Chip Ganassi Racing have announced they will expand their IndyCar squad to five full-time cars for 2024 having appointed another rookie to their line-up.
Kyffin Simpson has been promoted to a full-time seat at the top level after 16 months as Ganassi’s development driver.During that time Simpson has raced in single-seaters and sports cars, picking up a pole and two podiums from two seasons in IndyCar’s primary feeder series Indy Nxt and winning races in LMP2 prototypes in Europe, the Middle East and the USA.
He finished 11th overall in the Daytona 24 Hours and third overall in the Sebring 12 Hours this year, in both instances sharing a car with Penske IndyCar driver Scott McLaughlin.
Simpson joins reigning champion Alex Palou and six-times title winner Scott Dixon at the team. Marcus Armstrong, who did a partial campaign for the team this year, will also drive full-time for them next season. Simpson’s other team mate will be fellow rookie Linus Lundqvist, who was signed last month after starring in his first three IndyCar races with Meyer Shank Racing.
Simpson’s last single-seater win was back in 2021, when he became Formula Regional Americas champion with seven race victories. At the time he was in Honda Performance Development’s GT3 academy programme, and HPD provided a scholarship for him to step from the fourth level right up to the top level of open-wheel racing in Japan’s Super Formula series.
The teenager turned that down to move up to Indy Nxt, and he will be 19 years old when he makes his IndyCar debut early next year.
“It’s been incredible working with Chip Ganassi Racing as their development driver over the last couple years and I’ve been able to learn so much. I am very excited to be making the next step to IndyCar with this team,” said Simpson.
“I had a great time at the test and I can’t wait to get back in the car. It’s been my dream to race in the IndyCar series and it’s an honour to make it happen now with one of the best teams in the series. I’m really looking forward to working more closely with the entire team and the drivers.”
It has not been confirmed if Simpson will race in IndyCar using a licence from the country of his birth, Barbados, or repeat his approach from Indy Nxt by representing the Cayman Islands.
Simpson has previously spent a weekend in the Formula 1 paddock with Haas, and in his development driver role completed a IndyCar test with Ganassi in January this year.
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Don
18th September 2023, 15:10
Didn’t see this coming.
Richard
19th September 2023, 18:06
Interesting, good for Kyffin. Makes you wonder if this is Ganassi prepping for a prospective Scott Dixon retirement plan at end of 2024. Neither him or Will Power seemed very enthused by the 2024 hybrids they drove at that recent test – so maybe he’s thinking about spending more time with family and focus on a lighter IMSA-Le Mans schedule to close his career out.