Kirkwood turns challenging qualifying into a podium finish in Mid-Ohio

A third-place finish at the Indy-200 at Mid-Ohio marked Kyle Kirwood’s first podium on a road course in his IndyCar career. 

The weekend was the fourth podium for Kirwood, as he sits in second in the championship, 56 points behind Alex Palou.

Credits: Dwight Barr

Having started in 10th, Mid-Ohio was challenging as the race ran green during all laps, in addition to the heat.

“That was one of the most physical days I've ever had in a race car,” Kirkwood said. “This place is just so busy as it is, and it's qualifying laps every single lap.”

Kirkwood noted the importance of the decisions made as a team that helped him finish on the podium, as he was able to overtake the field. 

“We had a lot of good strategy that put us in a podium position there, and we also passed some cars at the beginning of the race, so a little bit of both.”

During the first and second practice sessions, Kirkwood finished second and third, respectively, while also finishing warm-up in second place. It was only during qualifying that Kirkwood slotted in 10th, keeping him out of the Fast 6.

“We should have qualified towards the front, I think, [but] I'm glad that we were able to get us back towards the front in the race,” Kirkwood said.

Speaking on his qualifying performance, the Andretti Global driver discussed a tire prep issue, which left the team searching for answers.

“In Q2 we could have had a little bit of a tire prep issue, and for some reason one tire just decided not to work extremely well, and I don't know if it's really on us or tire pressures or build laps or what it is.”

A difficult session of the weekend, but having finished in third considering his starting position meant a “really good day overall” for Kirkwood and the team. 

Credits: Bella Rosen

His car had the pace, as he discussed that his performance was not something he just figured out. 

“I wasn't driving differently today than I have the last four years around this place,” he added.

Having tested at Mid-Ohio two weeks ago, “the car was really good and the pace was proven [over this weekend].” Kirkwood mentioned. 

The team’s results and findings over testing were “a bit of the same that [they’ve] done at a lot of the road courses.”

The focus lay on fine-tuning and figuring out details that the team may have overlooked previously. 

“We're gaining some performance,” Kirkwood noted as he currently sits as the top Andretti Global driver in the standings so far this season.

With seven more races to go, Kirkwood continues to battle with Palou and Christian Lundgaard as the Arrow McLaren driver sits only nine points behind. Looking ahead to Nashville, Kirkwood finished sixth, as Palou crossed the line second, and Josef Newgarden took home the win. 

The Speedway will welcome IndyCar back on July 19th.