Kyffin Simpson enters The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2027 CRV Hybrid on Sunday, July 5 sitting 16th in NTT INDYCAR SERIES points.

That may not jump off the page, but the Chip Ganassi Racing driver is beginning to build momentum.

Simpson finished a season-best fourth in last Sunday’s XPEL Grand Prix at Road America Presented by AMR, but the 21-year-old lost one position in the standings. Will Power’s third-place finish moved him from 17th to 14th in points, dropping Simpson to 16th.

The result marked another step forward for Simpson, who has four top-10 finishes in 10 races this season. He charged from 19th to fourth at Road America in the No. 8 Sunoco Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, earning the fourth top-five result of his INDYCAR SERIES career.

“It's a little bit disappointing to be fourth but still so grateful to God for such a great race,” Simpson said. “I think our car was just a rocket on blacks (primary Firestone Firehawk tires). We struggled a little bit on reds (alternate tires), and that's kind of what bit us in the butt in qualifying. But man, we were just so good on race pace that we were able to move forward and make passes. We had one yellow not fall our way, had one yellow fall our way, so it ended up working out pretty well for us in the end.”

Simpson’s disappointment with fourth place speaks to how much confidence he and the team have gained. Not long ago, a top-five finish would have felt like a breakthrough. He had one top 10 finish in his first 23 starts.

Now he believes there was more available. He has nine top-10 finishes and four top fives in his last 21 starts.

“Best result of the year by quite a bit,” Simpson said. “Ultimately, I'm happy to really get the ball rolling this year and try to bring home a strong end of the season.”

Kyffin Simpson

Simpson (photo, above) continues to trend upward in his third INDYCAR SERIES season. He finished 21st in points as a rookie in 2024 and improved to 17th last season. While a top-10 points finish remains a challenge this season, the trajectory is encouraging.

Road America served as a turning point in 2025. Simpson averaged a 17th-place finish through the first eight races, but with the aid of consistency, that average jumped to a 13.6 finish over the final nine races. Four top-10 finishes during that stretch, including a podium finish in Toronto and fourth in the season finale at Nashville Superspeedway, jump-started that improvement.

Can this strong Road America result provide a similar spark this year?

The upcoming schedule suggests it could. Nashville follows Mid-Ohio on the calendar, and Simpson enjoyed success at both tracks last season. He started third and finished 10th at Mid-Ohio before backing that up with a fourth-place finish at the then-season finale at Nashville.

Simpson enters Mid-Ohio 32 points behind six-time series champion and teammate Scott Dixon for 10th in the standings. His preseason goals were straightforward: earn his first INDYCAR SERIES victory and finish inside the top 10 in points.

Those objectives remain within reach if he can capitalize on a stretch of tracks where he feels more comfortable.

“I think the second half of the season is where we really caught our stride last season,” Simpson said. “It also helps that there are a lot of tracks in this second half that we're a lot more comfortable with. I also think we've just been a bit messy in this first half of the season, on my side and on the team side. We've all made little mistakes throughout the year that have cost us results.

“But I think we're focused on getting everything right and doing all the obvious things right. I think we're going to have a strong second half.”