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Kyle Kaiser made international headlines on Monday, May 20th,
2019 when he qualified 33rd for the Indianapolis 500. In an
unsponsored car bumping two-time Formula 1 Champion Fernando Alonso and the
McLaren team by .019 mph. Both driving over 227mph in a fight for last place.
Even
more amazing is the former Indy Lights Champion crashed a few days prior! Now,
the Juncos team with Chevrolet power, with a young driver, in a plain, newly
built car, did something very special and unexpected. Be sure to watch his
second time at the Indy 500, the 103rd running, on Sunday, May 26th,
2019 at 9:45am PST / 12:45pm EST.
With the recent news, and good fortune of a now infamous
last place qualifying, the phone is ringing off the hook with sponsorship
opportunities. But it wasn’t always that way at all….
A couple years ago I had the good fortune to sit down with
Kyle before he won his Indy Lights championship to talk about what it takes to become a professional race car driver. We
sat in the backyard of his father’s home one evening and talked about the
struggle that is beyond just lap times and podium finishes below is what we
discussed.
High level racing isn’t just driving fast and practicing the
same. At the professional level, a race car driver must be an endurance
athlete, a salesperson, a spokesperson, and laser focused for the duration of
the race. But after all that, it takes money. Not thousands of dollars, but
hundreds of thousands of dollars, even millions. In other words, sponsors are
needed to take it to the next level. Every little bit helps so support your
local racer.
Kyle Kaiser, a personable, athletic 21 year old with an
infectious smile hails from Santa Clara, California. Kyle is now racing in his
third season in the Indy Lights, basically a professional level series that
happens to have an even higher level above it, Indy Car. It’s part of the Mazda
Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires series. Kyle has a very impressive
racing background and is currently the points leader in the Indy Lights
Presented by Cooper Tires! All he has to do is start a Watkins Glen and he is
the Series Champion and $1 million dollar winner!
Last year Kyle finished 4th at Watkins Glen and the final
two rounds at his home track, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca saw first and fourth
place finishes but unfortunately put him in 3 rd place for the season, 29
points away from 1 st place. With an output of 450hp, these cars are blazingly fast at Laguna Seca, capable of 1:14s.
Kyle’s athletic background was high school football as a
quarterback, and made the varsity team but decided to pursue racing instead.
Fortunately, his father Jeff, an accomplished driver himself, has been very
supportive of his career choice and a financial backer. Physical training is
specific at Pit Fit in Indianapolis and when asked about his six foot frame
fitting into a car, it turns out quite a few Indy drivers are six feet tall.
The struggle, besides juggling college courses for a
business finance degree, is staying competitive and getting funding for testing
for Indy Car. We’re talking $50-$60k for a test session, an enormous sum of money.
A driver needs to bring in $5 million dollars for an entire season. That’s a
lot of selling and that’s why sponsorships are so critical. Imagine the
networking and selling of yourself required, then the preparation required for
the race, and the concentration and intensity needed during the race with extreme temperatures and g-forces, not to mention
continuing your education! That’s a huge load to carry. Ask sales people in the
non-racing world how hard it is to sell $5 million dollars in a product or service
in one year. Successful salespeople may never sell that much in their field in a years time their entire career.
The racing started at age 7 and progressed to the
International Kart Federation, Skip Barber Karting, Formula Car Challenge, Star
Mazda Championship and the Pro Mazda Championship with Juncos racing where he
finished 6th in points with 4 podium finishes and his first professional win in
the last race of the season. No stranger to podium finishes, he finished 6th in
his first season with Indy Lights with 2 podium finishes. Now in his third
season, 3 race wins and 3 podium finishes and the points leader. Be sure to support
your local up and coming race car driver, #18, Kyle Kaiser!
