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Andretti's Kyle Kirkwood bagged the pole position for the IndyCar Long Beach Grand Prix 2025 for the 50th edition of the fabled event. He will be accompanied by Colton Herta in the front row, as reigning champion Alex Palou qualified behind the Andretti pair.
The 27-car grid will be repping up for the main event on Sunday for the 90-lap race. The sub-2-mile street track features 11 turns that the drivers will have to navigate through the Grand Prix.
The Long Beach Grand Prix weekend started with the practice session on Friday. Team Penske's Will Power topped the timing sheets with Andretti's Marcus Ericsson and Kyle Kirkwood rounding out the top three. Meanwhile, no one from the top three during the first practice session earned the same feat during the second practice session.
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Arrow McLaren's Nolan Siegel posted the fastest lap time of 1:07.116s during the second practice session and was accompanied by Colton Herta and Louis Foster. The two groups for the qualifying were then decided based on their practice performances as the shootout began at 2:30 p.m. ET.
IndyCar Grand Prix Long Beach 2025 qualifying highlights
The Round 1 Group qualifications were soon after the stream began, and green flags waved around the track. Felix Rosenqvist was the first one to opt for the escape road at the temporary track after his rear-end slid around on the track during his banker lap.
On the other hand, as the clock started ticking down, drivers started to post faster lap times. Colton Herta was outside the top six and went all-in during his final run, and in the bid to get through, he slammed his rear-left tire just before the chequered flag and broke his rear axle, though he made it into the top six.
Meanwhile, the Mooresville-based squad suffered another torrid start to the weekend. Newgarden and practice 1 topper Will Power being knocked during the first session for the second IndyCar race weekend in a row.
Christian Lundgaard qualified the fastest during Round 1 Group 1 qualifications. On the contrary, Group 2's qualifications remained relatively calm, with a small scare for Scott McLaughlin, but he ultimately made it into Round 2.
Championship leader Alex Palou easily made it through the session, but the circuit's former winner, Scott Dixon, was unable to make it out of the relegation zone. Moreover, at the end of the session, Santino Ferrucci pulled over into the escape road after his session had already ended.
Kyle Kirkwood topped the Group 2 list and showcased the impressive performance of the Andretti. The timing sheets were pretty still until the final minute, where the Andretti drivers finished Round 2 in the top-three spots, led by Kirkwood yet again.
However, the bigger storyline was Christian Lundgaard's crash at turn 9, after he lost the rear end of his car during the exit of the corner. He was already above the relegation zone and was penalized according to the IndyCar rules, as his two fastest lap times were deleted, aiding Rosenqvist to make it into the Fast 6.
Along with the Andretti trio, Alex Palou, Felix Rosenqvist, and Scott McLaughlin also made their way into the Fast 6. With the green flag waving on the track after Lundgaard's No. 7 car was cleared from the track, Colton Herta made his way toward turn 1 but suffered a lockup on his front axle.
The drivers then ramped up their preparations for their one-lap show. The reigning champion seemingly had the pole position in his hands but was pipped by Kirkwood and Herta.
With the 26-year-old already dominating the previous qualifying sessions, he nailed in a 1.06.192s lap time and bagged the pole at the circuit where he claimed his first IndyCar pole position and win two years earlier.
IndyCar Long Beach Grand Prix 2025 starting grid:
The 27-car grid will start in the following order for the IndyCar Long Beach Grand Prix 2025:
- P1 #27 Kyle Kirkwood: Andretti Global Honda
- P2 #26 Colton Herta: Andretti Global Honda
- P3 #10 Alex Palou: Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
- P4 #60 Felix Rosenqvist: Meyer Shank Racing Honda
- P5 #28 Marcus Ericsson: Andretti Global Honda
- P6 #3 Scott McLaughlin: Team Penske Chevrolet
- P7 #66 Marcus Armstrong: Meyer Shank Racing Honda
- P8 #20 Alexander Rossi: Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
- P9 #5 Pato O'Ward: Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
- P10 #David Malukas: A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet
- P11 #6 Nolan Siegel: Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
- P12 #7 Christian Lundgaard: Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
- P13 #12 Will Power: Team Penske Chevrolet
- P14 #9 Scott Dixon: Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
- P15 #2 Josef Newgarden: Team Penske Chevrolet
- P16 #15 Graham Rahal: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
- P17 #8 Kyffin Sympson: Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
- P18 #21 Christian Rasmussen: Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
- P19 #77 Sting Ray Robb: Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet
- P20 #45 Louis Foster: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
- P21 #78 Conor Daly: Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet
- P22 #90 Callum Ilott: Prema Racing Chevrolet
- P23 #30 Devlin DeFrancesco: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
- P24 #83 Robert Shwartzman: Prema Racing Chevrolet
- P25 #18 Rinus VeeKay: Dale Coyne Racing Honda
- P26 #14 Santino Ferrucci: A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet
- P27 #51 Jacob Abel: Dale Coyne Racing Honda
