It was a day of firsts in Washington, D.C., as Kyle Kirkwood took home the checkered flag at the inaugural Freedom 250 Grand Prix on Sunday.
At the first race to be staged around the National Mall in the streets of the nation’s capital, with President Donald Trump waving the green flag, Kirkwood built his lead to as large as 16 seconds in his No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda and cruised to a three-second victory (3.0906).
A late caution bunched the racers, or the margin could have been more.
“You can’t even put it into words — this is incredible,” Kirkwood said within view of some of the country’s most famous monuments. “I’m almost in tears here. This is a big moment for us, a big moment for America here with the 250.”
Starting second, Kirkwood led for an impressive 128 of 147 laps to nab his second victory of the season. His other win also came in a temporary street race, in Arlington, Texas, in March. Overall, six of his seven wins have come on street circuits.
“It felt good to dominate out there; I’m not going to lie,” Kirkwood said. “That was a really good moment. What an incredible place to do it. If you can’t win the (Indianapolis) 500, this is definitely the place to win.
“I don’t know if we’re ever going to get a chance to do it again — I hope we do. This was awesome. What a dream come true.”
The win narrowed the gap among points leaders in the race for a season championship, though Kirkwood still has work to do if he hopes to catch Alex Palou and his 553 points. Kirkwood holds second with 462 points, 91 points off the lead.
Christian Lundgaard, piloting the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, came in second, sandwiched between Kirkwood and the winner’s Andretti Global racers, Will Power and Marcus Ericsson, who finished third and fourth, respectively.
“I feel that it’s fitting that an American won, right? We gave it our best shot,” Lundgaard said.
It was a forgettable day for Palou, who finished three laps down and landed in 20th place. His day included a drive-through penalty, a slow pit stop and eventually a crash on Lap 123.
“It hurts, man,” said Palou, who is pursuing what would be a record-tying fourth consecutive championship. “I wanted to get that win. It kind of hurts a lot that we had this bad of a day. It’s OK; things happen.”
–Field Level Media
