Kyle Kirkwood Jumps to Top; Honda Rules Second Arlington Practice

Kyle Kirkwood’s strong start to the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season continued Saturday morning as he led the pre-qualifying practice at the inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington.

Kirkwood (photo, top) was quickest at 1 minute, 33.1409 seconds in his last trip around the 14-turn, 2.73-mile temporary circuit in the No. 27 JM Bullion/Gold.com Honda. He was 15th in the opening practice Friday.

SEE: Practice Results

“A lot better than yesterday,” Kirkwood said. “Unfortunately, yesterday, we just never really got a good run in the 40-minute session. So, yeah, I was disappointed yesterday. Had a lot to look at, big learning curve overnight, just driving mostly, to be honest, and figured it out, saw what the teammates were doing and were able to match them and then figure out some other things too in this session.”

Up next is NTT P1 Award qualifying at 2:30 p.m. ET (FS2, FOX One, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls). Live coverage of the 70-lap race starts at 12:30 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX One, FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls.

Andretti Global driver Kirkwood is second in the series standings, five points behind leader Josef Newgarden, after finishing fourth and second, respectively, in the first two races of the season.

Kirkwood’s lap was the leading edge of a power play by Honda in the 80-minute session. Honda-powered drivers took the top five spots. That’s a mirror of past performance on temporary street circuits by the Japanese manufacturer, which has won 14 of the last 16 street races in the series.

Reigning and four-time series champion Alex Palou was second at 1:33.5008 in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Marcus Armstrong ended up third at 1:33.9702 in the No. 66 Root Insurance Honda of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian despite triggering a red flag with a spin in Turn 14 as he searched for the limit on the bumpy circuit consisting of asphalt and concrete and their varying grip levels.

Will Power recovered from a collision with fellow series champion Scott Dixon earlier in the session to end up fourth at 1:34.0226 in the No. 26 TWG AI Honda of Andretti Global. Marcus Ericsson was the third Andretti Global driver in the top five with his best lap of 1:34.0695 in the No. 28 InPwr Honda.

David Malukas (photo, above) was the quickest Chevrolet-powered driver, sixth at 1:34.3889 in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske machine.

Two incidents triggering red flags involved contact.

Dixon spun in his No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda in Turn 4, with the car stopping in the apex of the blind corner 11 minutes into the session. Power, trailing behind, hit Dixon’s left rear wheel with the front of his machine. Both cars limped back to the pits for repairs, with both drivers returning to the track for more laps.

Two-time series champion Newgarden lost grip in the rear of his No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet 39 minutes into the session, sliding through Turn 2 and hitting the concrete barrier with his left front wheel. Team officials reported Newgarden would switch to a backup car for qualifying.