finished 1-3-4, and Max Taylor won the Indy NXT support race.

Kirkwood was really fast. I could see already on the second and third stint that I was pushing as much as I could, using overtake to try to get gaps. He was closing three or four tenths on me and I was like, ‘Oh, man, it’s going to be tough.’

Alex Palou

“It’s not just me out there driving one of these cars,” Kirkwood said. “It’s all the hard work that goes into one of these street courses is why we have the performance we have. It’s the reason why we had the pole, finished 1, 3 and 4.”

Smiling, he added, “But Palou is always there.”

Still, even Palou was impressed with Kirkwood’s performance.

“I tried hard, man,” Palou admitted. “Kirkwood was really fast. I could see already on the second and third stint that I was pushing as much as I could, using overtake to try to get gaps. He was closing three or four tenths on me and I was like, ‘Oh, man, it’s going to be tough.’

Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing

Photo by: Perry Nelson / Lumen via Getty Images

“He just passed me incredibly - it was a very awesome overtake,” the IndyCar champion added. “Should have obviously defended a little bit better. It’s very easy to say now, but honestly didn’t really have much for him. Very impressive.”

What was truly impressive was Kirkwood’s candor in admitting he probably threw away pole position with his own mistake. He convinced himself his car was fueled for two qualifying laps when it was actually set up for three, and he aborted what should have been his final effort after locking his brakes and making a mistake.

That left him seventh on the grid, and even a trio of botched pit stops could not deny his quest for victory.

“I made mistakes yesterday, you know?” Kirkwood said, defending his crew. “We had the pace to overcome it. I wasn’t worried. I wanted to keep them calm, not get them fired up. Of course we had issues. But, of course, I’m not going to tear into my team. We’ve been one of the fastest on pit lane. I have a lot of confidence in them. It was not a good day on pit lane, but we’ll have it fixed in the next weeks.”

By late 2025, there was a sense of inevitability about Palou winning IndyCar races and championships. By demonstrating his all-round skills, Kirkwood’s first oval win at Gateway in 2025 legitimised him as a title contender. But beating Palou in a straight fight on the new Arlington street course somehow seems more convincing.

He knows he needs to find more consistency. But through his highlight performances to date, Kirkwood has positioned himself as the man to dethrone Palou.

“We're three races in; I don't want to focus too much on the championship,” Kirkwood cautioned. “I want to focus on the next race in front of us, maximizing our performance. Of course, we’re good at street courses. We’ve figured out short ovals now. We’re going to a road course (Barber Motorsports Park) next. That’s where we need to thrive.

“There’s a lot of work to do. We want to be the biggest threat. Every driver does. We’re currently the biggest threat to [Palou] and the entire rest of the field. But we need to continue that because we got a lot of races to go.”

Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian, Will Power, Andretti Global

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Lumen via Getty Images