Kyle Kirkwood may not win the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship, but the late-season surge by him, Marcus Ericsson and Will Power could provide Andretti Global with the momentum to make a championship run in 2027, its first since Ryan Hunter-Reay won the title in 2012.

Kirkwood won the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. last Sunday, one week after Ericsson won the inaugural Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham.

Power finished third in both.

Andretti Global in Washington, D.C.

Kirkwood enters the final three races second in the championship, 91 points behind Alex Palou. Two of those races are this weekend at Milwaukee Mile: Saturday's Snap-on Makers and Fixers 250 at 2:30 p.m. ET and Sunday's Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250 at 1 p.m. ET. Both races will air on FOX, FOX One and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls.

The season finale is Sunday, Sept. 6, at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

“It starts with the engineering group,” Kirkwood said. “They have done a phenomenal job all this season, whether it's street courses, road courses, ovals. We've elevated the game, our game, exponentially. It starts with them and the hard work that they're able to put in.

“Us drivers, we just get in and drive it. We either go fast or we don't. Quite honestly, they've given us the tools every single weekend to go fast.”

Ericsson is seventh in the standings, 192 points behind Palou, while Power is 10th, 225 points back. Both have been mathematically eliminated from championship contention.

But all three Andretti drivers are ascending and appear poised to challenge Palou for race wins over the final three races.

Andretti Global seeks its first three-race winning streak since Hunter-Reay won three consecutive races in 2012 at Milwaukee Mile, Iowa Speedway and Toronto.

“Our team has been really clicking,” Andretti Global Team Principal Ron Ruzewski said. “Sunday, one, three, four. The week prior, we had a double podium. I think we're really starting to see the momentum. The team is really jelling.

“The three drivers working together, really pushing each other. It's something I'm used to. It's something I'm really happy to see that we're going forward with.”

Ruzewski joined Andretti Global last offseason following 21 years with Team Penske. He rose from race engineer to managing director of Team Penske's NTT INDYCAR SERIES program in 2019.

During his tenure as managing director, Team Penske won three Indianapolis 500s and two NTT INDYCAR SERIES championships.

Power also joined Andretti Global from Team Penske during the offseason, where he won 65 of his 71 NTT P1 Awards and 42 of his 45 series victories, including the 2018 Indianapolis 500. He also won two series championships with Team Penske.

The additions of Ruzewski and Power have helped ignite Andretti Global's resurgence, although a bit delayed.

Better late than never.

“I think that all the new additions, everyone has sort of helped,” Ericsson said. “Ron (Ruzewski) running things and Will Power coming in, talking about the same things on the car and really leading the development on the car in the direction where I really can excel as well with my skills.”

Marcus Ericsson

Ericsson (photo, above) was on a hot seat entering the season but has since received a contract extension. He finished 15th and 20th, respectively, in points during his first two seasons at Andretti Global. That followed three straight seasons where he finished sixth in points with Chip Ganassi Racing. He had four wins in that span, including the 2022 Indy 500 with Ganassi.

Ericsson enters Milwaukee with four consecutive top-six finishes and six top-eight results in his last eight races. That stretch includes a runner-up finish at World Wide Technology Raceway, where he led a race-high 114 laps. He was 12th in the championship standings before that run.

“This says a lot about this organization and also the faith in re-signing me,” Ericsson said. “Continuing this because we had something really, really good brewing here in the team, and the three drivers have probably never had such a good chemistry like we have right now. That's really pushing the team forward.

“So, going into next year, with this momentum with us, we're going to be pretty good. We're going to be pretty good with three cars, so it's going to be exciting.

“It's not a fluke that we're winning races or finishing up front. We've been building to that all year, so I'm really proud of everyone.”

Power agrees with the aspirations for the 2027 season.

He hasn’t won since August 2025 at Portland International Raceway, a span of 18 races. But the two-time series champion has finished third in four of the last six races and has six top-eight finishes in his last seven starts. He had just one top-eight finish in his previous eight races and sat 18th in points.

Power said Ruzewski told him a few weeks ago that the team needs to finish strong. That’s exactly what it’s doing.

“It's just becoming normal for us to do this,” Power said. “We're starting to eliminate all the weaknesses and be strong everywhere and have a chance to win everywhere.

“The team's made huge progression over this season, and you can see it now. It's all coming online. I think the expectation now every weekend is to be on the podium, challenge for a win.

“I think next year we'll be wanting to be all top five in the championship type stuff.”