WASHINGTON — Kyle Kirkwood’s heart was racing when he woke up Sunday morning before IndyCar’s Freedom 250 Grand Prix. Kirkwood knew he was starting on the front row in a race that had over 100,000 spectators in attendance for the one-time race that many drivers ranked second to the Indianapolis 500.
After Kirkwood snatched the lead from Alex Palou on the race’s opening lap and led most of the way, he had to reset mentally about 100 laps in. The pressure of this race made the Andretti Global driver regain focus to not make a mistake that would cost him the lead.
“I just told myself to reset,” Kirkwood said. “Even in the last few laps, once it got to the last lap, I could let myself breathe a little bit, soak it in a little bit because we had about a four-and-a-half-second lead. Kind of chilled out in that lap.”
In IndyCar’s last race in Markham, Ontario, Kirkwood had a lapse in focus that cost him. While running in the top five and having a chance to win, Kirkwood brushed the inside wall of Turn 3 in Markham, causing his No. 27 Honda to ricochet off the outside wall, which ended his day.
The 27-year-old said, “After last weekend, I was very sure I was not going to let myself do that once again,” as he maintained focus for the 147-lap, 250-mile race on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
The victory was Kirkwood’s second of the year, after he outdueled Palou in the Grand Prix of Arlington – another new street course – in March. With Marcus Ericsson winning in Markham on Aug. 16, Andretti Global swept IndyCar’s three new street course races in 2026.
Andretti Global is in its first year of the driver trio of Kirkwood, Ericsson and Power. The team will bring those three back in 2027 after Ericsson signed a contract extension earlier this month. With drivers who frequently bounce information off each other, Andretti Global has adapted to new street circuits better than anyone else this year, with the team claiming first and third in each race. On Sunday, Power finished third and Ericsson finished fourth.
“These inaugural events this year, I think it’s really shown the strength of the team how they all bound together and really took it on,” team principal Ron Ruzewski said. “The drivers – really instrumental for the drivers to work together and try things, spread that information amongst each other in the sessions.”
Kirkwood, who got his seventh career win and sixth on a street course, credited the team’s crew of engineers for what it accomplished on street courses this year.
“Quite honestly, they’ve given us the tools every single weekend to go fast,” Kirkwood said. “Those efforts, that growth that we’ve seen everywhere else, is showing exponentially on these circuits that are brand new because we’re putting in that much more effort than maybe some of the others are.”
Andretti Global brought in Power and Ruzewski – who both spent over a decade and a half with Team Penske before departing the team in 2025 – with the aim of catching up to Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing, the two teams that have dominated IndyCar since it merged with Champ Car in 2008.
CGR and Palou maintain a 91-point lead (a race win is worth 50 points) in the championship over Kirkwood with three races to go. Kirkwood and the team have acknowledged in recent weeks that a comeback is unlikely, with Kirkwood saying it’d take “an immense amount of misfortune” for Palou to not win the title after Palou won the Grand Prix of Portland on Aug. 9.
Although Palou experienced some of that misfortune Sunday, Andretti Global is focused on the gains it has made on the four-time champion this year and is looking forward to what it thinks will be a close championship bout in 2027.
“Team’s made huge progression over this season, and you can see it now,” Power said. “It’s all coming. I think the expectation now every weekend is to be on the podium, challenge for a win. I think next year we’ll be wanting to be all top five in the championship type stuff.”
Said Ericsson: “I feel like we are building a lot of momentum in the Andretti camp. We’re really getting stronger and stronger. The fact that we’re keeping this lineup in the next year, we’re gonna be really, really tough to beat next year, so I’m excited about that.”
Will IndyCar return to Washington D.C.?
This race is supposed to be a one-time event. Those at Penske Entertainment, IndyCar’s parent company, have repeatedly called it just that.
But after a weekend that went smoother than most could’ve imagined when President Donald Trump signed an executive order for the race to happen in January, the series has left the door open for a return.
Penske Corporation president Bud Denker said he and Roger Penske, the owner of Penske Corporation and Penske Entertainment, will talk about a potential return in 2027. Denker said both Donald and Melania Trump indicated they want IndyCar to be back next year, which D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser has also lobbied for multiple times.
With seven pre-race flyovers and a nearly two-hour pre-race show on Fox, Kirkwood knew that something was different about Sunday’s race.
“I only get that one other place, and that’s the Indy 500,” Kirkwood said. “Just that sensation, it gives it its own energy. That’s what this place had. This was a very special day. We were very prepared for it. Outside of the Indy 500, I don’t think there’s another race that you’d want to win.”
Kirkwood is one of eight United States natives in IndyCar’s full-time field, and he delivered a win in the race meant to celebrate the country’s 250th birthday. When asked if he wants to come back, the Jupiter, Florida, native said part of him doesn’t want to return so he can be the only driver to win this race, but another part of him wants to come back to try to win again next year. Either way, Kirkwood thought the racing product was compelling enough to warrant a return.
“When I was around other cars, you could actually race cars pretty well,” Kirkwood said. “I didn’t see the broadcast, I don’t know exactly what it looked like. I don’t know if it was great or not throughout the midfield and the rest of the back. From the front, we just had a dominant car. It probably didn’t look that shiny for the lead.”
If Sunday was the only time IndyCar races in the nation’s capital, Kirkwood and Andretti Global provided a special performance in a special race. He continues to prove himself as Palou’s best competitor on street circuits.
Zion Brown is IndyStar’s motorsports reporter. Follow him at @z10nbr0wn. Get IndyStar’s motor sports coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Motor Sports newsletter. Subscribe to the YouTube channel IndyStar TV: IndyCar for a behind-the-scenes look at IndyCar and expert analysis.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Kyle Kirkwood’s win at Freedom 250 latest example Andretti Global rising among IndyCar’s best
Reporting by Zion Brown, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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By Zion Brown, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
