Kyle Kirkwood found his groove amid the traffic Saturday morning, leading the pre-qualifying practice session for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Kirkwood, who earned his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory last year at this event from pole, was quickest in the one-hour session with a lap of 1 minute, 6.4731 seconds in the No. 27 AutoNation Honda fielded by Andretti Global.
SEE: Practice Results
That’s the best lap of the weekend so far on the 11-turn, 1.968-mile temporary street circuit, topping the 1:06.6874 time set by teammate Colton Herta on Friday afternoon. Kirkwood’s top lap also was a big improvement over his best time Friday, 1:07.2445, good for eighth among the 27-car field.
“That’s what happens when you put this many cars out there on a tight circuit,” Kirkwood said of the thick traffic. “We expect it, and you try to do the best you possibly can. Ultimately, you’ve just got mess people’s laps up and stack them up massively to be able to find your gap.”
Up next is qualifying for the NTT P1 Award, a three-segment session that starts at 2:25 p.m. ET this afternoon (live, Peacock, INDYCAR LIVE, INDYCAR Radio Network). The 85-lap race is at 3 p.m. ET Sunday (live, USA Network, Peacock, INDYCAR LIVE, INDYCAR Radio Network).
2021 Long Beach winner Herta was second at 1:06.4886 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda, giving Andretti Global the top two spots on the chart. Christian Lundgaard clocked in third at 1:06.5831 in the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
Felix Rosenqvist was fourth at 1:06.6518 in the No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda fielded by Meyer Shank Racing, backing up his performance Friday, when he also ended up fourth. Honda-powered drivers took the top four spots in this session after Chevrolet engines propelled four of the top five drivers in Friday’s session.
Scott McLaughlin was another driver to stay in the top five this morning, fifth at 1:06.7359 in the No. 3 Odyssey Batteries Team Penske Chevrolet. McLaughlin was third Friday.
Friday practice leader Pato O’Ward slipped to 21st in this session, with a top lap of 1:07.5127 in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. O’Ward’s session-leading time Friday was 1:06.6874.
Two-time Long Beach winner and two-time series champion Will Power had a fraught relationship with Turn 8 during the Saturday practice, clipping the concrete wall twice in that corner in separate incidents. The second impact brought out a red flag, damaging the left rear and nose cone of Power’s No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet. He was unhurt.