Freedom 250 Grand Prix: Kirkwood claims historic win in Washington D.C.

WASHINGTON — Kyle Kirkwood won the inaugural Freedom 250 Grand Prix in Washington D.C., after leading the most laps (128) at a street course in NTT IndyCar Series history on the historic 1.7-mile street circuit in the heart of America’s capital.

The driver of the No. 27 Andretti Global Honda remained the “King of the Streets” after winning his second race of the 2026 IndyCar season. Although he made on-track history in the nation’s capital, the Florida native consistently built gaps to second place on pure pace or by overtaking lapped drivers. 

This win in Washington marked a great comeback after Kirkwood’s race in Markham. The 27-year-old ended his race early in Canada by clipping the inside of Turn 3. Then, crashed on the outside wall in Markham. In the post-race press conference, Kirkwood noted how he was able to turn a negative in Canada into a positive in Washington.

“After last weekend, my mistakes there kind of flipped a switch where I was like these mistakes feel terrible,” Kirkwood said. “I hadn’t had one of those in a very long time. Sometimes those are actually good for me because all this week I feel like I’ve worked harder than I ever have in preparation for this event. I think those preparations paid off this weekend.

“Yeah, it was a great feeling to rebound after last weekend, to get here, to see all the fans, 100,000 people on both days is absolutely incredible. The whole place there’s people, rows of five in the pace laps, all the way around the track, 1.6 miles. Super cool to see. To be able to win in what will be considered probably my home race, right, being the Freedom 250 as an American, is something very special. I’ll cherish this moment for a very long time.”

Green Flag in the District of Columbia

Chip Ganassi Racing driver Alex Palou led the grid to green as he went three-wide with Kyle Kirkwood and Christian Rasmussen. The Ed Carpenter Racing driver backed out as Palou and Kirkwood fought for the lead. Then, Kirkwood took the lead after a clean Turn 1. 

Scott McLaughlin took third place from Rasmussen as contact was made in the midfield. The first full lap ended with a full-course yellow to clean up debris from the track.

Christian Lundgaard took sixth place from David Malukas, as the Team Penske driver answered back by taking the spot back. Lundgaard finished the battle by getting ahead of Malukas. Ten Laps into the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, Kirkwood held on to the lead with Palou in second place and McLaughlin in third place. Kyffin Simpson and Romain Grosjean battled for 24th place as the French Driver pulled ahead. 

A second full-course caution was called to clean up debris from the track. Malukas, Sting Ray Robb, Santino Ferrucci and Graham Rahal pitted under yellow.

Kirkwood brought the race back to green as he got away from Palou. Josef Newgarden took 10th place from Alexander Rossi, as Scott Dixon eyed Will Power for 14th place. Ferrucci was stuck on pit lane after electrical issues with his steering wheel. McLaughlin seemed to have an issue with his No. 3 Chevrolet as he lost the gap to Palou. With the vibration issue, Rasmussen caught up to McLaughlin to take third place. 

Malukas’ big mistake

David Malukas crashed on the outside of Turn 7, with Sting Ray Robb crashing into the stationary No. 12 Chevrolet. Both drivers made it out of their cars safely as the AMR Safety Team rushed to the scene.

Once the pit lane opened, the race leaders pitted under yellow. Alex Palou was given a drive-through penalty after hitting Mick Schumacher’s tire as the No. 47 Honda set up for the German driver’s pit stop. Dennis Hauger was hit with a three-place penalty for an unsafe pit release. 

Graham Rahal hit the wall as he brought the race back to green. But the No. 15 Honda driver was able to keep his lead as Marcus Armstrong was late on the brakes. Armstrong spun Christian Rasmussen and forced Rinus VeeKay into the wall, ending the Dutch driver’s race. 

Graham Rahal brought the field back to green as Kyle Kirkwood took second place from Kyffin Simpson, with the Andretti Global driver eyeing the lead. Soon afterward, the “King of the Streets” was back on top, overtaking Rahal for the lead. 

Scott McLaughlin passed Romain Grosjean for fourth as the Frenchman took it back from the New Zealand native. Christian Lundgaard made a move on Felix Rosenqvist for sixth place. Marcus Ericsson made a bold move on Nolan Siegel for 11th place as the Swedish driver eyed the top 10.

More pit-lane mistakes for Palou

Alex Palou continued to have issues on pit lane as the left-front wheel was not secured properly to the No. 10 Honda. The Spanish driver had to stay in his pit box longer as the No. 10 crew correctly secured the loose tire. The four-time IndyCar champion headed back on track one lap down. 

