Andretti’s No. 27 driver Kyle Kirkwood starts the 2026 IndyCar season off strong with a second-place finish in Phoenix. After a career-best finish in 4th last year, he is looking to push up and onwards.
Better than Gateway
Kirkwood speaks on the similarities between the 2026 IndyCar Phoenix race and his race win at Gateway last year. He believes he won that thanks to all the Team Penske cars retiring. Bad luck beset all three cars that evening.
“I think we were better here than we were at Gateway. I’ve said it a million times, I’ll say it again, the reason why we won Gateway is because every Penske car went out. Yeah, I think we were definitely better at this track.”
Both oval tracks have similar high speeds and low banking in a sense. Despite the P2 finish on the 2026 IndyCar track, Kirkwood affirmed that they’re better on Phoenix’s Dogleg.
“There are some similarities here, right, given the nature of the circuit, pretty high speed, pretty low banking, at least on one end.
“So yeah, I think we had a better race here than we had at Gateway, if I’m being completely honest, even if we finished second.”
Wider tyres are working well
Kirkwood was one of the first drivers to test the wider tyres at Gateway last year. He definitely thinks they increased the front grip at 2026 Phoenix Raceway.
“The wider tyre, I was one of the first drivers to test it at Gateway. You were there, too. We were both one of the first drivers to test it at Gateway. It definitely increased the front grip.
He continued, stating that they had zero failures and healthy temperatures with minimal degradation during the 2026 Phoenix race. This was an area Andretti previously struggled with, so Kirkwood is happy with their progress.
“I can’t say what it would have been like if we didn’t have that tire there, if we still had the normal tyre here. Yeah, zero failures. Running within a very healthy temperature range.
“It seems like there’s minimal deg at the right front which is something we have struggled with at short ovals. That might have something to do where how good the racing is, at the end of stints, not just in the beginning.”
Andretti and Penske are good with ovals
Both Andretti and Team Penske have had good performances on oval tracks, like at the 2026 edition at Phoenix Raceway. Kirkwood continued to talk about how good they’ve been on short ovals recently.
In contrast, the Floridian recalled the struggles of Iowa last year, where he had a tyre failure, hit the wall, and damaged his suspension ahead of qualifying. Lucky for him, the Iowa track was taken off the schedule this 2026 IndyCar season.
“Yeah, I mean, I think we’ve proven we’re pretty good on short ovals in recent years. I think there’s a couple tracks in mind that maybe we weren’t so good at, Iowa being one of them. Fortunately that’s off our schedule.”
Kirkwood is more hopeful that they will have great success on the short ovals after his P2 finish at the 2026 IndyCar event at Phoenix Raceway. He remained careful not to discount his competition, acknowledging that there would be many good cars on the ovals.
“All the short ovals we’re going to, we’re going to have great cars. I can’t guarantee we’re going to have great success, but we are going to have good cars at a lot of these short ovals.”
Kirkwood specified that new teammate Will Power also expressed similar thoughts. He is happy to hear that a more experienced driver like Power is of the same thinking.
“It is good to hear that from Will, right, because he’s coming from these guys where their cars are phenomenal on short ovals. It is really good to hear that.”
Kirkwood comments on Palou’s crash
Reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou crashed after contact with VeeKay during the 2026 Phoenix race. This surprising setback dropped Palou to fifth in the standings, while Kirkwood’s strong start puts him in second.
“Yeah, I don’t even really know what the standings are. I know I’m second now.”
Speaking on the crash, the Andretti driver said that it was ‘un-Palou like’. He mentioned that Palou was quite strong during the first part of the stint, and would’ve been hard to beat at the 2026 IndyCar Phoenix race.
“I don’t know what the situation was. That’s un-Palou like, un-10 car like. He drove from next to me, he was 10th, up to third or something in that first part of the stint. He would have been a very hard car to beat I think.”
Kirkwood was rather sad, continuing that no one wants to see their competition go out like that. He prefers to beat his competitors on the track through pure racing. The Floridian did appreciate the breathing room, as Palou usually is one of the strongest competitors.
“You never want to see your competition go out in that style, right? You want to beat ’em straight up on the track. But at the same time it makes the other drivers feel like they can catch their breath for a second, so…”
