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Washington — Kyle Kirkwood won on another street course, continuing to earn his moniker as “king of the streets.” And while that is a nice title to have, it kind of irks Kirkwood. The Andretti Global driver wants to be known for more than just strength on street courses. But Sunday sixth time on a street course, as he captured the victory in the inaugural race on the streets of Washington. It was his second street victory of the season to go along with the inaugural race at Arlington. “It’s a great thing I won here today, but it’s a bad thing for that title that I have that I’ve been trying to kick,” Kirkwood told me with a laugh after his victory. “It’s the only negative I can take away from today.” To win a championship, Kirkwood will have to do more than win on streets. He’ll have to win on ovals (as he did last year at Gateway for his only non-street course victory) and on road courses. Three races remain in the 2026 season — a doubleheader next weekend at Milwaukee and then the season finale at Laguna Seca. “I think I have to win at Milwaukee and a win at Laguna so I can say I have another win at an oval and a road-course win,” Kirkwood said. “I have a lot of top fives on road courses, but that elusive win has not come to me.” The 27-year-old Kirkwood is establishing himself as a perennial championship contender. He was seventh in the standings in 2024, fourth in the standings last year and sits second in the current standings. However, he is still a somewhat distant 91 points behind Alex Palou. “Every year we elevate our game. I elevate my game, the team elevates their game,” Kirkwood said. “From seventh to fourth to now, I’m running second. If we can hold off that, that’s once again [cutting it in] half again and the next step is to win.” Andretti Global has won the last two races and appears to be surging. “We’re going to be really good at Milwaukee,” Kirkwood said. “I think we’re going to be really good at Milwaukee. We had a phenomenal test there. … We’d like to be thought about as one of the big teams. It’s no longer the “Big Two” [of Ganassi and Penske]. It might be the Big Three with the amount of wins that we’ve had this year.” But if he (and the team) don’t win in the final three races, he might not feel that way. The strong vibes can be fleeting and even though there is a long offseason, Kirkwood feels how he finishes 2026 will impact 2027. “Momentum is a real thing,” Kirkwood said. “Even when you’re out of the car. You want to come off the season as strong as possible to carry that momentum. Because last year, I had a phenomenal first part of the year, but the second part of the year wasn’t that strong. “That momentum kind of hurts you if you don’t have great momentum going into the offseason with yourself, your work ethic, the team’s work ethic. When you’re determined, you tend to do things a lot better. It will be good to come out of the season with a very solid finish.”Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
Washington — Kyle Kirkwood, who has been the best U.S.-born driver in INDYCAR the last two seasons, made him a popular winner of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix — an event designed to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary season. The Andretti Global driver led 128 of the 147 laps of a race where President Donald Trump waved the green flag and the drivers competed on a 1.7-mile circuit that included Pennsylvania Avenue as well as Constitution and Independence within view of many iconic U.S. landmarks. “America is built on many different nations,” Andretti Global driver Kyle Kirkwood told me Sunday night. “In many ways, I don’t believe that today had to be won by an American. It just so happened that we were the best car out there today and we did everything right and were the winners. “In many ways I’m glad because I think that there’s a lot of people that are here as fans or watching on TV that wanted to see an American win. I’m glad I could give them that satisfaction, but it’s not easy to win any INDYCAR race, and the fact I was able to do it today as an American is a massive deal.” Here are my takeaways: 1. The Race Delivered With no huge issues with the track and no security breaches, the event went off without a major hitch. That was a major accomplishment for a race that was put together in late January when a Trump executive order gave INDYCAR the access to fast-track permits it needed. Trump stayed for the entire event and several members of his cabinet and other legislators were in attendance. Organizers said that 215,000 fans came to the grounds during the two days, many on free tickets. The president took a photo with past INDYCAR champions and Indianapolis 500 winners. “For me, being from a small town in Australia, to end up standing and talking to an American president is surreal,” Will Power said in his post-race news conference. “It’s something I never would have dreamed of. “It was just incredible to stand there, talk to the president and the First Lady, then jump in a race car and race in Washington, D.C.” 2. Andretti 1-3-4 Andretti Global didn’t just snag the victory, it also had Will Power finishing third and Marcus Ericsson finishing fourth. Only Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard, who placed second, broke up the Andretti Global party. “The team