Kyle Kirkwood Wins Freedom 250 IndyCar Race In DC (Photos)

The 2026 IndyCar season concluded with Alex Palou maintaining a commanding lead at the top of the championship standings after the Washington D.C. Freedom 250 Grand Prix. Despite starting the weekend with a 133-point advantage, Palou's day was far from perfect, resulting in a fall to second place. Kyle Kirkwood seized the opportunity, capturing the race checkered flag to close the gap to 91 points.

Christian Lundgaard's strong performance propelled him from fourth to third, just 19 points behind Kirkwood. Will Power's consistent podium finishes lifted him into the top ten. Meanwhile, Scott McLaughlin's ill-fated pass for the lead backfired, causing him to drop to ninth. The final IndyCar standings after the 15th and final race of the season are as follows: 1.

Alex Palou with 553 points, 2. Kyle Kirkwood with 462 points, 3. Christian Lundgaard with 443 points, 4. David Malukas with 411 points, 5. Pato O' Ward with 399 points, 6. Josef Newgarden with 376 points, 7. Marcus Ericsson with 361 points, 8. Felix Rosenqvist with 355 points, 9. Scott McLaughlin with 354 points, 10. Will Power with 328 points, 11.

Rinus VeeKay with 302 points, 12. Scott Dixon with 290 points, 13. Kyffin Simpson with 282 points, 14. Graham Rahal with 276 points, 15. Marcus Armstrong with 257 points, 16. Alexander Rossi with 236 points, 17. Santino Ferrucci with 234 points, 18. Romain Grosjean with 229 points, 19. Nolan Siegel with 223 points, 20. Louis Foster with 212 points, 21.

Dennis Hauger with 204 points, 22. Christian Rasmussen with 180 points, 23. Caio Collet with 180 points, 24. Mick Schumacher with 170 points, 25. Sting Ray Robb with 155 points, 26. Conor Daly with 24 points, 27. Takuma Sato with 20 points, 28. Jack Harvey with 8 points, 29. Jacob Abel with 6 points, and 30. Helio Castroneves with 5 points.