Kyle Kirkwood likes to journey gentle. Give him a percussion gun to remain free throughout the week and a single pair of sun shades he could or could not lose by the post-race press convention, and the IndyCar driver says just about good to go.
On the observe, although, when he climbs into his No. 27 Andretti World Honda for this Sunday’s Youngsters’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix in Birmingham, AL, he’ll carry the identical calculating, ice‑chilly composure that helped him to his first victory of the 2026 season two weeks in the past. His win on the Java Home Grand Prix of Arlington additionally put him in new territory: For the primary time within the 27‑12 months‑outdated’s profession, he sits atop the IndyCar standings—and he isn’t prepared at hand that again to 3‑time defending champion Alex Palou simply but.
“Man, what an unimaginable day,” Kirkwood stated following the win. “We want much more like this. We’re solely in race No. 3, so I’m not wanting on the championship, however it’s good to say it’s the primary time I’ve ever led the championship within the IndyCar Sequence.”
It was how he obtained there that stood out. A daring transfer previous Palou with 15 laps remaining sealed his win. After 5 high‑5 finishes in 2025, he’s opened this 12 months with three extra, together with his win in Texas and a second‑place end on the Good Ranchers 250—early proof that consistency could also be his largest weapon.
Sustaining that momentum means staying cool when the cockpit hits triple‑digit temps, the G‑forces attempt to rip your head off, and a break up‑second opening just like the one he present in Arlington can both work in your favor or ship you backward.
For the 5’8″, 154‑pound driver, staying gentle is likely one of the keys to staying in management. Whereas the weightroom and conditioning exercises power him to coach like a hybrid athletehis focus isn’t on pushing big numbers. Controlling a 2,000‑pound automotive doesn’t require controlling heavy weights within the gymnasium and even logging in a lot of operating miles. “There’s some extent that you find yourself changing an excessive amount of power along with your arms, endurance, and your dimension,” he says. “You need to keep considerably small. I’d say the median weight is between, like, 155 and 170 for a racing driver, and I’m on the low finish of that.”
Vitamin and hydration additionally matter—particularly on raceday, however Kirkwood has discovered to manage his in‑automotive composure by maintaining his coronary heart fee low by way of a extra unconventional talent set. The Jupiter, FL, native has developed an uncanny potential to carry his breath underwater, a energy first cultivated as a child spearfishing and diving within the Atlantic. That delicate apply taught him to remain calm at depth, management his respiration for lengthy stretches, and preserve his coronary heart fee down when his physique desires to panic.
“I suppose in some methods it’s comparable,” says Kirkwood, whose victory in Texas was his sixth profession IndyCar win. “You’re attempting to maintain your coronary heart fee low in certainly one of these automobiles with all of the G forces, the physicality of it, the warmth—you’re attempting to maintain your coronary heart fee as little as potential for these two hours that you just’re contained in the automotive. So there’s some correlation there.”
How Kyle Kirkwood Trains to Keep Calm at 5Gs
In IndyCar, the distinction between successful and fading to the again of the pack isn’t all the time who’s quickest—it’s who stays the calmest when every part is attempting to tear them aside. At greater than 200 mph, with as much as 5 Gs pulling a driver’s head away from the automotive’s path, those who can calm down, management their respiration, and preserve their coronary heart fee low are those who can spot a split-second opening and take it with out it backfiring.
Mid-race meditation is clearly not an choice behind the wheel. However an unassuming tactic Kirkwood and different drivers use to handle that stress is breath management. Throughout almost each lap, he holds his breath for stretches, then resets and regains a standard rhythm. “Breath holds round a observe like this for about 22 seconds,” he says. “And I’d say, give or take, 10 to fifteen seconds of the observe, you’re in a nook pulling three or 4 G’s, and everyone is aware of once you’re at that type of G degree, it’s fairly laborious to breathe, so that you do have to carry your breath for a interval of the lap right here.”
As a lifelong diver, that form of breath management now appears like second nature. His potential at this time, although, was boosted by early adventures within the Atlantic—lengthy earlier than he knew the advantages would translate to racing. It’s change into one of many unsung strengths behind his rise on the IndyCar circuit. “You exit on the water, you go spearfishing, you go diving, you go online,” he says. “I used to be within the water snorkeling after I was like, 3 or 4 years outdated—it’s simply been a lifestyle.”
Studying calm down when his preliminary intuition was to react has change into a useful device. The longer he stayed under the floor, the extra he needed to stretch every inhale, keep calm as his lungs burned, and belief that he might outlast the urge to hurry again up. “Once you’re spearfishing, you’ve obtained to maintain your coronary heart fee low,” he says. “The cadence of your breath and the way you’re organising on your dive is essential.”
Whereas he lives in Indianapolis throughout the season and doesn’t get to dive as usually as he as soon as did, Kirkwood nonetheless leans on these calming benefits throughout a race’s key moments. He admits he can’t maintain his breath like he did in his fishing prime, however the identical leisure and coronary heart fee reducing habits he constructed underweater now assist him handle the warmth and G‑forces within the cockpit. ““I used to have the ability to maintain my breath for over three minutes,” he says. ”I used to have the ability to do about 100 ft, possibly a bit bit extra after I was in my late teenagers. Now I might most likely do 60 or 70 ft.”
Fishing Has Additionally Turn into Kyle Kirkwood’s Efficiency Gasoline
There’s extra to South Florida deep diving than simply constructing an even bigger breath. Kirkwood says that on high of being certainly one of his favourite off-track actions, touchdown a large fish throughout any certainly one of his spearfishing expeditions additionally helps in relation to refining his vitamin. “Catching a 40‑ or 50‑pound grouper might be my primary fish,” he says.
