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| Kyle Kirkwood soon after he captured the NTT P1 Pole Award for the 2025 Acura Grand Prix Of Long Beach. As stated by Kyle before AGPLB weekend, "Long Beach has been one of the best tracks for Andretti Global. I think Toronto and Detroit are starting to grow on that. Street courses in general, really, really good. Long Beach has been a top one for the team. We're always excited. That place just produces a lot of good energy with the amount of fans, et cetera, et cetera." Image Credit: Ralph Garcia (2025) |
INDYCAR's Kyle Kirkwood Eyes Victory At Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto
As the NTT INDYCAR SERIES gears up for its final street course event of the
2025 season, the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto, Andretti Global’s Kyle
Kirkwood expressed high confidence during a ZOOM press conference held on
Wednesday, July 16. Fresh off a challenging weekend in Iowa, the 26-year-old
driver is eager to leverage his team’s street course prowess and chase a third
victory of the season on the iconic streets of Toronto.
Kirkwood, who finished as the runner-up to teammate Colton Herta in last
year’s Toronto race, highlighted the team’s dominance at the event in 2024.
“Colton was fastest in every single session all the way up to the race,”
Kirkwood noted, recalling Andretti Global’s 1-2 finish. “We had a lot of
control at this place.” With two street course wins already in 2025, Kirkwood
sees Toronto as a prime opportunity to close out the season’s street circuit
schedule on a high note.
Motorsport Journal's Edmund Jenks asked a couple of pre-Toronto race weekend
questions that went as follows:
Motorsports Journal: I know this seems to be like flogging a talking point.
This is now the second year that the hybrid will be at Toronto. I wanted to
get your reflection on the nuances of working the hybrid system and the
re-gen and how that works out at Toronto. Do you feel it gives you any
advantages?
KYLE KIRKWOOD:
Certainly it's a new aspect for drivers and teams to get right. It's
created in no doubts some headaches for us trying to figure it out. The
good team does it well, right? I think we did it really well last year. We
clearly got a handle on it.
This year I haven't seen numbers, but I'm sure they increase the energy
limit that you can have for a given lap. That means we will need to change
up the strategy a little bit so you can utilize it the best way.
It's still a work in progress, we're still building, figuring out as much
as we can about the system.
Honestly, I love it. I think it's a good thing that there's something new
in the series and we're building on it and we have to focus on it. It is
worth quite a bit of lap time to get it right.
It is very driver-involved. Yes, the team can get it right, they can tell
me what to do, but if I don't get it right in the car, if I do something
wrong, that means I'm hurting everybody in general, right?
It's created a fun dynamic that the team has to figure it out, then the
driver still has to apply it and learn how to use it themselves.
Now we're, what, a year and a bit in since we first had it. I'd say we've
gotten a really good handle on it and it will be interesting to see how it
plays out this weekend with the added energy.
Motorsports Journal: You seem to do really well with street courses, hybrid
and everything. Seems like you have it all melded in. Good drivers love to
watch other good drivers do well. You want to applaud them, recognizing how
a season like Alex Palou is having, you have to applaud it because it is so
tremendous. How much super glue will it take to keep him out about two races
so that this becomes a points race again?
KYLE KIRKWOOD:
He's really strong. I don't know. You might have to weld him to
something. I'm not sure if super glue is going to stop him.
I'm sure we can get a bunch of drivers together to lock him in a room or
something for a weekend. I don't think that's going to do much in this
championship race.
Motorsports Journal: It's going to take ... some violence?
KYLE KIRKWOOD:
Again, to your point, as racing drivers, we like to see each other
succeed. Of course, we don't want to see failures within ourselves. In
some ways when somebody's doing something like Palou has done, it's an
incredible thing. I think maybe the viewers don't recognize as much as
they should of what somebody like that is doing in this series.
In most case scenarios, what we've done this season prior to Iowa would
be an amazing championship run. We'd be leading the championship in most
seasons. This season he's just done something incredible, right?
I think people shouldn't look at it as a negative, like it's making it
boring. That's not the case. What you're witnessing is greatness in
action. We're doing everything we can to try and come back to him, which
we've done a good job to do, but it still hasn't been enough.
Yeah, it's incredible. So in many ways, yeah, it would be nice if he took
a couple weekends off and we can come back to him. You know what, I love
racing. I think he's a wonderful person. I hope we have a lot of good
races in the future with each other.
