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Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood took the pole position for the 2025 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach with a lap time of 01:06.1921s, which was over three-tenths faster than teammate Colton Herta, who will start the race in P2. Championship leader Alex Palou finished P3 and was over 4 tenths slower than Kirkwood.
The Andretti Global cars have always gone well around the Long Beach Grand Prix, and 2025 was no different, with the team securing a 1-2 grid position for the race on Sunday. Kyle Kirkwood spoke with the FOX Sports reporter after the race and detailed his 'dogfight' with teammate Colton Herta. He said,
“Front row lockout with Colton. I thought it was going to be him or I. After that first quality run, he was super quick, I was super quick, and I knew it was going to be a dog fight between him and I.”
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The reporter then asked Kirkwood about his staggering pole position lap, and how the Andretti Global driver managed to set a lap time almost four-tenths faster than his teammate. He replied,
“I'm shaking. That was great. That was such a good lap, such a good qualifying. Fortunately, I didn't put any wheel wrong and hit anything. You know, that's always a at street courses. You gotta send it to get that top spot. But super happy today that the 27 Honda was on rails.”
Colton Herta and Kyle Kirkwood both showed great pace in IndyCar practice and ended both sessions inside the Top 10. Kirkwood was P3 and P5, whereas Herta was P8 and P2 in the two practice sessions. Coming to the qualifying sessions, the Andretti Global entries made light work of the first two sessions as all three cars qualified for the Fast Six.
Colton Herta reveals why Kyle Kirkwood beat him to pole position at Long Beach
Colton Herta was the favorite to get the pole going into this race weekend. However, on the final run in the Fast Six session, the #26 Andretti Global driver wasn't given the opportunity to get in a preparation lap, which put him at a disadvantage in comparison to Kyle Kirkwood.
The American explained the same after the qualifying, where he suggested that he lost time to Kirkwood in the first few corners as the tires weren't up to temperature. He said, (via FOX live stream)
“So the tires started off a little bit cold, but they got there in the end after maybe three or four corners. So I'm guessing the time loss to Kyle is probably in those first few corners. So it sucks. This is a pole I feel like I should have gotten without getting a penalty and going off in the first run. But still can't be mad at a front row.”
Marcus Ericsson in the third Andretti Global car ended the qualifying session in P5, behind third-placed Alex Palou and fourth-placed Felix Rosenqvist on Saturday.