Race leaders took the opportunity to pit around Lap 75. Caio Collet made brief contact with Christian Rasmussen as the rookie exited pit lane. Soon afterward, Collet passed Marcus Armstrong on cold tires as the Meyer Shank Racing driver tried to catch up to the rookie. 

Kyle Kirkwood pitted on Lap 80. The No. 27 team put on a hard set of tires and re-entered the track in second place. Soon afterward, McLauchlin pitted for hard tires and headed back to the track in fourth place as Alexander Rossi moved around the Team Penske driver. 

Rookies Mick Schumacher and Collet battled for 16th place as they continued to fight for the Rookie of the Year title. Josef Newgarden entered the top 10 after overtaking Nolan Siegel. Kirkwood lapped Rasmussen as the race leader opened a gap over Scott McLaughlin in second place. Soon afterward, Kirkwood lapped Pato O’Ward. 

Will Power eyed Kyffin Simpson for fourth place as Kirkwood tried to lap championship leader Palou. Louis Foster almost lost his car as McLaughlin lapped the British driver. Power continued to climb as he landed in a podium spot, overtaking Christian Lundgaard. Marcus Ericsson took sixth place from Felix Rosenqvist. 

Final Pit Stops in Washington

Kyle Kirkwood and his No. 27 Andretti Global Honda team took their last pit stop early to go for hard tires as Scott McLaughlin took the lead. Kirkwood re-entered the race in fourth place. McLaughlin pitted from the lead for a set of softs as Will Power got the top spot. 

Power pitted for soft tires and re-entered behind Christian Lundgaard as his Andretti teammate, Kirkwood, cycled back to the lead. Kirkwood lapped Dennis Hauger as McLaughlin closed the gap to the race leaders. 

Palou out of contention

Championship leader Alex Palou clipped the inside wall of Turn 3, then broke his front wing on the outside wall. The Spanish driver brought his No. 10 Honda back to the pits. Palou’s crash caused the fifth full-course yellow, which brought the field back together. 

Kyle Kirkwood brought it back to green as Scott McLaughlin lunged against Kirkwood, but the Team Penske driver hit the tire barrier, ending his race on the restart. Reacting to McLaughlin’s crash, Felix Rosenqvist spun out on his own, hitting the wall. A sixth full-course caution was thrown to recover the Nos. 3 and 60 cars. 

Christian Lundgaard and Will Power moved up to second and third, respectively. Kirkwood restarted the race with a clean first lap. Pato O’Ward moved up to 16th place, getting ahead of Marcus Armstrong. Scott Dixon got ahead of Josef Newgarden for seventh place as Caio Collet eyed the Team Penske driver. 

Palou rejoined the race to maintain his championship lead as Lundgaard caught up with Kirkwood. The Andretti Global driver responded by bringing the gap back up to over two seconds. With three laps to go, the No. 27 Honda driver extended his gap to Lundgaard to over four seconds. 

After leading the most laps on a street course in series history, Kirkwood claimed the Freedom 250 Grand Prix. Lundgaard and Power rounded out the podium in Washington D.C.

The NTT IndyCar Series returns with the doubleheader at The Milwaukee Mile. Coverage of the Snap-on Makers and Fixers 250 starts on Saturday, Aug. 29, at 2:30 p.m. ET, followed by the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250 at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, Aug. 30, with both races on FOX.

Results: 2026 Freedom 250 Grand Prix at Washington D.C. Street Circuit

GRID Ranking

The 2026 GRID Ranking is the 10th year of the world’s premier motorsports ranking system, which was initially released on Sunday, April 5.

The official ranking includes drivers participating in seven racing series (NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula 1, Formula E, WRC, Supercars, MotoGP). Each driver earns GRID Ratings, which help determine their seeding in the GRID Ranking.

GRID Ranking Week 21 IndyCar drivers:

DRIVER	OLD RATING	PREVIOUS RANKING	MOST RECENT FINISH	NEW RATING	NEW RANKING
Alex Palou	17.00	1st	20th	15.87	2nd
Kyle Kirkwood	11.21	15th	1st	12.20	10th
Christian Lundgaard	11.36	13th	2nd	12.07	11th
David Malukas	9.29	26th	24th	8.67	28th
Josef Newgarden	N/A	N/A	8th	8.27	32nd