RACING: Kyle Kirkwood wins inaugural Grand Prix of Arlington

Kyle Kirkwood claimed victory at the inaugural Grand Prix of Arlington on Sunday, edging out Alex Palou to become the first-ever winner of the Texas-based race.

The 14-turn, 2.73-mile circuit, winding around the stadiums of the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers, provided an exciting debut for drivers and fans alike.

The win gave Kirkwood an early lead in the IndyCar standings, where he now sits 26 points ahead of Palou after three races. Kirkwood led an Andretti Global trio of top-four finishers, with Will Power taking third and Marcus Ericsson finishing fourth.

Fifth-place finisher Pato O'Ward of Arrow McLaren praised the Andretti Honda team’s performance.

"This Andretti Honda camp is fricking strong on street courses," O'Ward said. "We've got a lot of work to do if we want to start winning races on outright pace against them."

Kirkwood made a decisive pass on Palou on Lap 55 and built a five-second lead over the following laps. A yellow flag on Lap 68 closed the gap, but Kirkwood pulled away at the first opportunity. When a second caution came on the 70th and final lap, he held on for the win.

"That was so incredible," Kirkwood said. "Man, did we have some pace. This JM Bullion Honda, Andretti, all these guys right here—they gave me the tools today. It's because of this race car we won today, because of teamwork."

Palou acknowledged Kirkwood’s performance, quickly dismissing speculation that he might have challenged for the win without the final caution.

"Not today," Palou said. "(Kirkwood) did an awesome pass; hats off to him. It was super clean, and it was pretty impressive. We'll get them in a couple weeks."

Previous standings leader Josef Newgarden could not make it two wins in a row, finishing 15th and dropping to third in the championship standings.

—Field Level Media/Reuters