As Kyle Kirkwood cuts into Alex Palou's INDYCAR lead, is there time to catch him?

Kyle Kirkwood cut 27 points from the margin between him and INDYCAR points leader Alex Palou when Kirkwood won Sunday night.

That sounds big, but consider this: Kirkwood would just have to do that three more times to potentially catch Palou as he’s still 75 points out.

"Moving closer," Kirkwood said. "It's still a long ways to go."

Winner Kyle Kirkwood is joined by Pato O'Ward (left) and Christian Rasmussen (right) on the podium after the Bommarito Automotive Group 500.

But Kirkwood’s victory at World Wide Technology Raceway (commonly known as Gateway) under the lights Sunday night was about more than just math. It was about winning at a track other than a street course.

Kirkwood’s two previous wins this year came on street circuits at Long Beach and Detroit, with Detroit his fourth career win and them all on temporary circuits on city streets.

"You get your fourth and people are like, ‘Another street course for Kirkwood’ — it's not as big of a deal now, when is he going to win something else?’" Kirkwood said.

"It takes [the focus] away from the street courses, so this was huge for me. This was by far bigger than [Detroit] because of that."

That’s not to say Detroit wasn’t satisfying for Kirkwood. He made moves for passes that he was proud of making and left with the feeling of earning the win.

But to win on the 1.25-mile oval at Gateway was a statement win, one that other people will notice and one that signaled he needs to be taken seriously as a title contender.

"[It] just like kind of puts a stamp down a little bit, more like, ‘Hey, this kid might actually be able to contend for a championship and do things,’" Kirkwood said.

Could he win a championship? Kirkwood knows how to race for a title.

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