Kyle Kirkwoon of Andretti Global was able to out-duel defending champion Alex Palou to capture his first win of the 2026-season in the ‘Java House Grand Prix or Arlington’.
“That was so incredible,” Kirkwood said, smiling. “It was because of this race car that we won today, and it was also because of teamwork.”
Not only was Andretti Global victorious in Arlington, Texas, the organization was also able to sweep the podium of the 70-lap event on the 2.73-mile circuit.
The race began with Kirkwood’s teammate, the No.28 of Marcus Ericsson, on the pole for the first time in his INDYCAR career. Ericsson would lead over the first 15 laps of the race before the first green flag pitstop saw the veteran have trouble in the stall, letting Palou jump ahead to through the cycle.
More close calls on pit road were the theme of the afternoon, the No.26 of Will Power would have nearly collide with the No.45 of Louis Foster when exiting his pit-stall, losing around three seconds leaving. Another was one of the quickest cars of the weekend in the No.3 of Scott McLaughlin, who managed to get by his stopped teammate on the track, Josef Newgarden.
The battle for the win would eventually heat up with 15 laps remaining, when Kirkwood eventually caught Palou and made the race winning pass in Turn 13 and never looked back. Kirkwood would lead the rest of the way before a caution would come out with four to go after the No.21 of Christian Rasmussen would stall on track. A one lap shootout would be the decider before the yellow flag would once again fly for an incident between the No.6 of Nolan Siegel and the No.18 of Romain Grosjean ending the race, giving Kirkwood his sixth career win.
A look at why the caution was thrown. pic.twitter.com/j72i7zauug
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) March 15, 2026
Other notable finishers of this race would be those such as Power, who earns his first podium finish after a rough start to the year. Pole-sitter Ericsson would come home fourth after leading early, and Palou would rebound after a disappointing result after Phoenix the previous week.
Official Results:
| Position | Car | Driver | Team |
| 1 | 27 | Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian |
| 2 | 10 | Alex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 3 | 26 | Will Power | Andretti Global |
| 4 | 28 | Marcus Ericsson | Andretti Global |
| 5 | 5 | Pato O’Ward | Arrow McLaren |
| 6 | 12 | David Malukas | Team Penske |
| 7 | 7 | Christian Lundgaard | Arrow McLaren |
| 8 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 9 | 20 | Alexander Rossi | ECR |
| 10 | 66 | Marcus Armstrong | Meyer Shank w/ Curb-Agajanian |
| 11 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske |
| 12 | 4 | Caio Collet | A.J. Foyt Enterprises |
| 13 | 45 | Louis Foster | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 14 | 76 | Rinus VeeKay | Juncos Hollinger Racing |
| 15 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske |
| 16 | 19 | Dennis Hauger | Dale Coyne Racing |
| 17 | 14 | Santino Ferrucci | A.J. Foyt Enterprises |
| 18 | 15 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 19 | 8 | Kyffin Simpson | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 20 | 60 | Felix Rosenqvist | Meyer Shank w/ Curb-Agajanian |
| 21 | 77 | Sting Ray Robb | Juncos Hollinger Racing |
| 22 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 23 | 18 | Romain Grosjean | Dale Coyne Racing |
| 24 | 6 | Nolan Siegel | Arrow McLaren |
| 25 | 21 | Christian Rasmussen | ECR |
