Kyle Kirkwood says people should appreciate Alex Palou's greatness

In almost any other IndyCar season, Kyle Kirkwood would be a strong contender for the title heading into the final stretch, having scored three wins, five top-five finishes, and eight top-10s in 12 rounds. However, the driver of Andretti Global’s No. 27 car didn’t account for what is shaping up to be a historic run by Palou.

Nevertheless, rather than being frustrated by what the Chip Ganassi Racing driver is achieving, Kirkwood has taken a step back to appreciate his colleague’s remarkable performance, which includes seven wins — among them the Indianapolis 500 — four pole positions, nine podiums, ten top-five finishes, and eleven top-10s.

“As racing drivers, we like to see each other succeed. Of course, we don't want to see failure within ourselves. But when someone does what Palou is doing, it’s incredible. I think maybe viewers don’t fully realize what someone like that is achieving in this series,” Kirkwood said in a virtual media session ahead of this weekend’s Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto.

“In most seasons, what we’ve done up to Iowa would be an amazing championship run. We’d probably be leading the standings. But this year, he’s just done something incredible, right?”

Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren

Following the Iowa Speedway doubleheader, Palou leads the championship by 129 points over Pato O'Ward, who is followed closely by Scott Dixon and Kyle Kirkwood — with just 51 points separating the three drivers. In other words, without Palou in the mix, the 2025 IndyCar title fight would be significantly closer. Even so, Kirkwood insists that fans should admire Palou’s achievements and not turn their backs on the series just because of the CGR driver’s dominance.

“I think people shouldn't see it as a negative, like it's making the season boring. That’s not the case. What you're witnessing is greatness in action. We’re doing everything we can to try and catch him — and we’ve done a decent job — but it still hasn’t been enough.

“It’s incredible. Sure, it would be nice if he took a couple of weekends off so we could catch up,” he joked. “But you know what? I love racing. I think he’s a great person. I hope we have many good battles in the future.”

“Second this year is like winning the championship”

Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global

Kirkwood was second in the standings ahead of the Iowa weekend, but the Florida native endured a rough doubleheader. On Saturday, he suffered a right-front flat and hit the Turn 2 wall, ending his day early in 26th place. On Sunday, he got caught out by an alternate strategy after teammate Colton Herta crashed, ultimately finishing 18th.

Kirkwood called the Iowa races “an anomaly for us,” but admitted that the weekend essentially ended his hopes of challenging Palou for the title. From now on, he’s focused on adding more victories to his résumé.

“Last weekend was a killer for our championship. It put us, what, 180 points behind Palou? That seems pretty unattainable at this point. As long as it’s mathematically possible to beat him, we’re going to keep pushing for wins. But we’ve definitely dug ourselves into a hole.”

“We're just going to go out and try to get wins, show that we’re a championship-caliber team — and I believe we are. Showing progress and proving that we can win is what matters.”

When asked whether it would make any difference to him where he finishes in the standings — as long as it’s not first — Kirkwood admitted that finishing second this year would feel like winning the title, given Palou’s dominance.

“It’s all about wins, right? Winning races wins championships — and Palou is proving that this season. That’s our number one focus”, he insisted.

“For sure, it would be nice to claw our way back and fight for second place, because in a lot of ways, getting second this year is like winning the championship. Palou’s doing something really special. That’s the goal.”

“Of course, if the seas part, the stars align, and Palou has a disastrous last five races — which I don’t think is going to happen — but if it does, we want to be there. And to be in that position, we need to keep winning.”

Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global Honda in the 2024 Toronto Indy weekend

With two wins from the three street circuit races so far this season, the upcoming event at the Streets of Toronto could not come at a better time for Kirkwood, who is looking to right the ship after a disappointing Iowa weekend. He also finished second to Herta at last year’s Toronto race, so confidence is high heading into the weekend.

“We know we’re going to be strong. There’s no reason we wouldn’t be based on our street course performances and the progress we’ve made,” he said.

“It’s actually nice when you come off a tough weekend and don’t have time to dwell on it. You focus on what went wrong, how to fix it for next time — and then you move on. You think: ‘Okay, Toronto is coming up, this is our best track of the year, this is where we shift the momentum.’”

Why it isn’t “unrealistic” for Alex Palou to reach IndyCar win record in 2025

Arrow McLaren's Nolan Siegel cleared to race in Toronto

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.