Kyle Kirkwood wins IndyCar Freedom 250 on streets of Washington D.C.
Kyle Kirkwood delivered an American victory at the inaugural IndyCar Freedom 250, dominating the streets of downtown Washington D.C. on Sunday to secure his second win of the season.
The Florida-born driver crossed the finish line in front of the US Capitol more than three seconds ahead of Christian Lundgaard.
He led for an impressive 128 of the 147 laps in a street circuit event designed to celebrate the nation’s upcoming 250th birthday.
His Andretti Global team-mates, Will Power and Marcus Ericsson, followed closely behind to claim third and fourth places respectively.
Palou endures nightmare afternoon
Series leader Alex Palou started on pole position with a chance to clinch the championship title but ultimately finished a distant 20th.
The pole-sitter’s race began to unravel on pit road when he was handed a drive-through penalty for striking a tyre in a rival’s box.
A subsequent pit stop saw the Spaniard released with a loose tyre, causing further delays and dropping him completely off the lead lap.
His advantage in the overall standings has now been reduced from 133 points to 91 over second-placed Kirkwood, with just three races remaining.
Crashes disrupt street circuit
The 250-mile race was punctuated by several incidents, starting shortly after the green flag was waved by President Donald Trump.
An early multi-car collision eliminated American drivers David Malukas and Sting Ray Robb when the latter was left with nowhere to go after a wall strike.
Later in the afternoon, Scott McLaughlin attempted an aggressive restart pass on the race leader with 19 laps to go but ended up embedded in a tyre barrier.
Tensions also flared further down the field after Marcus Armstrong received a penalty for spinning Christian Rasmussen into the wall.
Rinus VeeKay, who was caught up in the same incident, vented his frustration to television crews before being made aware of Armstrong’s culpability.
“If Rasmussen’s around, you know you’re going to crash. Either he does or you do.”
“It sucks, it’s stupid. It’s a long race, and some people seemingly don’t know that.”