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| FREEDOM 250 Grand Prix Podium >>> CONGRATULATIONS to Kyle Kirkwood - Andretti Global P1, Christian Lundgaard - Arrow McLaren P2, and Will Power - Andretti Global P3 (complete with Bald Eagle) for making HISTORY as the PODIUM of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix! Image Credit: Edmund Jenks via FOX Sports and Gemini AI (2026) |
Andretti Global Charges Forward With Kirkwood Freedom 250 Grand Prix Victory After Markham Momentum
The Freedom 250 GP could not have been a better race. This race actually
surpassed Markham, and that is saying a lot. It may never happen, but this
venue needs to be a regular on the annual schedule - if for no other reason,
to take some of the politics out of the impression of Washington DC as a city.
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| Freedom 250 Grand Prix starts heading down Pennsylvania Avenue - which was wide enough to be both the track - left - and pit lane - right, with the nation's capitol in the background, in a celebration event to honor the 250th birthday of the formation of The United States Of America. This race event may be the only one of these INDYCAR SERIES events (which would be a shame). Image Credit: James Black - NICS (2026) |
Andretti Global arrived in the nation’s capital already carrying serious late-season momentum. Just one week earlier in Markham, Ontario, Marcus Ericsson had delivered a victory while teammate Will Power clawed from last on the grid all the way to third. That Canadian double-podium set the stage. On the brand-new 1.6-mile street circuit threading past the Capitol, museums, and Pennsylvania Avenue, the team completed the statement: Kyle Kirkwood dominated for the win, Power finished third, and Ericsson fourth. Three of the top four positions. The organization’s 80th all-time IndyCar victory. A sweep of the year’s new street courses.
Kirkwood made the day look almost effortless from the outside, leading 128 of
147 laps. Inside the cockpit it was a different story. The Florida native
later noted that his biceps were fine, but his hands and left calf were the
ones complaining after nearly two hours and forty minutes of absolute maximum
braking into every corner. He called the victory “huge,” especially after
mistakes the previous weekend that “flipped a switch.” Those errors, he said,
pushed him to work harder in preparation than he ever had. The payoff arrived
on a morning when he woke with his heart already racing, the same sensation he
feels only at the Indianapolis 500. “Outside of the Indy 500, I don’t think
there’s another race that you’d want to win,” Kirkwood observed. As an
American driver taking the Freedom 250, he added that the win “might top the
first win for me.”
Focus was non-negotiable. A hundred laps in he caught himself thinking about
the victory and forced a reset. Even on the final lap, with a
four-and-a-half-second cushion, he allowed himself only a measured breath. The
late restart, when Scott McLaughlin launched a dive-bomb while Kirkwood sat
alone among the top six on primary tires, tested that discipline. Wheelspin on
the primes, a momentary concession of the line, then a cross-over on exit to
hold off Christian Lundgaard - execution under fire. “If last weekend is any
indicator,” Kirkwood said, “as soon as you lose a little bit of focus, small
mistakes are very consequential.”
Team principal Ron Ruzewski spoke of a group that had begun to gel, drivers
pushing one another, engineers and crew delivering the tools. The pit-lane
stumbles of earlier months had been systematically addressed.
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| Love this shot just at race end when Will Power is out of the car and was asked, "What do you think?" - He turned his head and waved his hand behind him while looking at the Capitol dome, then turned back to the camera and said (paraphrased), "Yeah, what about this?" Image Credit: Edmund Jenks via FOX Sports screengrab (2026) |
Power, collecting his third consecutive podium, described the progression plainly: weaknesses were being eliminated, strength was appearing everywhere, and the expectation each weekend was now to fight for the podium or the win. “It’s just becoming normal for us to do this,” the Australian said. From a small town in Toowoomba to standing with an American president before racing past the Capitol ... he called the entire experience “surreal.”
Lundgaard, who finished second for Arrow McLaren, admitted he had only a
couple of laps where he was genuinely faster than the leader. The Dane still
called the weekend the best background he had ever experienced on a racetrack
and declared the result better than expected. He was simply happy, he smiled,
to see Alex Palou not win for once. Both Lundgaard and Power agreed the
circuit should return; the racing was real, the on-track passes plentiful (155
in total), and the spectacle unmatched. Power noted that President Trump was
still watching when the cars returned to the grid - evidence, he felt, that
the race itself had stayed engaging.
The magnitude hit the podium finishers at different moments. For Kirkwood it
was that early-morning pulse. For Power and Lundgaard it came in the truck on
the way to the track, the pageantry already carrying an Indy 500 vibe. Views
from the cockpit stayed with Kirkwood long after the burnout: walls of fans
five deep, the bombers overhead, the wall he faced after a less-than-perfect
celebratory spin.
Andretti Global leaves Washington with the points gap to Palou still large - ninety-one - but with tangible belief. Ruzewski’s message remains straightforward: put all three cars in front of the championship leader every week. Kirkwood’s approach is simpler still - win every race possible and let the math sort itself out.
After Markham’s resilience and DC’s dominance, the charge is no longer
theoretical. It is visible, measurable, and gathering speed as the series
turns toward Milwaukee and the final stretch.
The Freedom 250 delivered more than a race. It delivered a statement of place,
of preparation, and of a team that has found its late-season gear.
... notes from
The EDJE
FOOTNOTE:
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| "Front Page" - Image Credit: Andretti INDYCAR & INDY NXT via GEMINI - for blue sky (2026) |
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