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Motorsport

Joey Barnes

IndyCar Freedom 250: Kyle Kirkwood wins, Alex Palou falters in Washington D.C.

Kyle Kirkwood Alex Palou Graham Rahal McLaughlin Lundgaard Christian Rasmussen ECR Christian Rasmussen Will Power Rinus VeeKay Santino Ferrucci

Kyle Kirkwood delivered a dominant victory in the Freedom 250 Grand Prix.

After starting second in the #27 Andretti Global Honda, Kirkwood led 128 of 147 laps en route to claiming the historic result by 3.0906s on the 1.7-mile, 7-turn temporary street circuit wrapped around the National Mall. It marked his second win of the 2026 IndyCar Series season.

“You can’t even put it into words. This is incredible,” said Kirkwood, 27. “I’m almost in tears here. This is a big moment for us, big moment for America. The 250, right? Big moment for Andretti. Big moment for Sam’s Club and Honda. These guys [pit crew], they’re the ones that gave me the equipment and this car right here to be out there, to go out there and perform. But man, that was a hard race, 147 laps. I'm out of breath right now trying to get words to you.”

Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian (Photo by: Chris Graythen / Getty Images)

Will Power finished third, giving Andretti Global two cars on the podium for the second consecutive race.

Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson claimed fourth, ahead of Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simpson in fifth.

Kirkwood made significant ground on championship leader Alex Palou, with the Chip Ganassi Racing driver stumbling with multiple mistakes to finish 20th. Kirkwood, who sits second in the title race and came into this weekend 133 points behind, now sits 91 points back with three races to go.

The Race

POV: Kyle Kirkwood takes the lead on the opening lap! 👏 pic.twitter.com/4yliuqNT9Y
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) August 23, 2026

President Donald Trump waved the green flag as polesitter Palou led the field away. Despite having a poor launch on the start, Kirkwood was able to push by Palou to take the lead heading into Turn 3.

A caution came before the lap came to an end, though, with debris out on track in Turn 4. The restart came on Lap 5, with Kirkwood jumping to a 1s lead right away.

Kirkwood held a lead of just over one second after 10 laps, with Palou in second, followed by McLaughlin in third at roughly 3s behind.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simpson, who started 23rd, was the first driver to go off-sequence and pit on Lap 11. Dale Coyne Racing’s Romain Grosjean pitted four laps later.

General view (Photo by: Eric Lee / Getty Images)

On Lap 17, there was another full course caution for debris in Turn 3. With the pits open on Lap 20, David Malukas, Sting Ray Robb, Santino Ferrucci, and Graham Rahal came in for service. At the same time, Grosjean was hit with a penalty and forced to give up one position for failure to pack up.

Kirkwood led the field to the green flag on Lap 23, with Palou right on his rear wing. Shortly after, Ferrucci was hit with a suspected electrical issue that left him returning back to pit lane for repairs; he returned but eight laps down.

CHAOS ON THE RESTART 😬

Multiple cars were involved in an incident entering Turn 5, including Rinus VeeKay and Christian Rasmussen. pic.twitter.com/x2NCG2fUcW
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) August 23, 2026

The top five after 35 laps were Kirkwood, with Palou 1.2s back in second, McLaughlin in third but complaining of a vibration, ECR’s Christian Rasmussen in fourth, and Meyer Shank Racing’s Marcus Armstrong in fifth.

A massive crash came on Lap 36 after Malukas clipped the inside wall and was sent hard into the outside barrier, leaving him directly in the path of an oncoming Sting Ray Robb (Juncos Hollinger Racing), who nailed the side of the #12 Team Penske Chevrolet.

With the pits open, several of the frontrunners came in for service, led by Kirkwood, which elevated Rahal, who pitted earlier, to the lead. Palou ended up under investigation by Race Control for hitting the tire setup in rookie Mick Schumacher’s pit stall. Palou was handed a drive-through penalty as a result after review. Rookie Dennis Hauger was also forced to give up three positions for unsafe release.

Rahal led the field to the restart on Lap 43, tapping the wall just as he hit the gas and allowing Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Rinus VeeKay to pull alongside but unable to overtake. Rahal held onto the top spot while chaos stuck behind with multiple cars coming together and bringing out another caution. Armstrong made contact with Rasmussen in Turn 5, which also collected VeeKay. Armstrong was handed a stop-and-hold penalty for avoidable contact.

The pits were open on Lap 47, with Rasmussen and teammate Rossi pitting, along with Palou, who took on fuel only.

General view (Photo by: Kent NISHIMURA of AFP via Getty Image)

Rahal led the field once more to the restart on Lap 50, with Kirkwood vaulting to second after making quick work of Simpson. Kirkwood then took the lead from Rahal in Turn 5.

Kirkwood built a 2.3984s lead over Rahal by Lap 55.

Rahal pitted on Lap 60, with Simpson moving up to second, 5.1715s behind Kirkwood.

On Lap 66, Palou pitted once more, but an issue with getting his left-front tire on slowed the stop and put him a lap down. Dixon pitted two laps later.

By Lap 70, Kirkwood held a 6.4677s lead.

Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Enterprises (Photo by: Saul Loeb of AFP via Getty Images)

At the halfway mark, Simpson dove to pit lane for fresh tires and fuel, coming out directly ahead of Rahal.

Kirkwood pitted on Lap 79, along with McLaughlin and Meyer Shank Racing's Felix Rosenqvist. Andretti Global’s Will Power elevated to the lead before pitting the next lap, handing the top spot back to Kirkwood.

By Lap 85, Kirkwood held an 8.8720s lead over McLaughlin. Rahal pitted three laps later. On lap 91, Kirkwood’s lead fell to 4.9s as he encountered backmarker traffic. Palou pitted again.

US President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump (Photo by: Saul Loeb of AFP via Getty Images)

Kirkwood widened the gap back to 7.5739s over the next four laps. On Lap 105, the lead grew to 13.7994s for Kirkwood.

While Kirkwood was leading, his Andretti teammates were the ones on the move, with Power on the rear wing of Lundgaard for third, with Ericsson up to fifth. Ericsson pitted with 37 laps to go, which led to Kirkwood coming in the next lap.

McLaughlin took over the lead on Lap 112, and stayed out for another two laps before pitting, with Power taking over the lead as Lundgaard pitted on Lap 113. Power dove to pit lane on Lap 116, handing the lead back to Kirkwood.

The caution came out with 25 laps to go as Palou spun and found the wall in Turn 3. He returned to pit lane dragging a broken front wing.

No bigger win for the King of the Streets 🔴⚪️🔵

🏁 @KKirkwoodRacing pic.twitter.com/nlRv2CWfLA
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) August 23, 2026

The restart on Lap 128 brought more chaos, with McLaughlin divebombing for the lead into Turn 1, rolling past Kirkwood and crashing into the outside wall. Kirkwood got by cleanly, along with the rest of the field with the exception of Rosenqvist, who spun after driving over the broken banner left in McLaughlin’s wake.

Kirkwood led the field to the restart with 13 laps to go, jumping out to a 1s lead over Lundgaard after the opening few corners.

Fans (Photo by: ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP via Getty Images)

With eight laps to go, Lundgaard continued to lurk within striking distance of Kirkwood. It would be brief, though, as Kirkwood was able to put together a couple of strong laps to widen his lead to 2.945s over Lundgaard.

In the close to the finish, Kirkwood set his fastest lap of the race at 58.2879s with three laps to go. Power dished out a 57.9495s flyer a few laps prior for the fastest in the event.

In the end, Kirkwood coasted to the win by 3.091s over Lundgaard, with Power taking third.