has made huge progression over this season, and you can see it now,” Power said in his post-race news conference. “It’s all coming online. I think the expectation now every weekend is to be on the podium — challenge for a win.” 3. McLaughlin Goes For It … And Wrecks Scott McLaughlin tried to make the pass on Kirkwood on a restart for the lead with 19 laps remaining. It ended with McLaughlin with a wrecked race car. “It was hard to pass all day,” McLaughlin told me after the accident. “I saw an opportunity. He braked really early, and obviously it was the right move from him to brake that early. But I thought that was my chance to make a move. “I just locked the rears late, and once I locked the rears, I was toast. That was my opportunity. I went for it. And I don’t regret it.” 4. Bad Day For Palou Four-time INDYCAR champion Alex Palou finished three laps down in 20th, seeing his championship lead go from 133 ahead of Kirkwood to 91. That is still a big lead with three races left in the season, and Palou very well could clinch next weekend at the doubleheader at The Milwaukee Mile. As he was exiting the pits, Palou hit a tire that was being set to be put on Mick Schumacher’s car, resulting in a pass-through penalty. And then he bent a toe link when he tapped the wall, a toe link that eventually broke and he ended up in the wall. “It was one of those days where I did a couple of mistakes,” Palou told me and another reporter after the race. “We had a bad stop. We had everything happening to us today. “I prefer this than having it spread out in different races.” 4 ½. What’s Next: The Milwaukee Mile INDYCAR will have a doubleheader weekend at The Milwaukee Mile, where it will race both Saturday and Sunday. Both races will be 250 laps. As far as short ovals, there have been two this year — both won by Josef Newgarden.Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
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INDYCAR raced through the streets of Washington, D.C., for the Freedom 250, and for the podium finishers, the location was the main takeaway of the weekend. Competing against the backdrop of the U.S. Capitol, the podium finishers reflected on the impact driving around various D.C. landmarks had on the experience. Winner Kyle Kirkwood held the lead for most of the afternoon, but the location added weight to the victory that rivaled traditional major races on the schedule. “You can’t even put it into words,” Kirkwood told our Jamie Little after the race. “This is incredible, I’m almost in tears here. This is a big moment for us, big moment for America. … It felt good to dominate out there, I’m not gonna lie.” While different in many ways, the spectacle of the Freedom 250 has been compared with that of the Indianapolis 500, which is considered one of the greatest motorsports events in the world. “If you can’t win at the (Indy) 500, this is definitely the place to win,” Kirkwood continued. “And I don’t know if we’re ever going to get another chance at this. I hope we do. I hope we do. This was awesome, but what a dream come true.” Second-place finisher Christian Lundgaard missed out on the top spot, but pointed out the location as a defining element of the weekend. “I feel it’s fitting that an American won, right?” Lundgaard said. “We gave it our best shot. Awesome event. We got the capital in the background. This is only something you could dream of.” Will Power secured third place and reflected on his journey from regional Australia to driving on the streets of D.C. He underscored how surreal the environment felt from inside the cockpit. “It’s such an epic event, man,” Power said. “Look back there, I just could never dream of being in a place like this, racing in a place like this when I started all those years ago in Toowoomba.” The shared perspective among the top three finishers highlighted an event where the scale of the venue elevated the racing experience.Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
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Kacey Musgraves kicked off her Middle of Nowhere Tour in Chicago with one clear message: go big or go home. And she certainly went big. From an unforgettable entrance to performing on a rotating 360-degree stage, larger-than-life production and plenty of rhinestones, Musgraves pulled out all the stops.
A little after 9 p.m. on Friday, August 21, AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” blared through the speakers of the United Center and a countdown appeared on the screen, letting fans know that Musgraves would be arriving soon. Just minutes later, she emerged atop a rusted, tin structure featuring a large “Middle of Nowhere” sign. Backlit by beams of light shooting from the structure, she launched into “Everybody Wants to Be a Cowboy,” with an American flag and Chicago flag hanging behind her.
The GRAMMY Award-winning singer eventually made her way through the crowd, separated by barricades, before stepping onto the main stage, which featured a giant star at its center. She wasted no time in setting the tone for the energy of the night with fan-favorites, “Dry Spell,” “justified,” and “High Horse.”
She then got even closer to the sold-out crowd, moving onto the lower level of the stage where she paused to address everyone in attendance and acknowledge the fact that her 38th birthday happened to fall on opening night of the tour.
