Intro To IndyCar - Andretti Global - Pt 3 - Kyle Kirkwood

So far in my series, I've detailed a lot of different paths into IndyCar.

This driver's path is what can be considered climbing the true IndyCar ladder.

Driving the #27 car is Florida's own Kyle Kirkwood. Headshot taken from his IndyCar driver profile here.

We've gone over how to get to IndyCar through European racing, Australian racing, and this is the traditional American Road to Indy.

Almost all racing careers start with karting. After that, the Road to Indy chain is as follows - more information at the link here!

USF Juniors - USF 2000 - Indy Pro 2000 - IndyNXT (in some cases labeled IndyLights)

Both Indy Pro 2000 and IndyNXT (or Lights, depending on the year the driver participated) provide scholarships for winners to take the next step up the ladder.

Keeping this in mind, let's start with Kirkwood's personal road to Indy!

Kyle was born in 1998 in Jupiter, Florida, started racing as a child. He moved up to the lower Formulas - an equivalent to USF Juniors - in 2015 at age seventeen.

For comparison's sake, his teammate Herta, who is two years younger than him, had already moved to racing outside of the US at that point. His other teammate, Ericsson, was moving up to F3 by seventeen.

While it may seem like I'm inferring that Kirkwood was a little old to start, I think this has given him an advantage. Being so hyperfocused on winning and the path to F1 that you don't get to live your life as a teenager.

This could also be because Kirkwood's very good friend Logan Sargeant gave up a similar lifestyle to seem to be struggling with his love of racing. As you'll see, Kirkwood is not struggling.

Anyway, back to the facts before we get to the personality bits.

Kyle entered USF4 Championship in 2016 and came in third his rookie year, which was also the inaugural year for USF4.

Changed teams in 2017 to Cape and won USF4.

2018 he moved up to F3 Americas - its return to North American - with Abel Motorsports and won. He stayed with Cape for the USF2000 season, which he won as well.

USF2000 being a step on the Road To Indy.

2019 saw him step into Indy Pro 2000, the next step on the Road To Indy, with RP Motorsport. Not Indy Pro's inaugural year, Kirkwood still found success. He beat his previous team, Abel Motorsports, as well as two current IndyCar drivers - Sting Ray Robb and Jacob Abel.

His win in Indy Pro 2000 guaranteed him a scholarship into IndyNXT - then called Indy Lights - but there was a bit of a bump in the road.

2020 was an odd year for us all, and Indy Lights didn't hold their competition at all.

Instead of letting it be a struggle, Kyle chose to participate in IMSA (International Motor Sports Association) races and challenges, keeping his skills sharp.

Then when Indy Lights returned, he and his scholarship went to Andretti's junior team and won it all. Ten wins, he ended up beating second place finisher and current AJ Foyt driver David Malukas by thirteen points.

As I said up top, the Indy Lights or IndyNXT winner receives a scholarship to step up. Though Kyle had a relationship with Andretti, he ended up with AJ Foyt Enterprises for his rookie year.

While this may seem confusing, it's a logical step. Teams like Andretti, CGR, Penske, they don't need the money as much as smaller teams like Foyt, Ed Carpenter, or this year's home of 2024's IndyNXT winner, RLL. In a way, it's similar to when drivers go to smaller teams in series like Formula 1 to get their feet wet in a senior series without being absolutely demolished.

There are several ways a driver can be demolished. Either by their teammates, by their team's fans, or by the media. Sometimes, it's a combination of all three.

Kyle's choice of AJ Foyt, who at that time had a technical partnership with Andretti Global, made sense. Foyt's alliance is now with Penske.

After a year with Foyt, Kyle then moved to Andretti and the the #27 car.

2023 and Andretti was much more fruitful for Kyle, albeit inconsistent. He came in eleventh in the championship with two wins and five other top ten finishes.

2024 was a much stronger and consistent year for Kyle. Though he went winless, he only had four appearances outside of the top ten, which put him into 7th place in the standings. Consistency is needed for any strong driver, and Kyle is tightening up. He is also still racing in IMSA with VasserSullivan if you want to see his dexterity with different styles of car.

Now that we've gone over the history and statistical analysis, lets get into why you should choose Kyle as your driver.

Kyle is somewhat of an enigma in the IndyCar world because he's just genuinely goofy. Yes, all drivers have to do sponsored content, and yes all drivers have to do press, but sometimes the things Kyle does are just silly. He's also quite a ray of light. He sees his teammates successes as his own, a really strong team mentality and sense of self that just kind of makes you smile. His genuine excitement to be at each and every race is palpable.

If you're looking for a driver that's going somewhere steadily with a joke or two, that's Kirkwood. A truly American driver, if Andretti can put together a strong, consistent car with a strong, consistent pit crew, maybe it'll be his year.

Our final driver in the Andretti series will be Colton Herta!