By: Spencer Neff
April 12, 2025
Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global won his third career pole this afternoon. He will start tomorrow’s 90-lap Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach at the front of the 27-car field. It is also the 59th career pole for the team. Honda earns their first pole of 2025.
Kirkwood previously won pole for the race on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn street course in 2024, when he went on to win the race. Kirkwood’s most recent pole was at the 2024 finale on the Nashville SuperSpeedway.
Joining Kirkwood on the front row is teammate Colton Herta, who finished the session .2311 of a second back. Herta won the 2021 race from 14th and started on the pole in 2022.
Round 3-Fast Six
Kirkwood set a best lap of 1m06.1921 (107.034 mph) to win the pole, notching the best lap of qualifying in the process. Following he and Herta on Row 2 will be Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing and Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist.
Marcus Ericsson is fifth behind his Andretti Global teammates and Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin was the lone Chevrolet driver following Honda’s Top Five sweep.
Round 2-Fast 12
Kirkwood (1m06.4219-106.664 mph) was fastest during the 10-minute session. Joining him in the run for the pole would be Herta, Palou, Ericsson, McLaughlin and Rosenqvist.
Nott advancing were Marcus Armstrong, Alexander Rossi, Pato O’Ward, David Malukas, Nolan Siegel and Christian Lundgaard. They will start seventh through 12th on the grid.
As the checkered flag fell, Lundgaard slid into the Turn 9 wall, making heavy contact. As a result, the red flag was displayed and the session ended.
Despite being fifth, Lundgaard was penalized his fastest two laps for causing a red flag, allowing Rosenqvist to advance.
Round 1-Group 2
Kirkwood (1m06.9367-105.843) paced the 14-car second group, advancing to the second round with Palou, McLaughlin, Siegel, Ericsson and Rossi.
Missing the cut were Scott Dixon, Graham Rahal, Christian Rasmussen, Louis Foster, Callum Ilott, Robert Shwartzman, Jacob Abel and Santino Ferrucci. Fe
Ferrucci, who was penalized for causing a yellow after hitting the inside wall in Turn 8 before sliding into the runoff adjacent to Turn 9, starts 27th. The other drivers will occupy the outside of Rows 7-13.
Foster is the best among the rookies in the field.
Round 1-Group 1
Lundgaard (1m07.2092-105.414 mph) led the way during the opening 10-minute session. Advancing to the second round with him were Herta, Rosenqvist, O’Ward, Armstrong and Malukas.
Despite advancing, Herta damaged the toe link as the opening session ended.
Not advancing were Will Power, Josef Newgarden, Kyffin Simpson, Sting Ray Robb, Conor Daly, Devlin DeFrancesco and Rinus VeeKay. They will start on the inside of Rows 7-13.
Note: Ferrucci was penalized under Rule 8.3.7.1, If a Car causes a Yellow Condition that requires another Car to comply with Rule 7.1.3.2, the Car’s best-timed lap to that point during that Qualifications segment shall be disallowed, regardless of whether the other Car complied with Rule 7.1.3.2. If the Car does not have a timed lap recorded when causing the Yellow Condition, a Black Flag drive through penalty will be assessed once the lap on which the Yellow Condition occurred has been completed.”
Lundgaard’s penalty was assessed under Rule 8.3.6 of the INDYCAR Rule Book- “If a Car causes a Red Condition in any segment, the Car’s best two (2) timed laps of the segment shall be disallowed, the Car may not continue in the segment, and the Car shall not advance to the next segment.”
Up Next
Here is the race day schedule. Stay with IndyCar1909.com and our social media channels for the latest on the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Sunday, April 13
9:02-9:27 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES warmup, FS1 (live)
12:59 p.m. – Driver introductions
1:30 p.m. – FOX on air
1:45 p.m. – Start engines command
1:52 p.m. – Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (90 laps/177.12 miles), FOX, FOX Sports app,INDYCAR Radio Network (live). Spanish telecast on FOX Deportes (live)
Header Image By Chris Owens/INDYCAR
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