Records are made to be broken, but the bar set by Cape Motorsports is nearing a reach of impossibility.
At the conclusion of the 2018 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda, the team celebrated a remarkable eighth consecutive drivers title (12th overall), this time with Kyle Kirkwood.
This year saw heights not reached in over a decade as Kirkwood captured 12 victories in 14 races, matching the record set by another Cape driver, JR Hildebrand, in 2006.
While repeating is incredibly difficult in any sport, the consistent attention to detail by founders and co-owners Dominic and Nicholas Cape is paramount to their continued success. The moment the checkered flag falls every season, they simply hit the reset button with a focus on the year ahead.
“I don't know (what to take from this season) to be honest with you,” Nicholas Cape said. “Most of the time we just chuck it in the bin and start from scratch every year. We look at next year like we ain't won [anything], so we start from scratch. We don't go in saying, 'We've won. We're the champions, blah, blah, blah.'
“We start from zero. We haven't won anything. Until we turn to the next corner, we haven't won a thing. Start from scratch and start getting your head down and work on your program, like you do every year.”
The all-time winningest team in the Mazda Road to Indy, Cape Motorsports has excelled at grooming talents for the next level. The drivers who have gone through their program and achieved success at the next level are numerous.
While Kirkwood and last year’s USF2000 champion Oliver Askew are still molding their careers in the INDYCAR-sanctioned ladder system, there are others that have already made the leap to the big leagues.
Hildebrand, who won the Indy Lights title in 2009, has started eight Indianapolis 500s, with a career-best runner-up finish in his debut in 2011. Other notables include 2016 Indy 500 entrant Matthew Brabham, Team Penske’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pilot Dane Cameron and Verizon IndyCar Series driver Spencer Pigot of Ed Carpenter Racing.
When trying to figure out what separates Kirkwood from some of his predecessors, there simply wasn’t an explanation.
“Honestly, there isn't any difference between a lot of them,” Nicholas said. “I couldn't tell you. I mean, everybody's different. Every championship is different. Every competitor that each championship driver races against is different and at a different level. So you know, I couldn't tell you, really.”
After winning the championship in the first rung of the Mazda Road to Indy, there is still some unknowns as to Kirkwood’s next move as he moves up to the Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires. While lessons on how a proper team operates and setup of the car were tops on the list and something he admitted will carry on “for the rest of my career,” he insisted his most recent achievement is all about the team.
“I'm just carrying on their legacy,” said Kirkwood, who also won the 2017 United States Formula 4 championship with Cape Motorsports.
“It's really them that do all the hard work and even though we make it look so easy here, it's because there's so much hard work behind the scenes from those guys back in the tent, making sure the car is perfect every single time we go on track, so I really got to give it to them.”
For nearly a decade, the Mazda Soul Red colors which showcase the mark of a champion on the race track have been practically woven into the fabric of Cape Motorsports. And for that very reason, they don’t get returning drivers are always forced to groom inexperience.
“We never have a second year driver most of the time,” Nicholas said. “So you start from scratch and you do the same homework and do everything the same as you did the year before. You build a relationship with the driver and belief, chemistry and you just go from there.
“We've been fortunate that we've had really good drivers, but we have a really good environment for them to excel.”