Kyle Kirkwood reveals Andretti’s best three IndyCar tracks

Andretti Global driver Kyle Kirkwood recently spoke about Andretti's strongest tracks. Kirkwood won at the 50th Anniversary Long Beach Grand Prix, held on April 13.

The 26-year-old claimed the victory after starting the race from pole position, becoming the first driver to win from pole position this year. The other two Andretti's of Herta and Ericsson, finished in sixth and 12th place, respectively. The Andretti cars looked particularly speedy at the street track.

While in conversation with fellow IndyCar driver Conor Daly on his podcast Speed Street, Kirkwood was asked about what gives him confidence when it comes to the Andretti car around tracks like Long Beach.

"Andretti always stays ahead when it comes to street courses, and yeah, I mean, Long Beach is a special one to the team, and I couldn't tell you why we're so good there. I actually rate Long Beach as potentially the third-best track that we got to. I think Toronto and Detroit are two of our better circuits; it's just that Long Beach is a much more straightforward race," he replied (2:20 onwards).

"It produces less tire deg than the other street courses, and I would say for us, tire deg is not our strong suit, so maybe that's why it looks a little bit better when it comes to race time. But yeah, Andretti in general is just good at street courses; it gives you confidence when you have a lot of grip and makes for a much easier weekend," Kirkwood added.

The Toronto Grand Prix takes place in Ontario on a 1.765-mile street circuit. During the 2024 race, Andretti driver Colton Herta claimed the victory at the track. While the Detroit Grand Prix takes place on a 1.645-mile track, during the 2021 race, Marcus Ericsson claimed the victory with his previous team, Chip Ganassi Racing.

Kyle Kirkwood helped Andretti gain their first pole and first win of the 2025 season. He has also moved himself up into second position in the drivers' championship, declaring himself as one of the contenders for the title.

Kyle Kirkwood expresses his feelings after winning at Long Beach for the second time.

Kyle Kirkwood won the 50th Anniversary ACURA Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 13. The #27 car driver seemed dominant throughout the weekend.

Kirkwood started the race on pole position, with his teammate Colton Herta in second place as they claimed front row lock out for Andretti. Behind the Andretti duo sat the three-time champion Alex Palou. Kirkwood was aware of the challenge that awaited him right from the beginning of the race.

During the race, Kirkwood managed to skillfully keep the Spaniard behind him and claimed the victory, breaking Palou's streak of consecutive race wins. Post the race, while talking to FOX in an interview Kirkwood said:

"What a great day. We controlled the race from, even from practice, right? We thought we were in control. Really good qualifying, amazing race, amazing strategy, but it was just execution all across the board that won us the race here today."

Kyle Kirkwood also highlighted how if Palou had qualified ahead of him, he would have won the race, adding:

"If Palou was in front, he would have beat us for sure. This was a track position race here today without any yellows. Hats off to Honda and Andretti guys...."

With this win, Kyle Kirkwood ended his 23-winless race streak.