It has been a season of mixed fortunes for Kyle Kirkwood in IndyCar, having failed to deliver on his potential last year in winning races.
Kirkwood took two race wins at Long Beach and Nashville but went on to finish 11th in the championship, having failed to finish inside the top five on other occasions.
In his second season with Andretti in IndyCar, Kirkwood has somewhat improved his form by achieving regular top 10 finishes, while there was a run of three back-to-back races at Detriot and Laguna Seca where he finished inside the top five places.
His highest finishing spot is second so far at the previous race in Toronto, but heads into the final five rounds still firmly in the title hunt. Speaking on The Race IndyCar podcast, Kirkwood named one thing he regretted saying while fighting for the championship last year.
Kyle Kirkwood names one ‘regret’ during 2023 IndyCar title hunt
Last year, Kirkwood was close to achieving a good overall finishing position before two poor finishes at Gateway and Laguna Seca.
He ended up finishing the season 104 points off eventual title winner Alex Palou, but admits that there is still all to play for in the final rounds of 2024. His current spot is seventh in the Drivers’ Championship and just 97 points off Palou.
“It was a goal of mine to get top five and consistent results and keep ourselves in the championship hunt, which ultimately we’ve done. We’re a little ways out but at the same time we’re not completely out of it,” said Kirkwood.
“Last year I was saying I would give up wins to get in the top five, but now I think I might regret saying that because now I realise how important those wins were.”
Can Alex Palou defend his IndyCar title?
Palou is the firm favourite to take a third championship in IndyCar having previously won it in 2021 and last year, with a 46-point lead over Team Penske’s Will Power.
He is the only driver in IndyCar history to have won two championships before he turns 26 years old, but has yet to add his name to the list of Indy 500 victors.
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Talk of Palou potentially making a switch to Formula 1 was rumoured, considering the amount of openings that were on the grid in this year’s drivers market.
Palou took a swipe at Williams driver Alex Albon recently, saying that he would rather have two IndyCar titles instead of no wins in F1.