Washington — Kyle Kirkwood won on another street course, continuing to earn his moniker as “king of the streets.”
And while that is a nice title to have, it kind of irks Kirkwood.
The Andretti Global driver wants to be known for more than just strength on street courses.
But Sunday sixth time on a street course, as he captured the victory in the inaugural race on the streets of Washington. It was his second street victory of the season to go along with the inaugural race at Arlington.
“It’s a great thing I won here today, but it’s a bad thing for that title that I have that I’ve been trying to kick,” Kirkwood told me with a laugh after his victory.
“It’s the only negative I can take away from today.”
Freedom 250 winner Kyle Kirkwood said he wants to be known for more than just winning on street courses.
To win a championship, Kirkwood will have to do more than win on streets. He’ll have to win on ovals (as he did last year at Gateway for his only non-street course victory) and on road courses.
Three races remain in the 2026 season — a doubleheader next weekend at Milwaukee and then the season finale at Laguna Seca.
“I think I have to win at Milwaukee and a win at Laguna so I can say I have another win at an oval and a road-course win,” Kirkwood said. “I have a lot of top fives on road courses, but that elusive win has not come to me.”
The 27-year-old Kirkwood is establishing himself as a perennial championship contender.
He was seventh in the standings in 2024, fourth in the standings last year and sits second in the current standings. However, he is still a somewhat distant 91 points behind Alex Palou.
“Every year we elevate our game. I elevate my game, the team elevates their game,” Kirkwood said. “From seventh to fourth to now, I’m running second. If we can hold off that, that’s once again [cutting it in] half once more and the subsequent step is to win.”
Kyle Kirkwood is feeling assured about Milwaukee.
Andretti World has gained the final two races and seems to be surging.
“We’re going to be actually good at Milwaukee,” Kirkwood mentioned. “I believe we’re going to be actually good at Milwaukee. We had an exceptional take a look at there. … We’d wish to be thought of as one of many huge groups. It’s now not the “Large Two” [of Ganassi and Penske]. It could be the Large Three with the quantity of wins that we’ve had this yr.”
But when he (and the workforce) do not win within the remaining three races, he won’t really feel that manner.
The robust vibes could be fleeting and regardless that there’s a lengthy offseason, Kirkwood feels how he finishes 2026 will influence 2027.
“Momentum is an actual factor,” Kirkwood mentioned. “Even once you’re out of the automobile. You need to come off the season as robust as potential to hold that momentum. As a result of final yr, I had an exceptional first a part of the yr, however the second a part of the yr wasn’t that robust.
“That momentum type of hurts you in the event you don’t have nice momentum going into the offseason with your self, your work ethic, the workforce’s work ethic. Once you’re decided, you are likely to do issues rather a lot higher. Will probably be good to return out of the season with a really strong end.”
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