IndyCar: Kirkwood wins pole for 50th Acura GP of Long Beach
Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood turned a lap of 1m.06.1921s to win the pole position for the 50th annual Acura GP of Long Beach NTT IndyCar Series race.
Kirkwood earned his first NTT P1 Award of the season and third of his career in the No. 27 PreFab Honda.
“When you’re in an Andretti Global car at Long Beach, you know you’re going to be quick,” Kirkwood said. “You’ve got to be so happy with that, right? A front-row Andretti Global lockout here at Long Beach.
“I’m shaking. That was great. That was such a good lap, such a good qualifying. Fortunately, I didn’t put any wheel wrong or hit anything. That’s always a question here at street courses. You’ve got to send it to get that top spot.”
Kirkwood’s teammate, #26 Colton Herta, will start second tomorrow after turning a lap of 1m06.4232.
“The prep lap is what we do to try to get the temperatures in the right window, try to get the front and rear (tires) equal as we can,” Herta said. “I didn’t have that, so the tires started out a little cold. But they got there in the end, after maybe three or four corners.
“I’m guessing that maybe the time lost to Kyle is probably in those first few corners. Still can’t be mad at a front row, an Andretti 1-2, and Marcus is right there in fifth. All of us in the Fast Six. Shows we got a strong program here to go into the race with tomorrow.”
Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou will start in Row 2 after his fastest lap of 1m06.6254s.
Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rösenqvist, last year’s polesitter, will start fourth on Sunday after his lap of 1m06.6358s.
Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson starts fifth after turning a lap of 1m.067.7061.
Honda-powered cars took the top-6 qualifying positions.
Kirkwood is a previous winner on the streets of Long Beach and starts in a strong position with his Andretti Global teammate Colton Herta alongside
2025 Acura GP of Long Beach Qualifying Results
|
Rank |
Car |
Driver Name |
Engine |
Time |
Speed |
Session |
|
1 |
27 |
Kirkwood, Kyle |
Honda |
1m06.1921s |
107.034 |
Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six |
|
2 |
26 |
Herta, Colton |
Honda |
1m06.4232s |
106.662 |
Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six |
|
3 |
10 |
Palou, Alex |
Honda |
1m06.6254s |
106.338 |
Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six |
|
4 |
60 |
Rosenqvist, Felix |
Honda |
1m06.6358s |
106.321 |
Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six |
|
5 |
28 |
Ericsson, Marcus |
Honda |
1m06.7061s |
106.209 |
Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six |
|
6 |
3 |
McLaughlin, Scott |
Chevy |
1m07.0393s |
105.681 |
Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six |
|
7 |
66 |
Armstrong, Marcus |
Honda |
1m06.9381s |
105.841 |
Elimination Round 2 / Top 12 |
|
8 |
20 |
Rossi, Alexander |
Chevy |
1m07.1989s |
105.430 |
Elimination Round 2 / Top 12 |
|
9 |
5 |
O’Ward, Pato |
Chevy |
1m07.5540s |
104.876 |
Elimination Round 2 / Top 12 |
|
10 |
4 |
Malukas, David |
Chevy |
1m07.9818s |
104.216 |
Elimination Round 2 / Top 12 |
|
11 |
6 |
Siegel, Nolan |
Chevy |
1m08.2861s |
103.752 |
Elimination Round 2 / Top 12 |
|
12 |
7 |
Lundgaard, Christian |
Chevy |
1m12.0583s |
98.320 |
Elimination Round 2 / Top 12 |
|
13 |
12 |
Power, Will |
Chevy |
1m07.6606s |
104.711 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
|
14 |
9 |
Dixon, Scott |
Honda |
1m07.3777s |
105.151 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
|
15 |
2 |
Newgarden, Josef |
Chevy |
1m07.6905s |
104.665 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
|
16 |
15 |
Rahal, Graham |
Honda |
1m07.3806s |
105.146 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
|
17 |
8 |
Simpson, Kyffin |
Honda |
1m07.7026s |
104.646 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
|
18 |
21 |
Rasmussen, Christian |
Chevy |
1m07.4664s |
105.012 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
|
19 |
77 |
Robb, Sting Ray |
Chevy |
1m07.7925s |
104.507 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
|
20 |
45 |
Foster, Louis (R) |
Honda |
1m07.5295s |
104.914 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
|
21 |
76 |
Daly, Conor |
Chevy |
1m07.9223s |
104.307 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
|
22 |
90 |
Ilott, Callum |
Chevy |
1m07.5890s |
104.822 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
|
23 |
30 |
DeFrancesco, Devlin |
Honda |
1m08.0824s |
104.062 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
|
24 |
83 |
Shwartzman, Robert (R) |
Chevy |
1m07.6606s |
104.711 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
|
25 |
18 |
Veekay, Rinus |
Honda |
1m08.2326s |
103.833 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
|
26 |
51 |
Abel, Jacob (R) |
Honda |
1m08.5051s |
103.420 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
|
27 |
14 |
Ferrucci, Santino |
Chevy |
1m08.6268s |
103.237 |
Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
|
(R) Rookie |
Lucille Dust reporting live from Long Beach