Power achieves 18-year first with Andretti IndyCar podium

Power started from fourth and made quick work of McLaren’s Pato O’Ward to slot into third behind race leader Marcus Ericsson (Andretti) and Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing).

The Australian took the lead of the race when Ericsson and Palou pitted together on Lap 16, leaving Power to go off-strategy and run long on the soft compound tyre.

Power lost the lead to Felix Rosenqvist on Lap 19 as his tyres faded, though the Swede relinquished the lead on Lap 21 when he pitted.

On Lap 22, Power finally pitted for his first pit stop with a nine-second lead over Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Louis Fostert.

Power returned to the race in sixth, and by then had committed to the two-stop strategy while the rest of the field went for the three-stop approach.

Power once again assumed the lead of the race as those around him pitted, and with 25 laps to go came in for his final stop.

That gave Palou the lead, Kyle Kirkwood second, and Ericsson third. Power dropped to fifth, though that became third when Ericsson and O’Ward pitted.

Power eventually came home 3.586s behind race winner Kirkwood while Palou took second, 0.314s back.

With his third place finish, it marked the first time since April, 2008 that Power had scored an IndyCar podium for a team other than Team Penske.

His last podium before joining Team Penske was with KV Racing in the Grand Prix of Long Beach, which he won.

Speaking post-race, Power said he was confident enough in his tyre life to make the two-stop strategy work.

“They asked me at around Lap 15, 16 when I saw Palou and Ericsson pull off, I said, ‘No, they’re fine. I think I can keep going at this pace’,” Power explained.

“Just wasn’t the quickest way to do the race. It was good. Very good car. Great fuel mileage from Honda.

“Congrats to Kyle. He was going to be hard to beat, no matter what. He was just so fast man.

“Obviously he didn’t get it right in qualifying but I knew on the blacks in the race he’d be mega.

“Great for Andretti, man. We’re coming, I’m telling you, we’re a good team.”

The race for the win was a straight shootout between Kirkwood and Palou. With 16 laps remaining, Kirkwood made the decisive move to take first place and kept Palou at bay thereafter.

Kirkwood started from seventh and quickly moved his way through to fifth behind O’Ward and after the second round of pit stops usurped Ericsson and O’Ward.

Ultimately, Kirkwood had more pace than Palou. Despite a two-second deficit and pitting on the same lap for the final time with Lap 49, the #26 was able to overhaul the #10 in the final stint.

With 16 laps remaining at Turn 14, Kirkwood sold Palou the dummy and pulled off a late manoeuvre and slipped down the inside.

The race, to that point, had run caution-free. However, with four laps remaining, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen stopped at Turn 1.

Kirkwood survived a one-lap dash to the chequered, though the caution came out just before reaching the flag when Noaln Siegel (McLaren) and Romain Grosjean (Dale Coyne Racing) collided.

“That was so incredible,” said Kirkwood.

“Man, did we have some pace, right? It’s because of this race car that we won today and it was because of team work.

“What was it? One, three, and four for Andretti. That’s absolutely incredible. We’re just so stacked here and so stoked. Hats off to these guys.”

Elsewhere in the race, Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin recovered to 11th from 25th while Marcus Armstrong bounced back from a slow puncture to finish 10th for Meyer Shank Racing.

Kirkwood has assumed the IndyCar Series points lead with his latest win and is 26 points clear of Palou.

Results: IndyCar Series Grand Prix of Arlington