As Kyle Kirkwood cuts into Alex Palou's INDYCAR lead, is there time to catch him?
Kyle Kirkwood cut 27 points from the margin between him and INDYCAR points leader Alex Palou when Kirkwood won Sunday night.
That sounds big, but consider this: Kirkwood would just have to do that three more times to potentially catch Palou as he's still 75 points out.
"Moving closer," Kirkwood said. "It's still a long ways to go."
But Kirkwood's victory at World Wide Technology Raceway (commonly known as Gateway) under the lights Sunday night was about more than just math. It was about winning at a track other than a street course.
Kirkwood's two previous wins this year came on street circuits at Long Beach and Detroit, with Detroit his fourth career win and them all on temporary circuits on city streets.
"You get your fourth and people are like, 'Another street course for Kirkwood' — it's not as big of a deal now, when is he going to win something else?'" Kirkwood said.
"It takes [the focus] away from the street courses, so this was huge for me. This was by far bigger than [Detroit] because of that."
That's not to say Detroit wasn't satisfying for Kirkwood. He made moves for passes that he was proud of making and left with the feeling of earning the win.
But to win on the 1.25-mile oval at Gateway was a statement win, one that other people will notice and one that signaled he needs to be taken seriously as a title contender.
"[It] just like kind of puts a stamp down a little bit, more like, 'Hey, this kid might actually be able to contend for a championship and do things,'" Kirkwood said.
Could he win a championship? Kirkwood knows how to race for a title.
He won titles in USF2000 in 2018, USF Pro 2000 in 2019 and Indy NXT in 2021.
If he's going to compete for the 2025 championship, he will need to perform on the three types of circuits remaining in the final nine races — ovals (Iowa doubleheader, Milwaukee and Nashville), permanent road courses (Road America, Mid-Ohio, Laguna Seca and Portland) and one street circuit (Toronto).
"Everybody knows you've got to be diverse in this series," Kirkwood said. "You've got to win at multiple circuits. You've got to win at multiple venues.
"Whether it's a short oval, long oval, street course, road course, whatever it might be, you've got to win at all of them. [This is a] step in the right direction for sure."
Racing on ovals is an acquired skill and often requires a driver to pounce when the opportunity presents itself.
"Last year, to be honest, I was too timid on the restarts and starts and kept getting passed," Kirkwood said about returning to Gateway. "I had to be pretty aggressive and take more risks than I would have liked to, but it worked out."
Coming up for Kirkwood and the INDYCAR drivers is Road America (Sunday, 1:30 p.m. ET on FOX), where Palou has won in 2021 and 2023. Penske drivers Josef Newgarden (2022) and Will Power (2024) won the other most recent races.
The last time an Andretti car won at Road America was with Alexander Rossi in 2019.
Only Palou (five wins) and Kirkwood (three) have won races this year. Palou's wins have come at a variety of tracks with one on a street course (St. Petersburg), three on permanent road courses (Thermal, Barber, Indianapolis) and one on an oval with the Indy 500.
"Everybody knows we're going to go to Road America next week and [Palou] is going to put on a show there and we'll have to do everything in our power to keep him from looking shiny once again on road courses," Kirkwood said.
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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