Cautious start to the race
At the start, Marcus Ericsson managed to retain the lead ahead of Alex Palou, Pato O’Ward and Will Power. To everyone’s surprise, almost the entire field made it through the opening lap without incident; only Christian Lundgaard spun after being tapped by Mick Schumacher. Ericsson would then build a lead of up to two seconds over Palou.
Before the race, one of the key questions was whether a two-stop or three-stop strategy would be the better option. The three-stop strategy ultimately proved to be the preferred approach, with several drivers making their first pit stops early in the race.
Ericsson and Palou also opted for that strategy. Normally you would expect Palou to stay out longer for his first stop, but after sixteen laps he pitted together with Ericsson. There, the Chip Ganassi Racing driver inherited the virtual lead when Ericsson’s right-front tire change took too long. As a result, Palou rejoined the track ahead of Ericsson.
Will Power opts for a two-stop strategy
Will Power, who had also started on the soft tires, stayed out longer and briefly took the lead. The Team Penske driver was one of the few drivers to start the race on a two-stop strategy and did not make his first pit stop until lap 22.
After the entire field had completed its first round of pit stops, Palou held the lead ahead of Ericsson, O’Ward and Kirkwood. It would not take long before Palou and Ericsson confirmed they were fully committed to a three-stop strategy, pitting again after just thirteen and twelve laps respectively for their second stops.
This handed the lead back to Power, who stayed out as long as possible to make the two-stop strategy work. However, he was not helped by race neutralizations, which played no role at all during the race. The strategy ultimately failed, as Palou was already on his gearbox before Power made his final pit stop.
Palou vs Kirkwood
After the final round of pit stops, Palou emerged in the lead. However, Kyle Kirkwood had worked his way up to second place and managed to close the gap completely after the final stops. Kirkwood soon put the leader under heavy pressure and surprised Palou with a decisive move in Turn 14 with sixteen laps remaining.
After completing the pass, Kirkwood still had more pace in hand and quickly built a lead of five seconds.
Caution with three laps to go
The race looked set to run entirely under green until Christian Rasmussen suddenly came to a stop at the pit exit with three laps remaining. As a result, the pace car had to be deployed after all. The stranded car was quickly cleared, after which the question was whether there would still be a restart.
That restart eventually came, with Kirkwood getting away well and retaining the lead. Not much later the yellow flag had to be waved again after Romain Grosjean and Nolan Siegel made contact in the back of the field. This allowed Kirkwood to cruise to his first victory of the season, ahead of Palou and Power.
Update: After the finish, sixth-place finisher Felix Rosenqvist was given a 27-second penalty by race control for passing David Malukas before the allowed restart point. This dropped the Meyer Shank Racing driver back to twentieth place.
Full results of the race on Arlington
PhotographyHonda Racing HPD
