It is wild to watch two kids who started banging wheels in Florida karting back in 2009 end up leading the charge for two of the biggest outfits in the NTT IndyCar SERIES. Kyle Kirkwood and David Malukas have spent more than a decade swapping paint, from minor junior categories all the way to the absolute peak of American open-wheel racing. Now, sitting in top-tier machinery with Andretti Global and Team Penske respectively, their lifelong friendly rivalry has reached the big time.
Their history together is properly extensive. They fought through the feeder ranks before completely dominating the 2021 INDY NXT season, where Kirkwood took the championship by a mere 13 points over Malukas after the pair combined to win 17 out of the 20 races on the calendar. Both entered the NTT IndyCar SERIES as part of the 2022 rookie class, with Kirkwood starting out at AJ Foyt Racing and Malukas landing at Dale Coyne Racing.
He’s a phenomenal driver. He definitely does the things that I do poorly extremely well. I’ve learned a lot racing against him over the years.
From there, their trajectories diverged before converging again. Kirkwood jumped to Andretti Global for the 2023 season, immediately proving his worth by winning the prestigious Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach—the third round of the year—before adding another victory later that season on the streets of Nashville. He went on to finish second in the 2026 season points standings. Malukas had a much harder road, navigating a derailed 2024 move to Arrow McLaren following an offseason mountain biking accident, a stint with Meyer Shank Racing for the final 10 races of that year, and a 2025 campaign with Foyt's team before Team Penske handed him the drive for 2026. Malukas finished that season fifth in points as the top Team Penske points finisher.
That journey from the Florida Winter Tour to the top level has not been lost on them. "It’s crazy to see how far we’ve come," Malukas said. "Now he’s with Andretti. I’m at Penske, and that battle still continues. So, it’s cool to see us as a generation make it all the way to the top." Malukas also noted their shared history plainly, saying, "We’ve been through it all. We went through different ranks. We went through feeder series. We’ve been racing each other since I was picking my nose, playing with Hot Wheels, go-karting."
Even parents are getting nostalgic about the journey. Before climbing into his car for the season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Kirkwood ran into Malukas’ father, Henry, to marvel at how far the two racers had come since their early days on the same karting team. Kirkwood respects his rival's craft entirely, offering a sharp assessment of his abilities: “He’s a phenomenal driver. He definitely does the things that I do poorly extremely well. I’ve learned a lot racing against him over the years.” Kirkwood also believes a maiden series win is coming for Malukas sooner rather than later.
Now, the shared objective for both drivers is trying to dethrone Alex Palou. Palou has secured five championships in six NTT IndyCar SERIES seasons with Chip Ganassi Racing, with his four consecutive titles from 2023 to 2026 tying Sébastien Bourdais’ 2004 to 2007 run for the longest championship streak in series history. Kirkwood is from Jupiter, Florida, turns 28 on October 19, and Palou turned 29 on April 1, while Malukas is from Chicago and turned 25 on September 27. Armed with top equipment and a lifetime of mutual combat, these two lifelong rivals believe they have what it takes to break the champion's dominant grip on the series.