ENDS
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| While Kyle Kirkwood enters INDY Toronto at P4 (-180 points) in the season championship points race with only five more races to run, Kyle hope to stand atop the podium and spray champagne as he did here at the season's most admired street race weekend on the streets of Long Beach as it celebrated its 50th year of "Rites Of Spring" motorsports contest. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks - Motorsports Journal (2025) |
Representing this weekend with Silver Gold Bull (full livery on track), a Canadian company partnered with Andretti Global, Kirkwood expressed enthusiasm for the alignment. “It’s a cool alliance,” he said. “This clearly makes a ton of sense for them given that it is in Canada. It will be exciting to try to go for another win with them.” The partnership, now over a year strong, adds extra motivation for Kirkwood to perform in front of the Canadian crowd.
Despite a disappointing outing in Iowa, where a crash and a poorly timed
caution derailed his weekend, Kirkwood remains undeterred. “Last weekend was
an anomaly for us,” he admitted, acknowledging the 180-point gap to
championship leader Alex Palou. “That seems unattainable from this point, but
as long as it’s mathematically possible to beat him, we’re going to keep
trying to get wins.” Kirkwood emphasized the importance of moving forward,
focusing on Toronto’s potential to be Andretti’s “best event of the year.”
The Toronto street circuit, with its unique blend of different pavements and
slick conditions, presents a challenge Kirkwood likened to a hockey rink.
“Every corner gives you a different balance,” he said. “It’s a fun place to
drive… It seems impossible to pass, but you get on the front or back straight,
and it creates really good passing opportunities.” Andretti’s strong track
record at street courses like Long Beach, St. Petersburg, Detroit, and Toronto
fuels Kirkwood’s optimism, with the team’s data-driven preparation and
simulator work setting the stage for a competitive weekend.
Kirkwood also reflected on the team’s progress under the leadership of owner
Dan Towriss. “Dan and everyone around him has kind of taken the bull by the
horns,” he said, playfully nodding to Silver Gold Bull. “That is the reason
why we’ve been good at so many races this season.” Towriss’s hands-on
approach, including strategic meetings to bolster the team’s championship
aspirations, has elevated Andretti Global’s performance, making them a “force
to be reckoned with.”
The dynamic within the Andretti driver lineup - Kirkwood, Herta, and Marcus
Ericsson - further strengthens their prospects. “We love to see each other
succeed,” Kirkwood said, dismissing any notions of rivalry. “We share it all.
That’s what propels us forward.” This collaborative spirit was evident in last
year’s Toronto race, where the team prioritized a 1-2 finish over individual
glory.
Looking ahead, Kirkwood acknowledged the strategic challenges posed by the
extended race distance and the limitations of the alternate street course
tire, which offers high grip but limited durability. “Getting nailed down,
trying to run the best strategy with that, hoping it’s not a lottery… We’re
going to try to turn what might be a challenge hopefully into a positive for
us,” he said.
Beyond the track, Kirkwood expressed his affection for Toronto, praising its
culture, food, and vibrant atmosphere. “I love going to Toronto,” he said.
“The city is great. The food is phenomenal. It’s definitely high on the bucket
list.” With dinner plans at some of the city’s top restaurants, Kirkwood is
set to enjoy the off-track experience as much as the on-track action.
As the only international race on the INDYCAR calendar, Toronto holds a
special place, though Kirkwood deferred to series officials on the prospect of
adding more global events. “I love the races that we go to now,” he said. “I
don’t understand the dynamics or anything that goes into racing at a new venue
out of the country.”
With his sights set on a P1 finish, Kirkwood’s preparation blends rigorous
data analysis with the physical demands of an athlete. “It’s important that
you feed yourself like an athlete because you want to perform like an
athlete,” he said, underscoring the sport’s intensity. After a season of
highs, like his Detroit win, and lows, like Iowa, Kirkwood views Toronto as a
potential turning point to finish the 2025 season strong.
As Andretti Global rolls into Toronto with unmatched confidence, Kirkwood and his teammates are poised to capitalize on their street course dominance. With the support of Silver Gold Bull and the leadership of Dan Towriss, Kirkwood aims to add another chapter to Andretti’s storied history at Exhibition Place, proving that even in a season dominated by Alex Palou, Andretti Global remains a formidable contender.
... notes from The EDJE
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TAGS: Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto, NTT
INDYCAR SERIES, Street Course, Silver Gold Bull, Colton Herta, Dan
Towriss, Toronto Street Circuit, INDYCAR 2025, Alex Palou, Team Dynamics,
Championship Race, Iowa Crash, Detroit Win, The EDJE
