Kirkwood won 31 of his 50 races on the Road To Indy, and was champion in USF2000, Indy Pro 2000 and Indy Lights. But when the Michael Andretti/Sauber F1 deal fell apart at the 11th hour in 2021, Colton Herta’s planned move to Formula 1 was stymied, he remained in IndyCar, and so Andretti had no room for Kirkwood, his Indy Lights champion.
Instead, the talented youngster spent his rookie season at AJ Foyt Racing, where he showed he had giant-killing potential, but endured way too many incidents. However, Andretti signed him as a replacement for the McLaren-bound Alexander Rossi, and Kirkwood is expected to shine, even alongside established talents such as Colton Herta and Romain Grosjean.