“The very very first show of this entire era is right here in Chicago tonight. And did anyone happen to mention that it’s also my birthday?” she asked. “Yeah, thanks for the signs that’s really cute I love that.”
The Chicago crowd helped make the milestone show even more memorable by holding up special birthday signs and singing “Happy Birthday” several times throughout the night, including when a team member brought her a cake with candles to blow out. At one point she even pointed out, “I think this is the biggest birthday party I’ve ever had.”
Musgraves continued, “Hi Chicago. I’ll have you know that there is not room for one more human body in this fu**ing building so good job…the only rule for hanging out in the middle of nowhere…well there aren’t any rules. So maybe just don’t be an a**hole. Other than that, let’s just have a good fu**ing time.”
From there, she transported the audience to 2012, aka “back to the beginning,” she stated before delivering “Merry Go ‘Round.” The performance marked the beginning of one of the night’s many visual spectacles as Musgraves rotated around the 360 degree stage, giving fans in every section of the arena a chance to get a good view.
The set continued with “Honeybee,” “Back On The Wagon” and “I Believe in Ghosts,” the latter of which transformed the stage into an eerie scene as smoke swirled around. She brought the energy back up and showed off her line dancing skills with “Uncertain, TX,” before continuing to sing even more tracks from her newest album, including “Abilene,” “Horses and Divorces,” “Loneliest Girl,” “Rhinestoned,” “Mexico Honey” and the title track, “Middle of Nowhere.”
With every performance in the 21-song set list, the production continued to get bigger and bigger. A few highlights include the illuminated butterfly that flew through the air above the crowd during “Butterflies,” the brightly lit stars hung from the structure above the stage creating a dreamy backdrop for “Loneliest Girl in the World,” the confetti that fell during “Space Cowboy” and “Golden Hour,” which brought an entirely different kind of image as sparks fell from the ceiling, surrounding Musgraves in bright lights.
Musgraves introduced “Rhinestoned” in perhaps the most talked-about moment of the night, taking the stage atop a pair of enormous, rhinestone-covered, anatomically correct disco balls hanging from the ceiling.
“It takes balls to get up here to do what I do every night… two gigantic, anatomically correct sparkly balls, in fact,” she stated.
She then said, “my nana always told me, ‘honey, if you’re gonna do something, do to it big and do it sparkly.’ Nana, is this what you had in mind?” she asked, earning laughter from the crowd.
Musgraves took things one step further when she sat in between the glittering disco balls and was lifted into the air and rotated above the stage, serving as an over-the-top moment that fans never saw coming.
She kept the Texas spirit going with “Horses and Divorces” before getting up-close-and-personal with fans. As she made her way around the floor level, Musgraves brought some Tex Mex flair with her for “(Hey Baby) ¿Qué Pasó?”, the Texas Tornados cover.
Musgraves paused in between songs to briefly reflect on the new era that came with the release of her Middle of Nowhere album and the tour that gives her the chance to celebrate her growing catalog. She said that making the record “felt like coming home,” before thanking fans for receiving the new music with “such open arms.”
With only a few songs left, she acknowledged just how special it was to be celebrating the launch of her brand-new tour with such an amazing group of fans who spent their hard-earned money to see her bring her music to life.
“I really hope you guys have had a wonderful time tonight. It’s really crazy that this moment will never happen again, the opening night of the tour…thank you so much for selling it out that means so much to me.”
The night ended with something old and something new. Fans first joined her in singing “Follow Your Arrow,” a favorite track off her debut album of 2013, Same Trailer Different Park. For the final song of opening night, Musgraves honored her Texas roots with her version of George Strait’s classic, “All My Ex’s Live in Texas.”
The stage transformed into a celebration of Texas pride, with a giant Texas flag hanging from the ceiling while red, white and blue lights lit up the room. The performance ended with a round of mini fireworks erupting around the stage before Musgraves said her goodbyes and made her way out of the arena.
And with that, the first night of the Middle of Nowhere Tour had officially come to an end. If opening night was any indication of how the rest of the run will go, it’s safe to say that fans can expect plenty more shows that are every bit as fun, sparkly and unapologetically Texas as the country star at the center of it all.
The trek continues Monday, August 24 in Toronto, followed by more North American dates, including multiple nights at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, Austin’s Moody Center, Dallas’ American Airlines Center and Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena.
Kacey Musgraves will bring things to a close with two shows at Seattles Climate Pledge Arena in October.
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