Why Kyffin Simpson is the first Caymanian to race in IndyCar

Kyffin Simpson is a Caymanian driver who was born in Barbados in 2004 and raised in the Cayman Islands. In 2023 he also helped Algarve Pro Racing win the European Le Mans Series, and since 2024 he has raced in IndyCar for Chip Ganassi Racing. He is the first driver from Cayman to reach that series, and he takes obvious pride in flying the island's flag on his car.

Where did Simpson's racing begin?

Simpson was born in Bridgetown, Barbados, to a Caymanian father, David Simpson, who is a businessman. He grew up in the Cayman Islands, which is where his racing began, and he has always competed under the Caymanian flag.

Before he moved into cars he spent nine years in karts, travelling between the Caribbean and the United States to race. His car debut came in 2020, when Velocity Racing Development ran him in Formula 4 United States.

Away from the track he is a keen surfer and kite surfer, and he has a younger sister.

A family-funded programme, a Caribbean first and a Toronto podium that came from 13th on the grid.

How strong was his junior record?

In 2020 Simpson ran two series at once, the Formula 4 United States Championship and the Formula Regional Americas Championship. He won the Formula Regional title in commanding style, appearing on the podium in every race but five.

The title also brought a $600,000 scholarship from Honda Performance Development, earmarked for a 2022 Super Formula programme. Japan's travel restrictions during the pandemic put an end to that plan.

He also contested the Indy Pro 2000 Championship with Juncos Racing, running alongside his Formula Regional campaign. He entered sixteen of the eighteen races and returned three podiums.

What were his Indy Lights and Indy NXT seasons like?

In 2022 Simpson agreed a multi-year development contract with Chip Ganassi Racing and moved up to Indy Lights with TJ Speed Motorsports, alongside James Roe Jr. After eight races he switched to HMD Motorsports, and that season ended with him ninth in the standings.

His best Indy Lights results were fifth places at Barber and at Detroit. In 2023 he returned to the rebranded Indy NXT series with HMD and collected two podiums to finish tenth overall.

What did his sportscar debut look like?

Simpson made his IMSA SportsCar Championship debut in 2022 at the 24 Hours of Daytona, driving an Acura NSX GT3 EVO II for Gradient Racing. He shared the car with Mario Farnbacher and Till Bechtolsheimer, and that trio won the GTD class at Petit Le Mans later the same year.

In 2023 he took a part-time LMP2 seat with Tower Motorsports. The team finished fifth at Daytona, and at Sebring Simpson shared the class win with Scott McLaughlin and John Farano. It was his second IMSA triumph.

That season he also raced full time in the Asian Le Mans Series with Algarve Pro Racing, alongside James Allen and John Falb. The campaign opened with a win in Dubai. Near half-distance Simpson took second from Christian Bogle, then closed on the leader from 25 seconds down to seven, though a puncture cost the team a strong result in the second race there. At Yas Marina a spin into the wall cost Simpson a podium chance, and the trio ended up third in the LMP2 classification.

How did Algarve Pro Racing win the 2023 European Le Mans Series?

Simpson, Allen and the Cadillac Hypercar driver Alex Lynn formed the Algarve Pro Racing line-up in the 2023 European Le Mans Series, and the team went on to take the title. Simpson's early pace was central to the story, because the team needed a strong start to every race.

The Barcelona opener was quiet. At Paul Ricard, though, Simpson held the race leader, Vladislav Lomko, through the opening stints and set the fastest lap of the race. That let his teammates fight for the win, and Allen passed Louis Deletraz late on to give the team victory.

Lynn described Simpson as a fast learner while saying he still needed more experience. Aragon brought a third place for the team. Spa was the turning point a month later, when a chaotic race ended with an error-free drive from the trio. Two second places, at Algarve and Portimao, then sealed the championship.

At Portimao, a wet race, Simpson struggled for pace but kept the car on the track when others could not.

Why does Simpson's IndyCar career stand out?

Simpson became the first Caymanian in the NTT IndyCar Series, and the first from the Caribbean as a whole. His programme is funded by his family and carries no performance clause.

His route ran through Chip Ganassi Racing. He took his first IndyCar test with the team at Sebring in January 2023, after two years as its development driver. When the team announced that he would step up for 2024, it was a logical next move.

How did the 2024 IndyCar season go?

Simpson's 2024 began at St. Petersburg, where he came twelfth, ahead of every other rookie, and he set the fastest lap of that race. He qualified eighteenth for the Indianapolis 500 and finished twenty-first.

Mid-season brought several retirements. Christian Rasmussen spun him at Road America early on, and Agustin Canapino did the same at Monterey. At Toronto he crashed at turn eight, seventeen laps from the finish, and at Gateway he hit the wall on lap 86 after struggling for pace all weekend.

He ended the year 21st in the drivers' standings, ranking below each of his four Ganassi team-mates. The team kept him for 2025 and moved him into the No. 8 car. The late-season results were mixed: a sixteenth at Portland, a thirteenth in the second Milwaukee race and a 22nd at Nashville.

How did 2025 change his IndyCar record?

The 2025 season began with a result of eighteenth at St. Petersburg, followed by fifteenth at Thermal Club. Then came his first top-ten finish in IndyCar at Long Beach, where he came tenth after using the alternate strategy. At Toronto he climbed from 13th on the grid to third, the best result of his career and his first IndyCar podium.

Indianapolis was less kind. He qualified 13th for the 500, but a spinning Kyle Larson clipped him and ended his race mid-way. Detroit followed with the fastest lap of the race and a fifth-place finish, again on the alternate strategy.

Barber had been a quieter weekend, with a tenth-place qualifying effort and a finish of twenty-first, one lap down. At the Indianapolis road course he could not start after mechanical trouble on the way to the grid, and Iowa brought eighteenth and thirteenth.

The middle of the year brought 15th at Gateway and sixth at Road America. At Mid-Ohio he qualified third but stalled in the pit lane, and a penalty for running over the foot of another team's crew member dropped him to tenth.

Monterey ended on the opening lap after a collision with Felix Rosenqvist at turn six. Portland's six-place grid penalty took him back to 21st, and Milwaukee brought 20th. Nashville produced his best oval result, fourth after a late battle with Scott McLaughlin for the podium.

Six top-ten finishes lifted him to 17th in the championship for the year.

Racing record at a glance