Kyle Kirkwood likes light travel. Give him a blowgun to keep loose during the week and a pair of sunglasses he may or may not lose in the post-race press conference, and the IndyCar driver says he’s good to go.
On the way, though, when he somehow himself #27 Andretti Global Honda for the Alabama Indy Kids Grand Prix on Sunday in Birmingham, AL, he’ll bring the same cool, calculating composure that helped him take his first win of the 2026 season two weeks ago. His victory at the Java House Grand Prix in Arlington also put him in new territory: For the first time in his 27-year career, he sits at the top of the IndyCar standings, and he’s not ready to make it three times over. defending champion Alex Palu even now.
“Man what an amazing day” Kirkwood said after the victory. “We need more of that. We’re only in race #3, so I’m not looking at the championship, but it’s good to say it’s the first time I’m leading the championship in the IndyCar Series.”
That’s how he got to where he stood out. A bold move from Palu with 15 laps to go sealed his win. After five finishes in 2025, he opened with three more this year, including his win at Texas and a second-place finish in the Good Ranchers 250 — early evidence that consistency may be his greatest weapon.
Maintaining that speed means staying cool when the cabin hits triple digits, the G-forces try to rip your head off, and the split-second opening he found at Arlington can either work in your favor or send you backwards.
For the 5’8″, 154 pound driver, staying light is one of the keys to maintaining control. While weight training and conditioning force him to train like a hybrid athleteHis focus is not on pushing big numbers. Controlling a 2,000-pound machine doesn’t require lifting heavy weights at the gym or even entering ran many kilometers. “There’s a point where you’re generating too much energy with your arms, your stamina, your size,” he says. “You have to be a little bit smaller. I’d say the average weight for a racing driver is 155 to 170, and I’m at the end of that.”
Nutrition and hydration are also important—especially on race day—but Kirkwood has learned to regulate her composure in the car by lowering her heart rate through an unconventional skill set. A native of Jupiter, Florida, has developed the uncanny ability to hold his breath underwater, a power first cultivated as a child spearfishing and diving in the Atlantic. This subtle practice taught him to remain deeply still, to control his breathing for long periods of time, and to keep his heart rate low when his body panicked.
“I guess in some ways it is,” said Kirkwood, whose victory at Texas was his sixth career IndyCar victory. “You’re trying to keep your heart rate down in one of these cars with all the G-forces, the physicality of it and the heat — you’re trying to keep your heart rate as low as possible for those two hours you’re in the car. So there’s a correlation there.”
How Kyle Kirkwood Trains to Stay Calm in 5Gs
In IndyCar, the difference between winning and falling behind isn’t always who’s fastest — it’s who’s calmest when everything is trying to separate them. At speeds in excess of 200 mph, with up to 5 Gs taking the driver’s head off the vehicle’s direction, there are those who can relax, control their breathing, and keep their heart rate low, who can spot a split-second opening and take it without a reverse shock.
Interracial reasoning is obviously not an option behind the wheel. But one unusual tactic Kirkwood and other drivers use to manage this stress is breath control. During almost every round, he holds his breath for a long time, then recovers and resumes a normal rhythm. “You can hold your breath around a track like this for about 22 seconds,” he says. “And I’d say give or take 10-15 seconds into the track, you’re in a corner where you’re pulling three or four Gs, and everybody knows that when you’re at that level of G, it’s really hard to breathe, so you’ve got to hold your breath for the whole cycle here.”
As a lifelong diver, this kind of breath control is now like second nature. Today, his ability was boosted by his first voyages across the Atlantic – long before he knew the benefits would translate into racing. This has been one of the biggest factors behind his rise on the IndyCar circuit. “You go out on the water, you go spearfishing, you go diving, you go surfing,” he says. “I was swimming when I was 3 or 4 – it was just a way of life.”
Learning to relax when his initial instinct was to react became an invaluable tool. The longer he stayed below the surface, the more he had to prolong each breath, holding still as his lungs burned, making sure he could overcome the urge to return. “When you’re spearfishing, you have to keep your heart rate down,” he says. “The cadence of your breath and how you sink is very important.”
While he lives in Indianapolis this season and doesn’t dive as often as he used to, Kirkwood still relies on that calming edge in key moments of the tournament. He admits he can’t hold his breath like he did in his fishing days, but the same relaxation and lowered heart rate he built underwater now helps him handle the heat and G-forces in the cockpit. “I used to be able to hold my breath for more than three minutes,” he says. “When I was a teenager I could do about 100 feet, maybe a little more. Now I can do maybe 60 or 70 feet.”
