“I needed this win,” says Kirkwood after Long Beach victory

Kirkwood led 53 laps on his way to victory, but lost the lead to Josef Newgarden while getting tangled up with the struggling Agustin Canapino.

His Andretti Autosport team then performed a brilliant overcut on his second stop to emerge ahead of teammate Romain Grosjean and Newgarden to head to victory lane.

“It's amazing man, oh my gosh, what a day,” he told NBC. “The calmest day I've had in two years and it was a win!

“We got a little unlucky in traffic, I was really the only one who made a mistake in the pitstops to be honest and came away with a win in Long Beach. I was happy with the pole yesterday but I'm over the moon right now.

"We had a stellar day as a team and Romain kept me on my toes. And Colton [Herta] in P4, an incredible day.

After crashing twice at St. Petersburg and having a pitlane incident at Texas Motor Speedway, Kirkwood vaulted 14 places in the championship with his Long Beach triumph.

"I felt like I needed this win… a moment of relief no doubt,” he said. “I can't thank the team enough. We didn't touch the car since qualifying, it's been the entire same since!

“So hats off to the crew. Bryan [Herta, strategist] nearly put me in tears [on the in-lap], it was a cool moment."

Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Autosport Honda, Victory Lane

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

Herta, who switched from his son Colton’s pit box to that of Kirkwood just one race ago, said: “Kyle Kirkwood did a really good job. For me, it's really satisfying to be part of a young driver's first pole and his first win.

“I think it's safe to say it won't be the last time we see that. There's a good confidence and energy in the team, and this is a nice confirmation of that. Hopefully we'll have a few more like this.

Of the switch, Herta remarked: "He's easy. Despite his relative inexperience, he's probably got the best junior record of any American driver ever [31 wins on the Road To Indy program]. He's a pretty seasoned guy, so he knows how to win.

“And he just executed. He hit fuel numbers and opened gaps when we needed him to. He's a great driver. Colton is always first in my heart, but this has been fun and I'm really proud of what Kyle did."

Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Autosport Honda, Victory Lane

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

Andretti, who saw all his drivers hit trouble when the team looked similarly promising in St. Petersburg, ended up with a 1-2-4 finish at Long Beach hanks to Kirkwood, Grosjean and the younger Herta.

He remarked: "I felt it was coming for sure, we knew [Kirkwood] was something special. He's doing us proud and I'm proud of the whole team. We did a great job across the board, to get us back up front, and now we've cracked the bad luck of the first two races. It couldn't be a better day.

“Doing it here makes it special, because it's an iconic event… This is the medicine we needed. We knew we had quick cars, so we've got the result and we've got to keep it going now."