Following a cocktail reception on a glorious summer’s evening overlooking the Columbia River and with Mt. Hood looming in the distance, over $2.6M was distributed in the Mount St. Helens Ballroom at the Red Lion On The River, Jantzen Beach, just a mile or so away from Portland International Raceway which this past weekend hosted a hugely successful return of major-league open-wheel auto racing to the Pacific Northwest after an absence of 11 years.

The recently crowned champion stalked polesitter Rasmus Lindh through the opening stages, then pounced decisively before edging away to another relatively comfortable victory – his 11th in a row and 12th of the 14-race season, which equals the record established by former Verizon IndyCar Series driver J.R. Hildebrand en route to the championship title in 2006.

He might already have this year’s Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda – and a Mazda Scholarship worth at least $325,000 to graduate onto the next rung of the Mazda Road to Indy open-wheel development ladder in 2019 – under his belt, but now Kyle Kirkwood has his eyes set on the record books

Kyle Kirkwood, from Jupiter, Fla., has already clinched the USF2000 title following a stellar rookie season with Cape Motorsports. He will claim a $325,000 scholarship to advance to Pro Mazda in 2019.

The 2019 Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires open-wheel driver development program will kick off another exciting season of racing for all three levels as Andersen Promotions today confirmed that the traditional Spring Training Open Test will return to Homestead-Miami Speedway, in Homestead, Fla., on March 2-4, 2019.