Fishing has also fueled Kyle Kirkwood’s performance
There is much deeper diving in South Florida than making a big splash. Kirkwood says that in addition to being one of his favorite activities, landing a huge fish during a spearfishing expedition also helps improve his diet. “A hungry 40-50 pounder is probably my number one fish,” he says.
Kirkwood isn’t a hardcore macro counter, but he’s adamant about keeping his diet as healthy as possible, especially when keeping his off-season weight under 160 pounds. “Usually I poach it, grill it, or even sauté it,” he says. “Usually, it’s common and I eat it with rice or vegetables. It’s a typical fish meal for me.” However, there are times when a celebration calls for a little fun. “The best way is probably cooked,” he admits. “It tastes the best, but I try not to do it too often.”
Anything that can’t be prepared right away, Kirkwood packs and freezes — sometimes even bringing it on the go when healthy options aren’t guaranteed. “Anything I spear, I definitely take it home. I clean it, or I package it, I freeze it, I take it with me to Indiana, or I cook it fresh,” he said.
One time fish is off the menu, though, is right before the race. Sitting in a car for 500 miles, any digestive surprises can be disastrous.
Before any race, hydration becomes a top priority. Kirkwood sticks to a pre-race electrolyte regimen and replaces water with an in-cabin hydration mix. “I just do the water mix or — like, I’d say four or five hours before we actually go on the road,” he says. “I use the right stuff, which is basically a saline solution, and after two hours, it’s either an IV fluid or something like that.”
His pre-race meal is about as good as it gets: chicken, rice and vegetables. One problem he doesn’t need during the race is testing his stomach. “We definitely prepare food for events, for Friday, Saturday, Sunday,” he says. “Everything I eat is very limited because the last thing you want is something heavy, something that’s probably not good for you, in a car when you’re hauling four or five Gros around a racetrack like this.”
Inside Kyle Kirkwood’s comprehensive IndyCar training routine
The nickname “King of the Streets” can be a short-lived title that’s only as good as your last race — especially when consistent success across the full spectrum of IndyCar tracks is what ultimately secures the top spot at season’s end. While his win at Arlington boosts Kirkwood’s reputation as a street savant — five of his career wins come — championships are won by making your mark as an all-around competitor on other layouts, from high-G short ovals like Phoenix to 2s (where). superspeedways like Indianapolis, where he hopes to score his first victory on Memorial Day weekend.
“It’s one of the most diverse series in the world,” he says. “That’s why it’s so important to have different disciplines and be prepared for each of these events.”
Each course requires a certain amount of strength to handle the different speeds and G-loads, but during the season Kirkwood doesn’t rely on heavy lifting for the race-specific strength the car is built for. “I’m not a (fan of) weightlifting,” he admits. “I think there’s a point in a race car where you can’t get too big. It’s like any endurance athlete. You don’t want to get too big and you don’t want to put massive (demands) on the body.”
Instead, his functional foundation comes from two main techniques: an in-season neck training focus and in-season cognitive work that keeps his reactions in check during heart-rate moments like his finish at Arlington. “Those are two things that I think are very specific to racing,” he said. “Especially cognitive ability – being able to increase your heart rate, something like when you’re in a car, so we use a synaptic screen to help with your peripheral (vision) and your reaction time.”
Kirkwood’s weeks follow a simple formula of conditioning, training and driving. Each workout often begins or ends with the use of a Teragun impact gun for the strength and knots 500 miles of driving can add to the body. “I always travel with Teragun,” he says. “That’s one thing that calms me down.”
During the season, Monday is a self-refresh day for Kirkwood to focus on rehydration and fueling, adding up to eight pounds of water weight lost during the race. “Conserving water, using that drinking bottle is important,” he says. “When you get to the point where you feel tired and you develop a little mental fog, you’re already past the point where you should be.” Tuesdays and Wednesdays are for cardio and moderate lifting, as well as coordination and cognitive exercises to keep his reaction time at a high heart rate.
Replay schedule until the season finale on September 6 in Monterey, CA. It’s a schedule to keep him intact without burning him out — and so far this season, everything seems to be right. It’s the type of conditioning that separates racing drivers from the casual driver. “I think for the average person, they get in one of these cars and do 15-20 laps and it’s like I can’t do it anymore, like my neck is out. My arms are tired. But for us, we know how to adapt. We do a lot of training for that.”
With each win and podium finish, Kirkwood moves closer to a possible championship shot. After mastering the ability to hold the steering wheel tightly, hanging on to his shades alone after a press conference may be the next challenge. If he’s still in the IndyCar standings at the end of the season, he’ll get the deal. “I burned the sunglasses because I always leave them somewhere,” she says. “You put them on in the media center, you leave them, and the next thing you know, you have to buy another pair.”
