It looked like it would be a gray and gloomy day Downtown for the 50th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, but the clouds parted along the shore and the sun came shining down after the race began. It was fitting that for the historic half-century running of the Grand Prix, it was a new golden boy who got to pop champagne in the Winner’s Circle, as Kyle Kirkwood won his second checkered flag in three years.
The 26-year-old Florida native Kirkwood was the top qualifier and favorite for the race, which he led almost wire to wire in a perfect marriage of tactics and racing skill. Kirkwood, driving the No. 27 car, brought home the seventh Long Beach title for Andretti Autosport and became just the seventh racer to win two Long Beach titles in three years.
“We controlled the race, even from practice,” said Kirkwood after the Winner’s Circle celebration. “We had a really good qualifying, it was an amazing race and strategy. It was just execution all across the board.”
The seventh win for Andretti Autosport ties them with Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske for the most-ever wins in Long Beach.
It was a special day for Kirkwood, whose career has been defined by success here. He won the 2023 race, and with Sunday’s result, two of his three wins in his young IndyCar career have been at Long Beach. The other win came in 2023 on another IndyCar street circuit, the Music City Grand Prix in Nashville.
“This is a good one, it’s been a long time, I had a drought last year,” said Kirkwood.
The second-place finisher was Alex Palou, who has been on another tear after winning three of the last four IndyCar Series season titles and the first two races of the IndyCar season in 2025. Palou had some fun with the fact that it was a straightforward race with no yellow flags.
“It’s been a great weekend, but we didn’t have that ultimate speed that the number 27 did,” he said. “It’s a shame that we couldn’t make it more interesting for the fans, but I’m super happy to be here.”
Kirkwood complimented Palou for running a strong race.
“He didn’t make it easy on us,” Kirkwood said. “It was just execution all across the board because if Palou was in front he would’ve beat us. This was a track position race today without any yellows.”
The closest thing to an exchange between Kirkwood and Palou was on their final pit stop, where Palou’s team got him in and out at a faster speed than Kirkwood — but not fast enough for him to get around Kirkwood and into the lead.
“We couldn’t get a good exit,” said Palou.
Christian Lundgaard rounded out the podium by taking third place. He joked about the parade-like nature of the race in the press conference after, saying he thought he maybe only saw two other cars throughout the race.
That highlighted what a dominant effort it was by Kirkwood, who led 45 of 90 laps. Kirkwood’s average speed of 103.59 miles per hour was the second fastest average speed in the history of the IndyCar Series’ Long Beach run.
“This is a historic race, and I don’t think it’s set in yet for me,” said Kirkwood. “I know how special it is coming in to win the 50th anniversary, and to be a multi-time winner here is absolutely massive. It’s turning into a shorter and shorter list for me that my name’s on. And Andretti has a huge history here, to add to that, is big for me.”
Kirkwood becomes the 11th multi-time winner in Long Beach as well as the seventh to win twice in three years. He now sits second in the IndyCar Series championship standings, the highest he’s been in his career.
Longtime Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach CEO/President Jim Michaelian said the weekend was a success — they won’t have final attendance stats until Monday, but Michaelian said early tracking suggested they’ll beat last year’s mark of 194,000 attendees.
“This year was by far the most complex event that we’ve run here as a company,” said Michaelian, who has been involved in the race series from the beginning. “Not only did we run all of the normal activities that we have, the racing and the off-track stuff, but on top of that we threw in six different 50th anniversary-designated events. … Our people took on a pretty heroic task.”
The next IndyCar Series race will be in Alabama at the Barber Motorsports Park May 2-4. The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will return in April 2026 for its 51st running.