Kyle Kirkwood comments on "best worst finisher" tag in frank 2024 IndyCar assessment

IndyCar driver Kyle Kirkwood was featured on the recent episode of the Pit Pass Indy podcast uploaded on February 7, 2025. In the episode, he discussed his teammates Colton Herta and Marcus Ericsson, looked forward to the upcoming season and reflected on the 2024 IndyCar season.

As Kyle Kirkwood reflected on the previous season, the host questioned him about his performance throughout 2024, and how it compared to the 2023 season where the Andretti driver took a couple of wins. The No.27 driver explained how 2024 was good for him despite having no wins as he said,

“Good question. You know, for me, I think the past two seasons have been good in different ways. Firstly, the 2023 season kicked off with two wins, had a lot of good finishes, but a lot of bad finishes as well.” (32:50 onwards)

“2024, quite the opposite, a lot of consistency, a lot of top fives, a lot of top tens was always, I think I had the worst or the best worst finish for almost the entire season, which was a big stat that NBC was pushing out for a while. And, you know, but there was nothing that shiny that came from 2024. It was, yeah, there's a podium in there, a handful of opportunities to win, but none of them panned out,” he added

Kyle Kirkwood scored a single podium during the 2024 IndyCar season which came at the Grand Prix of Toronto, and had a few shots at a victory, (P4 in Nashville and Detroit), but wasn't able to convert them into wins.

Kirkwood finished thirteen out of the seventeen races in the Top 10 and finished within the Top 5 on five occasions. The 26-year-old ended the 2024 season 7th in the championship with 420 points, the highest points tally and finishing position in his IndyCar career.

Kyle Kirkwood looks forward to the 2025 St. Petersburg Grand Prix

Kyle Kirkwood is a Jupiter, Florida native which is about 230 miles away from the St. Petersburg Grand Prix. With the first race of the season being held in Kirkwood's home state, the Andretti Global driver came out and detailed how the street circuit nature of the track makes it a special weekend. He said, (via IndyCar)

“Street courses are quite a bit different from road courses and ovals because they’re temporary circuits. You don’t get time really to do that much testing. You show up here Friday, get one session.”

“We get another one Saturday, and then we’re straight into qualifying. Adapting quickly is very important for us drivers on street circuits. That’s something I feel I do pretty well, but also my team, Andretti Global, has been very, very strong on street courses in the past,” added Kirkwood.

The 26-year-old crossed the line in P10 at the 2024 Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The 2025 race will be held on March 2nd.