Driving the No. 27 JM Bullion/Gold.com Honda for Andretti Global, Kirkwood turned a scrappy afternoon that was complicated by at least one sluggish pit stop, into his first victory of the 2026 season and sealing the win under caution after a tense closing stint in front of the capacity crowd.
“This JM Bullion Honda, Andretti, all these guys right here, they gave me the tools today,” Kirkwood said. “It’s because of this race car we won today, because of teamwork.”
Early on, Marcus Ericsson converted pole into control of the race, leading the opening phase before a slow stop with an air gun issue shuffled him behind Palou as strategies unfolded on a day when the start had already been moved up to dodge incoming storms over Arlington. Ericson would finish in fourth place.
Palou then took command, cycling to the front multiple times as pit sequences played out and appearing poised to extend his championship dominance, only for Kirkwood to emerge as the one driver capable of matching—and then bettering—his pace in clean air.
The turning point came on Lap 55, when Kirkwood closed a shrinking gap and committed to a bold dive into Turn 13, wresting the lead from Palou in a move that underlined his growing reputation as a fearless street-course racer.
The race stayed green until Lap 68, when an incident involving Christian Rasmussen triggered the first full-course yellow and bunched the field for a high-pressure restart.
A brief return to green was immediately neutralized again by contact between Nolan Siegel and Romain Grosjean, freezing the order and allowing Kirkwood to cruise home under yellow ahead of Palou’s No. 10 Honda, with the inaugural Arlington street race delivering a statement for both driver and series.
Jerry Jones Pre-Race Thoughts
