Rowe is ready to step up to the Indy NXT fight
IndyCar
As dramatic narratives go, the last few years of Myles Rowe’s racing career couldn’t have been more cinematic – a white-hot roll of film flashing before his eyes.
From having to give up on his burgeoning motor sport dreams due to a lack of funds, to being plucked from obscurity – while studying at university – by IndyCar CEO and captain of industry Roger Penske as part of the series’ Race for Equality and Change diversity programme, and then becoming the first African-American to win an open-wheel racing series, Rowe has quite simply blazed a trail. All after having been discovered as youngster at a kart track by Indy 500 winner and double IndyCar champion Will Power too.
His achievements have brought world wide adulation, no more so than from Lewis Hamilton, which Rowe emphasised to Motor Sport “meant a lot”.
Now the Georgia native, three years after his career was rebooted in the most spectacular way possible, has just one hurdle in between himself and achieving his dream of reaching IndyCar – namely the fiercely-contested second-tier Indy NXT series, with the first race in St Petersburg this weekend.
American youngster had has hauled himself up the IndyCar ladder – with help from Roger Penske and friends
IndyCar
Going up against such talents as race-winning Brit Louis Foster and longtime junior rival Michael d’Orlando as well as three-time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick, the challenge is formidable.
However, as he tells Motor Sport, the feeling of being swept up in a wave of success, emotion and excitement of his progress has led to a serene yet surreal view of things – one which could serve him well as he gets his campaign underway.
“I feel confident, I feel grateful, very blessed,” he says. “Honestly, I catch myself doing one of those conscious bird’s eye views all the time now, just kind of seeing my life in film – ‘What if a camera was in front of you, what would it look like?’
Myles Rowe made history when he became the first ever African-American to win a single-seater championship, garnering adulation the world over
“Because I have to put myself out of my body just to see it. I’m in my natural environment now, which is crazy. But then I think about it and it’s like: ‘I’m really here.’ It’s just super cool.”
However, Rowe emphasises that until Penske’s positive intervention, the difficulty of making any progress in racing made envisioning being at this stage in racing nigh on impossible.
The IndyCar’s CEO’s funds are paired with the vision of Rod Reid, who founded Indianapolis’s diversity-driven Nexgeneracers racing programme for juniors and acts as the head of the ‘Force Indy’ racing team, now paired with Indy NXT squad HMD Motorsports in Rowe’s case. These forces coming together have helped to facilitate Rowe’s obvious talent.
“Because of how hard it was to even get a singular test in USF2000 [the first step on the IndyCar ladder, equivalent to F4] when I was younger, I just didn’t even picture myself in the other series,” he says.
“And so USFPro2000 [F3 equivalent] was pretty crazy, and it’s the same thing here. I used to look up to where am I am now and wonder ‘What’s it like?’
Rowe has blazed a trial through US racing
IndyCar
“And now to be close to the top part IndyCar, it’s definitely surreal.”
Things have only become more ‘Cloud Nine’ for Rowe when, in recognition of his achievements, the UK’s Sky F1 channel – which broadcasts both the IndyCar and the Indy NXT championships – secretly organised for him to meet his hero and double F1 champ Fernando Alonso.
Visiting the Aston Martin F1 base, Rowe thought he was going for a relatively run-of-the-mill factory tour, until he realised something was up.
“The first person we saw when we came through the doors was Lawrence Stroll, and we saw Lance [Stroll] idling through hallway,” he says laughing.
“All these photographers came out, and I was super confused like: ‘What’s going on?’
“Then when Fernando came out, my very first thought was ‘What the f*** are you doing here?!’ I thought he was supposed to be on his way to a race!”
“He was just really genuine, I thought it was gonna be tough to talk to him at first, or like this character would take over – but it was just like having a conversation with any normal person.”
Back in the day job after meeting his idol, and despite the strong competition in the field, Rowe has no doubts about his ability to do battle at the sharp end.
“I expect to be in the fight,” he asserts. “It’s just about keeping it clean in qualifying, the first half of the race, protecting the tyres, not locking up, not going off the track, hitting the wall, causing a red flag in qualifying – there’s a lot of variables!
“I think people know that I’m going to be fast. Put me in the car in the car, and I’ll be fine. So we can say that, but we know it’s such a tough series.”
However sensible it is to play it down, there is a sense of destiny in the way Rowe’s miraculous career rebirth has played out thus far. For all the clichés, he’s just trying to keep his feet on the ground while still dreaming big.
“I just want to live it, I don’t want to squander it,” he says. “Every time I put it [reaching the top of motor sport] into words, it makes it more legitimate.
“80% of kids in class are going to want to race cars, fly planes or a spaceship. And I’m doing that at a very high level now. Furthermore, people want me here – I’ve had help along the way.
“I do think I’ve earned it, and I know I will capitalise on the opportunity. I just try to keep it one day at a time.”
