After first oval win, does Kyle Kirkwood see himself as a title threat?

In a season dominated by Alex Palou, Kirkwood was the only other driver to win races, thanks to his victories in Long Beach and Detroit. However, that wasn’t enough for some. He had to do more. After all, there are only four street course events in the 17-race IndyCar calendar.

Now, Kirkwood remains the only other driver to have won races, although he added an oval victory to his résumé by winning last Sunday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway.

“I mean, it’s kind of funny, right? You get on this streak where it’s like, ‘Oh, he’s doing so well, he’s winning races, street courses’. But then you get your fourth and people are like, ‘another street course for Kirkwood. It’s not as big of a deal now. When is he going to win something else?” Kirkwood said following his second triumph in as many races and his third win of 2025.

“It takes away from the street courses, so this was huge for me. This was by far bigger than last weekend because of that,” he added, reflecting on his success in St. Louis.

A true contender

Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global

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

Kirkwood explained how the win at WWTR differed from the one at the Streets of Detroit in terms of his championship run.

“I think Detroit was one of the most satisfactory wins that I’ve ever had because I actually had to pass some people for some things. But today (Sunday) just like kind of puts a stamp down a little bit more, like hey, this kid might actually be able to contend for a championship and do things.”

“Everybody knows you’ve got to be diverse in this series. You’ve got to win at multiple circuits. You’ve got to win at multiple venues. Whether it’s a short oval, long oval, street course, road course, whatever it might be, you’ve got to win at all of them. A step in the right direction for sure”.

Two races ago, following Palou’s win in the Indy 500 and Kirkwood’s disqualification from the event — alongside teammate Marcus Ericsson — the driver of the Andretti Global No. 27 car trailed the Spaniard by 150 points in the championship standings. Now, that difference has been cut in half, down to 75 points, putting him in third place, just two points behind Pato O’Ward.

“It does (feel more reasonable). It’s double digits again. Triple digits are never a good sign in a championship. Moving closer. It’s still a long ways to go.”

“I’m not surprised of what has transpired with him because — I’m not taking anything away from him, but a lot of the beginning races of the season are races that he was really, really good at in past years, and it’s no surprise that he just pieced them all together and got wins at all the places that he did”, Kirkwood said about Palou’s form in the beginning of the season.

“But I think now we’re getting to a point in the season where these are races that we are very close to them on, and it will be interesting to see how they shake out. Ultimately we’re just going to have to keep doing what we’re doing, trying to win as many races as possible and get as many points as possible, and hopefully that will pan us out into a good position.”

“I can tell you that we’re going to do everything in our effort to claw back at him. It’s still a long ways away. 75 points is deep. That’s almost two races. He could still take a little break if he wanted to.”

Looking ahead to Road America

Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global

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

Next weekend, the IndyCar season continues at Road America, followed by Mid-Ohio, two weeks later. Palou has excelled at these two tracks in recent years, with wins and podiums. Kirkwood, on the other hand, is feeling confident about the Wisconsin event, but he recognizes the need to step up his game in Ohio.

“Road America has been a good one for us. We had a great race there last year. But if I’m being honest, Mid-Ohio has kind of eluded me in IndyCar. Hopefully we can come back there and that will change.”

“It’s kind of weird, because I felt like I won everything there in all the junior categories and then you get to IndyCar and it’s a different world. The things that you do well there are just average in IndyCar.”

“That’s a place I’m working on. It’s a place that we’re working on as a team, and hopefully we can come back there and do something like we did here.”