LONG BEACH, Calif. — Pole-sitter Kyle Kirkwood won the Long Beach Grand Prix IndyCar race Sunday, just like he did in 2023.

Kirkwood took the lead for good on 69th lap of the 90-lap race on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn street circuit surrounding the Long Beach Convention Center and finished 2.6859 seconds ahead of Spaniard Alex Palou who was seeking to become the first driver to win the season's first three races since New Zealander Scott Dixon in 2020.

"This was a flawless weekend for myself, for the team, for the crew, for everyone involved," Kirkwood said after his third victory in his 54-race IndyCar career and first since the 2023 Music City Grand Prix, which had been his most recent pole victory before Saturday.

"When you have flawless weekends like this, you tend to win. This is a big step in the right direction. I know coming into this event, this was our time to turn things around. Fortunately we were able to get it done."

The Florida native completed the 177.12-mile race in 1 hour, 45 minutes, 51.2058 seconds and had an average speed of 100.395 mph in Andretti Global's No. 27 PreFab Honda.

The second-place finish was Palou's best in five races in Long Beach. He finished third in 2022 and 2024, fourth in 2021 and fifth in 2023.

"You never feel amazing when you finish second, but honestly, the 27 car and Kyle, they were amazing all weekend. Super fast," said Palou, who leads Kirkwood by 34 points in the seasonlong standings as he seeks a third consecutive series championship.

"I tried my chances, but we couldn't really make it work. I had a really bad start on my side, and that kind of put us on the back foot. But we did the best we could. Amazing to be here second but hopefully next year we can just improve one step."

The nine lead changes were the most at Long Beach since 2012, with the last coming when Kyffin Simpson took to the pits on the 69th lap for a new set of tires. He finished 10th.

Simpson was among six drivers in the field of 27 to start the race on primary tires and was off-sequence on pit strategy from the drivers who started on the alternate tires.

Many of the 21 drivers who opted to start the race with the grippier but less durable alternate tires switched to the more durable primary compound within the first 10 laps.

IndyCar rules require teams to use both tire compounds for at least two laps per race.

Kirkwood led for 46 of the 90 laps, including each of the first six before making a pit stop for a change to the primary tires.

Christian Lundgaard finished third after crashing his No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet during qualifying Saturday, forcing team mechanics to rebuild it. The Dane led 26 laps — second to only Kirkwood — despite starting 12th. He was among the six drivers who started on primary tires.

Lundgaard moved into third for good when he passed Felix Rosenqvist's No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing in Turn 1 with five laps remaining.

Rosenqvist finished fourth and two-time Long Beach winner Will Power fifth in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.

There were no cautions in the race, the first time since 2016 the race was completed without a yellow flag.

"It was just execution all across the board that won us that race today because if Palou was in front, he would have beat us, for sure," Kirkwood said. "This was a track-position race here today, without any yellows."

This was the 50th edition of the Long Beach Grand Prix. To honor the anniversary Al Unser Jr. and Mario Andretti were the co-grand marshals.

Unser was nicknamed "King of the Beach," for his six victories in the race between 1988 and 1995, including four in a row from 1988 to 1991. Andretti won four times between 1977, when it was a Formula 1 race, and 1987.

Andretti and Unser were part of a six-car Grand Prix Legends Parade Sunday celebrating the race's 50th edition. The parade also included four-time winner Paul Tracy and Brian Redman, who won the inaugural race in 1975 when it was a Formula 5000 race.

The Grand Prix also honored first responders from January's wildfires. There were 27 first responders from various departments riding in the back of pickup trucks along with the 27 IndyCar drivers on Sunday's parade lap.

Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Eric Scott was the honorary starter while Pasadena Fire Department Chief Anthony James received "special recognition."