Myles Rowe is a name that many of you reading this will probably know. For those of you who don’t, keep reading to find out why you should.
Motorsport Origins
Born in the state of Georgia in the United States, Myles Rowe made his motorsport debut back in 2017. He competed in the Lucas Oil Formula Car Race Series for two back to back seasons. While he only competed in eight races in total, he won five of those – an early tease of what he was capable of. But it was in 2021 that things really began to pick up for Rowe and people in the motorsport world started take note of him.
USF 2000 Championship
It was a few years before Myles was able to go racing properly again. Drafted into the Force Indy Team for 2021 though, Myles was able to compete that year in the USF 2000 Championship. While it was a long and arduous season, Rowe finished in P13 overall, there was a heck of a silver lining to the year. In the second race held at the New Jersey Motorsports Park, Rowe became the first African American to win a race in the USF 2000 Championship.
The following year would also be a tough one – but made for quite the story. With Force Indy as an outfit moving up to Indy Lights (now Indy NXT), Myles was out of a drive for the USF 2000 Championship. Hustling hard, Myles started a Go Fund Me page – something that worked an absolute treat for him as he received a $200,000 contribution towards his season – something many of us wouldn’t mind happening in our own lives. This enabled him to kick start his season. In the seven opening races of the season, spread across three rounds, Myles was on the podium three times, winning on two occasions.
Time Up? Not Yet.
His year looked like it may have been about to end prematurely though, thanks to the funds drying up. This was yet more proof, were it needed, that motorsport is an expensive sport. But fortunately for Rowe, a certain Roger Penske stepped in. Thanks to his sponsorship, Rowe was able to race for the rest of the season.
A Championship contender all the way until the end, Myles only lost out on winning the title that year in the very final race. Having been at the top of the standings coming into the weekend, a bit of bad luck involving contact sent him spiralling down the order in the last race. Despite an impressive comeback drive, it wasn’t enough for him to win the title. Rowe would finish in P2 to Michael d’Orlando.
In 2022 though, Rowe’s P2 finish had seen him rack up a total of five wins with an additional five podiums, six fastest laps and two pole positions. He’d made his mark.
USF Pro 2000 Championship
In 2023, Myles Rowe moved up onto the next step of the American motorsport ladder. It turned out to be a phenomenal season for him. In the eighteen races that season, Myles won five of them. He’d also appear on the podium a further four times and only finished outside of the top ten twice.
Myles won the Championship with 391 points to his name. He was sixty four points clear of Kiko Porto in second. Rowe would also make history as he became the first African-American driver to win an American open-wheel championship. By winning the championship, he also received $640,000 in scholarship funds to move up to Indy NXT in 2024. His career could continue.
Indy NXT
2024
Racing for HMD Motorsports with Force Indy in 2024, his inaugural season in the Championship was another that would be a learning experience. That year, there wouldn’t be any wins or even any podium finishes for Myles Rowe. He had a best finish of P4 in Detroit and would end the year in P11 overall. But he’d done enough to warrant a second season in the Championship and this is where Myles has started to come alive again.
2025
Putting to practice everything that he’s learned up until now, Myles knows that the longer you stay in Indy NXT, the tougher it will become to realise the ultimate goal of making it to IndyCar. He has been incredibly consistent so far this season though. With the exception of Detroit, where he was involved in quite a bit of chaotic carnage at the start of the race, he hasn’t failed to finish outside of the top ten once. This run of form has included three podiums, with a best finish of P2 at Gateway.
Then, last time out in Iowa, Myles Rowe bounced back from his uncharacteristic P10 result at Mid Ohio in style. With fourteen laps to go while racing at the short course oval, Rowe took on the dominant force of the 2025 season that is Dennis Hauger. Sweeping past him, Rowe snatched the lead away from the Norwegian and proceeded to win the race – his first in the series.
What’s Next?
Myles Rowe currently sits in P4 in the standings with four rounds of the 2025 Championship to go. Owing to Hauger’s sheer dominance this season, it looks unlikely that anyone will beat him. But P2 and P3 are still very much on the cards, especially if Rowe keeps going from strength to strength as he has been. After that though, who knows?
IndyCar is obviously the goal and you don’t have to win Indy NXT to get there – Jacob Abel is proof of this. Rookies have also proven to have what it takes to succeed in a multitude of ways in IndyCar. Louis Foster’s outdriving of the RLL car and Schwartzman’s Pole Position at Indianapolis are proof of this in two very distinct ways. With Roger Penske’s backing earlier in his career and turmoil aplenty at the IndyCar team, could Team Penske follow in Mercedes’ footsteps from F1? Could they, like Mercedes did with Kimi Antonelli, replace one of their established drivers with a promising rookie? In IndyCar, nothing is off the table.
Feature Image: IndyCar Media Centre
Indy NXT returns July 26th at Laguna Seca
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