Kyle Kirkwood reacts after sidelining Pato O’Ward for his first career oval win

Andretti Global driver Kyle Kirkwood secured his third career win after acing the restart of the chaotic Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway. Kirkwood drove his #27 Siemens Honda to victory by 0.5398 of a second over Pato O’Ward's #5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.

The race, marred with multiple restarts, saw Pato O’Ward and Conor Daly in the top two spots after the first one. It saw Daly's attack on O’Ward for the lead, which the former claimed on Lap 160. However, Kyle Kirkwood, who maintained a top 10 all night, had a great pit stop on Lap 195, which helped him gain a few positions.

Subsequently, David Malukas made light contact with the wall, triggering a caution period. Following the field reset, Scott Dixon found himself in the lead, having not pitted before the yellow. His intention to save fuel in the early parts of the race brought him to the front, but he had to continue coasting to reach the finish, unlike the drivers behind him.

On the second restart, Pato O’Ward held second place with Kyle Kirkwood in third, but a slow reaction time from O’Ward allowed Kirkwood to go past the Mexican with 55 laps remaining. Kirkwood eventually made an undercut on the leader and took the lead in the race. After the race, he explained how restarts helped him take his first-ever victory at an oval (via IndyCar on FOX).

"The starts and the restarts were big, like that was absolutely huge. We were not too happy with the car yesterday and we had got some help from the teammates, made the car really good and came home with a win on track with amazing car. In the beginning I really didn't think we had it but as it got dark and it cooled down, the Honda, this Andretti Global #27 just came alive," said Kirkwood. (0:12 onwards)

Kirkwood is currently third on the IndyCar Driver's standings with 260 points.

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Kyle Kirkwood didn't want to be known as just the 'Street Course Guy'

NTT Indy Car Series Bommarito Automotive Group 500 - Source: Getty

Kyle Kirkwood expressed how, despite having made four trips to the victory lane, ovals had eluded him. When asked by IndyCar Pitlane reporter Georgia Henneberry what it meant for him, he expressed that the oval win meant way more than the street course ones.

"Way more than a street course, I am not gonna lie. An oval win and a course win is what I have wanted. I didn't want people to think of me as just the street course guy." (1:00 onwards)

The victory marked back-to-back wins for Kirkwood, with the last one being in Detroit. Notably, only two drivers, Kyle Kirkwood and Alex Palou, have reached victory lane this season.