Kyle Kirkwood rightfully will and should celebrate Sunday’s victory in the inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington. But the object in his mirror should be concerning.

Alex Palou is back to championship form.

No, Palou (photo, top) said he wasn’t going to beat Kirkwood in the third race of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, and he came to that conclusion midway through the 70-lap race. But a second-place finish elevated him to second in the point standings, close enough to leader Kirkwood for all to see the momentum the four-time series champion has.

Palou has gotten through two street races where Andretti Global should be at its strongest, and he is ready for a road course race he dominated last year. Palou’s 16.0035-second victory in last year’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix was the largest winning margin of 2025. This year’s race is Sunday, March 29.

After the trip to Barber Motorsports Park will be three races where Palou finished second, first and first a year ago. So, yeah, he feels good about his position at this mini-break in the schedule after three straight race weekends to open the season.

“I think it's been a really, really good first start of the season,” Palou said. “Obviously, what happened in Phoenix (wasn’t good), but still we got a win and a second.”

Palou led 16 laps, relinquishing the lead on Lap 55 only due to Kirkwood’s aggressive move to the inside approaching a tight right-hand corner (Turn 14). Kirkwood likely would have gotten the lead eventually, but Palou thought he could have made that moment more difficult for the eventual race winner.

“(I) should have obviously defended a little bit better,” he said. “It's very easy to say now.”

Alex Palou

Palou (photo, above) said the difference between the setups of his car and those of the Andretti Global machines of Kirkwood, Will Power and pole winner Marcus Ericsson was in the downforce levels. Palou tried to use more of it, and it likely cost him his 21st career race victory.

“Unfortunately, when I tried less downforce, I couldn't really get the car to the balance that I was comfortable with,” he said. “Maybe if we can spend a week of testing or more practice sessions, I would be able to get it there. But with the limited time that we have nowadays, it's tough.

“Yeah, we know that Andretti is running different ride heights, different stuff – they make it work. It's very impressive they can make it work on tires, on speed. Obviously, it's a lot easier now once the race is done and you can see what happened. It could have been also that they would have struggled so much on tires, then you look like a superhero because you added more downforce. Yeah, I think it keeps it fun. It's never straightforward.

“Next year, I wouldn't have as much downforce.”

Still, the second-place result was a Palou-like bounce-back from the previous race, where he was knocked out of the Good Ranchers 250 oval race at Phoenix Raceway by early contact with Rinus VeeKay. Palou’s No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda hit the outside wall, resulting in a 24th-place finish.

That day produced only six points for the Spaniard, who trails Kirkwood by 26 points. But Palou won the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, giving him 94 points in the two street races. Kirkwood, whose specialty is street racing, scored 85.

Palou said he is eager to keep rolling. He will drive an Acura ARX-06 in next weekend’s 12 Hours of Sebring at Sebring International Raceway before turning his attention to the race at Barber Motorsports Park.

“I love it when I'm busy like that,” he said. “Yeah, cannot wait for Barber.”

The champion remains on the hunt.