Kirkwood: Approach to Freedom 250 "like any another race" after securing front-row start

Credit: Joe Skibinski

Kyle Kirkwood has said that his approach to the Freedom 250 will be like any other race after securing his second front row start of 2026 on the Streets of Washington, D.C. ahead of what is expected to be a gruelling 250 miles on Sunday.

The 27-year-old American will line-up, who lies second in the championship standings, will line-up alongside points leader Álex Palou, as he aims to stop the Spaniard winning a fifth series championship on the Washington streets.

"It was lot of fun," said Kirkwood of his qualifying. "The circuit, if you look at it from an overhead shot, it looks like a bunch of 90-degree corners. I can tell you what, it's not that.

"Once we actually got some laps around here, there are some high-speed bits, like Turns 6 and 7 are crazy high speed for a street course. There's some really low-speed, like Turn 2, then some mid-speed corners with [Turns] 3, 4, 5 and 1.

"It's pretty enjoyable to drive. I think it's no doubt bumpy. Obviously they did the best that they could with grinding. Just the nature of being close to the water, just streets in general in a downtown area are never going to be super favourable for a car that's running a millimetre off the ground. A lot of fun, a lot of character."

Saturday proved a busy day for both drivers and teams, as both practice sessions and qualifying were held in the span of a few hours, like was the case on the Streets of Markham last weekend - albeit under different circumstances after Friday's on-track sessions were cancelled due to construction delays.

Credit: Hope Van Beek

It creates a particularly short window to dial in any changes following sessions, with Sunday morning's warmup the last opportunity to prepare for the 147 laps that will make up the inaugural Freedom 250.

"It's been a long day" reflected Kirkwood immediately after qualifying. "Feels like we've already been here three days running. These condensed schedules make for long days.

"Three days is the right number. I think this is exceptionally hard on the drivers, but even more so on the crew, right? They get here at 5:30 a.m., they're going to be here till 9 [pm] . Those are long hours. For them to show up to the race tomorrow with little sleep after getting up once again at 5:30 or 5 a.m. is very, very hard on them.

"I think from within the whole paddock, we would prefer three days, spread it out, allow people to sleep, eat, hydrate and be prepared."

Preparation into this weekend has been particularly important for drivers. The race was extended from 125 to 147 laps earlier this month, meaning the total race distance could match the race's title and the anniversary number of America's independence.

As part of that, it also became the longest traditional city street course race in IndyCar history, with the number of miles raced the same as what drivers will complete on an oval at Milwaukee next week. It is expected that it will turn Sunday's race into a four-stopper and be a physical challenge on drivers that is not experienced anywhere else on the calendar.

"Managing arm deg. That's going to be my thing," Kirkwood joked as his main focus.

"No, it's going to be physical, right? This is on par with one of the more physical street courses I think on the season. We typically do 90 laps at those other ones. 147 is going to be like we're going to get through to the end of what a normal race would be, be like 57 laps to go, hang on."

"This place is very quick. The corners, the grip we had when we first got here, there's not been a lot of evolution. It's physical. Steering is heavy. Huge brake zones. Brake temps are very high. It's a tough place."

Credit: Hope Van Beek

The added laps and fatigue associated with the race could have a knock-on effect for the rest of the race with the added risk of more cautions, which can have an effect on strategy. In recent seasons, new street course races in Nashville, Detroit and Markham have seen high numbers of cautions in their opening races which has led to some rather unpredictable results.

"Quite honestly, it's going to be interesting to see how the race pans out, right? I think we had a very caution-filled event last weekend. I feel like people might be thinking it might be caution filled again, they will be a little bit more timid, which will make it all green. I feel like we flip-flop like that all the time. Or I could be completely wrong and it will be completely caution filled. Only time will tell."

"I mean, you approach it like any other race, right? You can't plan for cautions, but you also don't want to put yourself in a position where you can be absolutely hosed by cautions.

"Quite honestly, you've got to drive your race, do all the things you would expect to be right, given that it is a green-flag race, go from there. Hope that you're not collected with some of the carnage, if there is carnage to be had. Yeah, it's just like any other race, if I'm being honest."

There's been no secret that Kirkwood's strongest track type as been on street courses, which was on show in this year's maiden Grand Prix of Arlington where he hunted down Palou for victory in the closing stages, beating the Spaniard in a straight head-to-head fight, which he'll likely want to repeat on Sunday.

It has seen Kirkwood associated with a "King of the Streets" title given the fact all but one of his six career victories have come on street courses, a title Kirkwood describes as "unjust" given his 2026 form on all track types. That said, there would likely be little complaining from his side if he were to become the King of the Washington Streets of Sunday.

Although tonight is incomparable to the night before the Indy 500 in Kirkwood's mind, winning the first motor race around the National Mall poses an accomplishment that may never be repeated and Kirkwood lines up with one of the best seats in the house for Sunday's Freedom 250.