IndyCar held its first ever race last weekend on the Streets of Arlington and it became immediately apparent that it was to be a new favourite for the drivers. For everyone else, the reception to IndyCar’s latest venue was more mixed. What proved to be a fascinating display of competing strategies during the race left a bit to be desired in terms of on track action and excitement. Despite that though, we got our third different winner from a third different team in just our third race of the new season, resulting in our third championship leader of the year so far. That fact combined with some unexpected, but most welcome, action towards the tail end of the race meant we head into a short two week break with plenty to talk about.
Here are The Paddock Chronicle’s Key Takeaways from Arlington.
Kirkwood – King of the Streets
Kyle Kirkwood is having an incredibly strong start to his 2026 campaign. Fourth place at the opening round in St. Petersburg was then bettered last time out in Phoenix with a second place podium finish. In Arlington, the Floridian pounced. Out in front, it looked like Palou had a firm grip on the win. But as the laps began to tick away, Kirkwood silently went about hunting down the four time Champion. Closing in at a rate of knots, Kirkwood waited patiently to make his move on Palou. He knew he’d have to time an overtake perfectly to catch the Spaniard off guard.
This he did coming into the final corner on the circuit on Lap 56. He made a very opportunistic overtake on Palou, before vanishing up the road ahead of him. The move was executed so cleanly (helped in part by Palou’s gentlemanly style of racing) that it left many in a state of shock. So rarely do we see someone take on Alex Palou fair and square and beat him. But that’s exactly what happened. Kirkwood leaves Arlington not only having won the race but now leading the Championship with a twenty-six point cushion to Palou in second.
Palou’s Patience Pays Off
After a unfortunate incident with Veekay that took him out of the race in Phoenix, Alex Palou was looking to bounce back in Arlington. That was never really in doubt. While the win eluded him, a P2 finish for Palou was an incredibly strong return to form. As he quipped after the race, he’d rather take a P2 result than not finish the race at all. It’s difficult to argue with that logic.
Once again, the combination of his superb racecraft and the work done both by those in pitlane and behind the scenes in strategy worked like a charm. Kirkwood besting him however does also show that there are still vulnerabilities in Palou’s armour. It’ll be fascinating to see if anyone else can exploit that in the races to come or if Kirkwood is the only man for the job. For now though, as if there was ever any doubt, you’d be unwise to underestimate Alex Palou.
Podium Return for Power
After a tumultuous start to the season with his new team, it was third time’s the charm for Will Power in Arlington. Qualifying in fourth, Power and Andretti opted for an aggressive strategy in the race that ultimately paid off. Whispering to the tyres in a way that few have the ability to do, Power made them last for longer than they had any right to as he extended his stints further and further into the race. Along with his sharp wheel to wheel combat skills, it was a tale of redemption for Power. It demonstrated that he’s still very much got what it takes both to get back onto the podium and into victory lane.
There’s life in this old dog yet and in a season that’s slowly but surely becoming more and more unpredictable, getting to throw Power back into the mix at the top of the pack is a simply delicious prospect.
Trouble for Team Penske?
Team Penske had a very strong outing in Phoenix. All three drivers finished firmly inside the top ten and two of them were on the podium. One of those was the newcomer to the team, David Malukas. Having also achieved his first NTT IndyCar Pole Position, the American kept it consistent this time out in Arlington. That was just as well because it was a case of very mixed fortunes for his teammates.
McLaughlin was forced to fight his way as high up into the field as possible after starting from the back of the grid. He would end the day as the biggest mover in the race. But he would finish just shy of getting into the top ten by coming home in P11.
After winning last time out in Phoenix, hopes were high for Josef Newgarden as the IndyCar circus headed for Texas. But a poor qualifying performance put him on the backfoot and come the race, he just went backwards. A close call with Malukas was followed by contact with Schumacher later on in the race. He then failed to make an impression from there and ended the race in P15. Quite the crash back to earth after the highs of Phoenix.
Are Team Penske in trouble then? It was arguably their worst race of the season so far. But Malukas and McLaughlin were able to maximise damage limitation for themselves and the team. But in a season that looks set to be incredibly tight up at the top of the Championship, results like this could prove very costly. With Newgarden and McLaughlin having both won previously in Barber, they’ll be looking for a return to form when we go racing next in two weeks time.
Persistence from Pato
In 2026, Pato O’Ward can be summed up by one word – consistency. P5 in St. Petersburg was followed by P4 in Phoenix. It was another P5 finish this time out in Arlington. Having seen how a driver like Palou can utilise consistency to his advantage without always needing to win, it would appear that O’Ward is attempting to replicate a play from the master’s playbook.
Will this work and help propel O’Ward to an inaugural Championship in 2026? It’s too soon to tell. But he sits in P4 currently, just seven points away from Palou overall. A win next time out, or crucially, a first win at the Indy 500 in May would certainly ramp things up a notch and turn O’Ward into a very serious contender. For now, the Mexican is doing enough to keep himself in the mix and give his fans a cautious sense of optimism.
Credit to Collet
Driving under the radar somewhat in Arlington was one of the rookies on the grid this year – Caio Collet. The Brazilian driver has had a steady introduction to IndyCar so far. He’s kept his head down, stayed out of trouble and finished each race that he’s participated in so far. He currently sits just one point ahead of teammate Ferrugi but outperformed his more experienced counterpart this weekend.
Ferrugi made little impression during the race and finished in P17. Collet however, rose steadily through the pack to finish just outside the top ten in P12. It may not seem like much on the face of it but it’s a steady improvement that’s good to see for a rookie in the series and worthy of some credit.
IndyCar in Arlington – Final Thoughts
As we head into a two week break following this opening triple header, there’s a lot to be excited for in this season of IndyCar. Arlington’s part in that is clear with Kyle Kirkwood’s impressive victory. The race itself, while not the most exciting to watch, provided us with layers of intrigue. Examples of this include Scott Dixon’s outrageous four stop strategy to go from P20 to P8 and the fact that if Mick Schumacher didn’t have bad luck, he’d have no luck at all. It also gave us some elements of drama. This was most visible in the race ending clash between Siegel and Grosjean on the penultimate lap of the race.
Teams and drivers seem more than satisfied with the latest addition to the IndyCar calendar and for fans, it has the potential to host great races in the future. They say everything feels bigger in Texas. IndyCar certainly did.
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IndyCar returns March 29th at Barber.
Feature Image: IndyCar Media Centre