Kyle Kirkwood showcased the tenacious fighting spirit of a champion en route to capturing the 2019 title in Indy Pro 2000 presented by Cooper Tires.

The 20-year-old amassed nine wins, 11 podiums, five poles and 217 laps led in 16 races, which proved enough to hoist the championship by a narrow two points over rival Rasmus Lindh (Juncos Racing). The end result is made all the more incredible since Kirkwood went winless through the opening five races before going on a tear to collect his season total of wins over the final 11.

The early struggles were evident as the pilot of the No. 28 RP Motorsport USA Tatuus PM-18 didn’t start to become truly comfortable until a visit to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in May. While the results didn’t come that weekend, it proved to be a launching point that would vault Kirkwood forward for the remainder of the season. Ultimately, the pace became insurmountable for the competition, with the pivotal weekend coming at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

“Mid-Ohio was by far our strongest weekend we were 0.4 (of a second) quicker going into it from the beginning in practice,” Kirwood said. “Then in both qualifying rounds we were 0.4 (of a second) clear. If I was to look back at the entire season, Mid-Ohio was by far the best weekend. That was a lot due to set up. We found something that worked really well with the car, worked well with me and just stuck with that.

“It was one of those weekends where we didn't even have to touch the car at all. We just did tire pressures and stuff like that, or maybe a wing change, but primary setup stuff was all the same throughout the entire weekend. We were just fast like that.”

The season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca brought every bit of emotion out of Kirkwood. After winning the opening race of the doubleheader weekend, it was all but official he would be crowned the champion. However, a victim of an opening lap crash in the second race brought a wave of emotions. Doubt of the title crept in as a defenseless Kirkwood watched Lindh collected maximum points for the final race of the season.

“I still stressed out a little bit after it when I was sitting in the Infield Care Center,” Kirwood admitted. “I was a little bit nervous because I thought for a second maybe we didn't calculate the points right or something like that because it was so close.

“I was actually asking people in the care center, 'Can somebody find out what the point situation is?' Because Rasmus was leading, he had the fast lap, he had most laps led. I'm like, 'Oh no, what if we forgot to calculate those?' I didn't do it myself. The team did it because I was busy the whole day before.

“So I was still stressing out a little bit, but I was ecstatic after the race that crashing out didn't really matter to me. We would have liked ended the year better than what it was, but it was still phenomenal being able to win the day before and clinch the championship.”

In addition to winning the championship, Kirkwood also collected a scholarship award in the amount of $596,700, which guarantees him a seat for the 2020 season in Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires – the top rung of the Road to Indy and direct undercard to the NTT IndyCar Series.

All eyes will undoubtedly be on Kirkwood next season as he makes a run at the record books. In 2018, he matched J.R. Hildebrand’s mark of 12 victories to claim the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship (first step of the Road to Indy). No driver has ever won all three titles on the INDYCAR-sanctioned development ladder, let alone in successive seasons. With 21 victories in the Road to Indy, Kirkwood already sits second all-time and will have a shot to break the current record of 24 set by Spencer Pigot.

But that’s next year.

For now, Kirkwood will relish in the priceless moment of sharing the championship stage with best friend and fellow Jupiter, Floridian, Oliver Askew, who also captured the Indy Lights title.

“We've grown up together and are kind of like brothers,” said Kirkwood. “I remember back at Team USA scholarship, we were like, 'Wow, imagine if we both get this and start moving forward,' and that's exactly what's happening now. It's nice. It's probably a good thing that we're not competing against each other because only one of us would end up winning the championship, but in this situation we're able to win both championships and keep moving forward as good friends.

"Right now, it's a good feeling to have knowing that we're both winning and we're both progressing and we're getting the scholarship. He is going to be in IndyCar next year. I'll be in Indy Lights next year. Hopefully, the year after that we'll be competing once again like we were in karting, but not as much stressing about trying to make it into racing.”