Kirkwood isn’t a hardcore macro counter, however he stays conscious of maintaining meals as wholesome as potential, particularly when he’s sustaining his in-season weight of underneath 160 kilos. “Often I’ll poach it, grill it, and even sauté it,” he says. “That’s often the go‑to, after which I eat it with rice or a vegetable. That’s a typical fish meal for me.” Nonetheless, there are occasions when a celebration requires a bit indulgence. “One of the best ways might be fried,” he admits. “That’s the most effective tasting, however I attempt not to try this fairly often.”
No matter’s not being ready instantly, Kirkwood wraps and freezes—typically even bringing it on the street when wholesome choices aren’t assured. “The whole lot that I do spear, I clearly take dwelling. I clear it, I both package deal it, freeze it, carry it up with me to Indiana, or cook dinner it recent,” he explains.
One time fish is off the menu, although, is true earlier than a race. Sitting in a automotive for 500 miles, any digestive surprises might be catastrophic.
Prior to every race, hydration turns into a high precedence. Kirkwood sticks to a pre‑race electrolyte routine and alternates water with a hydration combine within the cockpit. “I simply do a mix of water and both—like, I’d say, 4 or 5 hours earlier than we’re truly on observe,” he says. “I take advantage of The Proper Stuff, which is generally a salt combination, after which inside two hours, it’s both Liquid I.V. or one thing equal.”
His pre‑race meals is simply as constant: plain hen, rice, and greens. The one problem he doesn’t want throughout a race is testing his abdomen. “We clearly meal prep for the occasions, for Friday, Saturday, Sunday,” he says. “The whole lot that I eat may be very restricted, as a result of the very last thing you need is one thing heavy, one thing that’s most likely not good for you, in a automotive once you’re pulling 4 or 5 Gs round a racetrack like this.”
Inside Kyle Kirkwood’s All-Round IndyCar Coaching Routine
Being nicknamed “King of the Streets” is usually a short-lived title that’s solely pretty much as good as your final race—particularly when constant success throughout IndyCar’s full vary of tracks is what finally secures the highest spot on the finish of the season. Whereas his win at Arlington continues to raise Kirkwood’s status as a road‑circuit savant—5 of his six profession wins have come on them—championships are earned by making your mark as a high all‑round contender on different layouts, from excessive‑G quick ovals like Phoenix (the place he completed second) to 220‑plus mph superspeedways like Indianapolis, the place he hopes to earn his first victory over Memorial Day weekend.
“It’s one of the vital various sequence on the planet,” he says. “So having a distinct self-discipline and being prepared for every a type of occasions is essential.”
It takes a sure energy to manage the completely different speeds and G‑hundreds every course presents, however throughout the season Kirkwood doesn’t depend on heavy lifting a lot because the race‑particular energy he’s constructed for the automotive. “I’m not an enormous (fan of) weightlifting,” he admits. “I feel there’s some extent in a race automotive you can’t be too large. It’s similar to any endurance athlete. You don’t need to be too large and also you don’t need to make huge (calls for) on the physique.”
As an alternative, his purposeful basis comes from two major strategies: an offseason neck‑coaching focus and in‑season cognitive work that retains his reactions sharp in coronary heart‑fee‑spiking moments like his end at Arlington. “These are the 2 issues which are very particular, I feel, to racing,” he says. “Particularly cognitive potential—to have the ability to get your coronary heart fee up, one thing much like what you’ll be like within the automotive, then we use a synaptic display screen to try to assist your peripheral (imaginative and prescient) and your response timing.”
Kirkwood’s weeks comply with a easy components of resetting his physique, coaching, and driving. Every exercise usually begins or ends with him utilizing his Theragun percussion gun to work out the tightness and knots 500 miles of driving can add to the physique. “I all the time journey with a Theragun,” he says. “That’s one factor that will get me loosened up.”
Throughout the season, Monday turns into an automated reset day for Kirkwood to deal with rehydration and refueling, including again a few of the as much as eight kilos of water weight he could lose throughout a race. “Staying hydrated, utilizing that drink bottle is vital,” he says. “When you get to the purpose that you just really feel fatigued and also you’re form of getting some psychological fog, you’re already previous the restrict that you ought to be.” Tuesdays and Wednesdays are for cardio and average lifting, plus coordination and cognitive drills to maintain his response time sharp at elevated coronary heart charges.
The routine repeats till the season concludes Sept. 6 in Monterey, CA. It’s a schedule designed to maintain him sharp with out burning him out—and thus far this season, every part appears to be going proper. It’s the kind of conditioning that separates racecar drivers from the informal motorist. “I feel for the common human, they’d get in certainly one of these automobiles and do 15–20 laps and be like, I can’t do anymore, like my neck is completed. My arms are drained. However for us, we all know adapt to the circumstances fairly effectively. We do loads of coaching for it.”
With every win and podium end, the nearer Kirkwood will get to a shot a possible championship. After mastering the flexibility to carry tight to the steering wheel, merely hanging onto his shades after a press convention could be the subsequent problem. He’ll take that trade-off if he’s nonetheless on the high of the IndyCar standings on the finish of the season. “I burn by way of sun shades as a result of I all the time find yourself leaving them someplace,” he says. “You are taking them off within the media heart, you permit them, and subsequent factor you understand, you bought to go purchase one other pair.”
