Other Divisional IndyCar Champs Get Proper Attention

The Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires program handed out more than $2.2 million in scholarships and awards Monday night at its Championship Celebration in Monterey, Calif.

Oliver Askew was the top honoree after capturing the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires championship for Andretti Autosport. The 22-year-old driver from Jupiter, Fla., will receive $1.1 million towards a minimum of three 2020 NTT IndyCar Series races, including the 104th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. The Indy Lights title completed Askew’s meteoric rise from karting to an IndyCar Series opportunity in just four years.

Kyle Kirkwood, a childhood friend of Askew’s and a longtime karting rival, received $596,700 in scholarships and awards for winning the Indy Pro 2000 championship for RP Motorsport USA. Kirkwood, also from Jupiter, Fla., became the first driver since Matt Brabham in 2012 and ’13 to capture the USF2000 and Indy Pro 2000 titles in consecutive seasons.\

Braden Eves delivered a stirring comeback in Sunday’s final race of the USF2000 season by erasing a 12-point deficit to Hunter McElrea with a title-clinching victory, his sixth of the season. Eves, of New Albany, Ohio, gave Cape Motorsports its ninth consecutive series championship and 13th overall. Eves received $305,600 to be applied to a Indy Pro 2000 ride in 2020.

The Road to Indy program also celebrated the NTT IndyCar Series victory of Josef Newgarden, who won the Indy Lights championship in 2011. All four champions are one-time winners of the Team USA Scholarship. They also are all Americans, the first time that’s happened since 2002 (Sam Hornish Jr. in the Indy Racing League, A.J. Foyt IV in Infiniti Pro Series, Guy Cosmo in Star Mazda and Bryan Sellers in USF2000).