Kyffin Simpson is heading into his third NTT IndyCar season, piloting the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. The Cayman Islands-born racer is looking to carry the momentum and strong team chemistry from past seasons into podiums and wins for 2026.
Simpson spoke to Pit Debrief and other media outlets about his hopes for the season ahead during the 2026 IndyCar content days.
Kyffin Simpson aiming high right from the start ahead of 2026 IndyCar season
Kyffin Simpson has set his sights high for the 2026 IndyCar Series season. Speaking during IndyCar’s content days, the 21-year-old driver spoke on his goals from the first green flag in 2026.
“Yeah, definitely got to get that first win. That’s next on the list for sure.
“Other than that, kind of shooting for — aim high, top 5 in the championship. That would be big. Got a couple big goals that, whether we hit or not, I’m going to aim for them and do my best to try to get there.
“We’ve got lots of opportunities to do it. Arlington is going to be Sunoco’s home race this year, so would be pretty cool to get it done there. Who knows, maybe that’s going to be the pattern wherever the sponsor’s home race is. So that’s pretty cool.”
Building weekend to weekend consistency
A bad weekend for the No. 8 car in 2025 saw Simpson sitting in the latter half of the grid, and in 2026, the Caymanian is looking to make those top-20 finishes look more like top-10’s.
“I’d say consistency is the biggest thing, more like weekend-to-weekend kind of consistency. There were some races where we were very good and there were some races where we weren’t. I just want to make it so that we kind of bring those races that weren’t very good up to a higher level.
“If a bad weekend for us last year was 20th, I want to try to make a bad weekend 12th, you know? Yeah, I think that’s something that I want to work on a lot for this year. I think that’s where a lot of the championship points will be by the end of the year.
“By making a bad weekend not so bad I think is where you really make big gains in the championship, and I think that’s a big focus for me this year.”
The return on an iconic name in racing
Simpson will carry some iconic colors in 2026. Sunoco is the largest independent fuel distributor across the Americas, and the brand is returning as a full-time primary partner with the CGR for No. 8 Honda, its first full-time return since 1973.
It’s a colour scheme and name that many racing fans know, and Simpson expressed his excitement to rock the iconic yellow and blue for the upcoming season.
“It’s been awesome. Such a historic brand in racing.
“They’ve got such a great history. So many people I’ve talked to have been like just talking about how big of a Sunoco fan they are from all the racing they’ve done. It’s a huge honor for me to be able to represent them.”
Getting back into that rhythm of racing
Kyffin Simpson, like many members of the NTT IndyCar grid, took part in the 24 Hours of Daytona before testing began of the ’26 IndyCar season.
Speaking to Pit Debrief and other media outlets, he discussed how racing in another series helps him get back into the swing of things and prepare his mindset for IndyCar after the winter break.
“For me, the Rolex is just about, like you said, getting your mind back into it and getting back into that rhythm of racing.
“Especially racing in one of the higher classes like P2 or GTP you end up passing a lot, which you’re passing slower cars, but whether you’re passing slower cars or not, you’re still passing cars.
“It does kind of get you in a good mindset for when you get to racing. For me, that’s really what it’s about. You get back to working with engineers and working on your feedback and how to make a car better, as well. All of those things are just good to get the wheels turning again and get back in shape, per se, for the season.”
Simpson has confidence in podiums and wins for 2026 IndyCar season
Kyffin Simpson is entering his third season with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2026 and is carrying some serious momentum. 2025 saw Simpson rack up a season with his first podium finish in Toronto, in addition to three top-five and six top-10 finishes. Carrying the confidence of momentum built from 2024 and 2025, Simpson is confident in his ability to stand on the podium more often in 2026.
“I definitely think we’ll be able to fight for wins and podiums. Obviously, the team is going to be there. The team has got the performance. It’s just on me to make sure that I’m doing my job.
“We’ve just got to go into this season knowing that we’re good enough and that we’ve been very close before. I think we can get it done for sure.”
