Kirkwood Outduels Palou for Arlington Victory

Kirkwood passes champion Palou late to win first race of 2026 season
Ericsson earns pole but Palou jumps him in pits, Power scores first Andretti podium
Kirkwood's crew recovers from pit troubles, allowing him to charge back to front

NTT INDYCAR Series Good Ranchers 250 — Source: Michael L. Levitt / Getty

Arlington, TX – Kyle Kirkwood was able to overcome a pair of bad pitstops, pass the champion Alex Palou in the closing stages, and hold him off in a one-lap shootout after a late caution to win the inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington.

The race started with first-time pole sitter Marcus Ericsson holding firm for the first stint holding off Palou. Both came into the pits at the same time, and Palou was able to jump on the lead after a poor pitstop from Ericsson.

Palou was able to manage when Will Power went on a slightly longer stint and was able to challenge Palou. Kirkwood was able to hunt down Palou with 16 laps to go with a bold pass on the final turn.

The race ran caution-free until four laps to go when Christian Rasmussen suffered a hybrid failure. Prompting a one-lap shootout around AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Field, Kirkwood was able to hold off Palou once more. Just as the race was resuming on the final lap, Nolan Siegel and Romain Grosjean collided, prompting a yellow, and finishing the race under caution.

For Kirkwood, this was his first win of 2026, his first win at Arlington, and his sixth career win. Kirkwood’s five of six wins have come on street courses (Long Beach twice, Nashville, and Detroit), and this was his first win since Gateway last season. Palou finished second for his 46^th career podium in his 101^st career start.

Meanwhile, luck finally turned the right cheek for Power, as he finished third, earning his first career podium during his tenure with Andretti Global, and earning his 109^th career podium finish. Pole sitter, Ericsson, finished fourth giving all three Andretti cars inside the top four, and Pato O’Ward rounded out the top five.

Kirkwood spoke with Ryan Myrehn of IndyCar Radio post-race, talking about starting seventh and fighting Palou for the victory. “Yeah, quite honestly we just had pace. I love racing Palou. You know he’s somebody you can trust if you do a big lunge like I did. You can trust him to actually see and be very aware. I think we race very well together. That was fantastic, that was a good race. This car was a rocket ship though. That’s the reason why we were able to pass, that’s the reason why we were able to fall back and go straight back to the front. It was really good. And fourth for this guy (Ericsson), third for Will Power. Oh my gosh, Pole yesterday for him. What an incredible day for us.”

Kirkwood later talked about the bonding with his crew after a couple of lengthy pit stops. “You know, they recovered very well. We were having issues on the right rear. I think the way the tire was going, I’ll have to look at it. But, they recovered well, they got the stop done, it was clean, we didn’t lose any tires on the racetrack, and we still had the pace to go forward.

With three different winners in the first three different races, Kirkwood now commands the points lead, holding a 26-point advantage over Palou.

The official results of the 2026 Java House Grand Prix of Arlington: