Here’s a fact you didn’t expect to read today.

Since Kyle Kirkwood joined Andretti Global for the start of the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, he has won more races that all his teammates – combined.

The driver of the No. 27 PreFab Honda scored his third career victory with Sunday’s dominating drive in the 50th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, all those wins coming with this team. Colton Herta has the organization’s only other race wins since Kirkwood came aboard, and he has two, with Kirkwood dutifully following him to the checkered flag in 2023 in Toronto.

None of the other three drivers who have driven for the team in the past three years, including 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson, has reached victory lane.

Most in the sport saw Kirkwood’s ascension coming. He so dominated the junior divisions that it was a foregone conclusion he would reach the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. One year, he won 27 of 31 races over two different categories.

Kirkwood became the first driver to win championships in all three of the divisions leading to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, and he might one day stand atop this series, as well. Sunday’s victory helped him take a big step toward that, gaining 14 points on the driver who has won the past two titles, Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing. Palou gave Kirkwood the most competitive fight of the day, and Kirkwood gave it right back to him, masterfully keeping the lead out of the final pit stop exchange despite Palou having a tire advantage as Kirkwood fought to get up to speed.

Palou finished second and still has a commanding lead on this title pursuit, but Kirkwood jumped to second and stands 34 points behind Palou heading to the big month of May, where three races await, including the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

Kirkwood, who also won the pole, was the biggest story of the weekend. But there was much to discuss, including that spirited battle early in the race after most of the field switched off Firestone’s alternate compound tires to use the primaries.

If you missed it, dig out the replay. There were more cars dicing than should have been allowed in such tight quarters on the 11-turn, 1.968-mile temporary street circuit. That’s also the time of the race where Palou jumped from fifth to second, another key moment as the driver of the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda chases his fourth series championship.

So much to highlight in these 90 laps, including the most lead changes for the event (nine) since the 2012 race won by Will Power:

  • Since the first-lap accident in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding, the series has turned 249 consecutive green-flag laps. Yep, that pileup in Turn 3 in St. Pete was the last caution we’ve seen.
  • Christian Lundgaard continued to show why he was such a good offseason hire for Arrow McLaren. He finished third for the second consecutive race, this time using the less-popular tire strategy. As a result, he’s third in the standings, 16 points and three positions ahead of his more established teammate, Pato O’Ward.
  • How about Felix Rosenqvist and the job Meyer Shank Racing has done to open the season? The driver of the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda is fourth in the standings, riding three consecutive top-seven finishes. He has come home seventh, fifth and fourth, respectively.
  • Power’s race in St. Petersburg didn’t last three corners, but he has rebounded well, becoming Team Penske’s top-finishing driver each of the past two races. He had a stirring drive to finish sixth at The Thermal Club in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, and he drove from 13th to finish fifth on Sunday. Power is still a mile out of the series lead – he trails Palou by 79 points – but he has overtaken Scott McLaughlin in the standings and is within six points of Josef Newgarden.
  • A quick shoutout to two drivers who don’t get much ink: Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simpson seems to improve with each race, and Sunday’s 10th-place finish in the No. 8 Journie Rewards Chip Ganassi Racing Honda was the best of his three-year career. Sting Ray Robb scored his first top-10 finish last year at World Wide Technology Raceway – he was ninth – and he matched that Sunday using the less-popular tire strategy on the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet. It’s also a fact that he had Herta and six-time series champion Scott Dixon in his sight at the finish.
  • Series rookie Robert Shwartzman finally had a full weekend, and he was happy to receive it. Radio issues cost him dearly in St. Petersburg, and his No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet all but melted to the ground in a fire at The Thermal Club. He didn’t miss any time this weekend and finished 18th, three positions ahead of teammate Callum Ilott.