INDIANAPOLIS, In. – Kyffin Simpson (No. 8 Sunoco Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) delivered one of his strongest drives of the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season Sunday, bringing his No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda home fifth in the inaugural Freedom 250 Grand Prix on the streets of Washington, D.C.
Simpson started 23rd on the grid, but steadily worked his way forward through 147 laps around the 1.7-mile street circuit. By the checkered flag, the Cayman Islands driver had climbed 18 positions, finishing behind race winner Kyle Kirkwood (No. 27 Sam’s Club Andretti Global Honda), Christian Lundgaard (No. 7 Velo Arrow McLaren Chevrolet), Will Power (No. 26 TWG Andretti Global Honda) and Marcus Ericsson (No. 28 Acura Andretti Global Honda).
The result marked Simpson’s second-best finish of the season and capped a particularly eventful weekend for the 21-year-old. The Washington race was the first IndyCar event held around the National Mall, with the cars racing past some of the most recognizable landmarks in the nation’s capital.
Simpson’s afternoon was defined by patience and consistency. While several of the championship’s leading contenders encountered trouble—including points leader Alex Palou (No. 10 OpenAI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda), who finished 20th after a penalty and subsequent incident—Simpson kept his Chip Ganassi Racing machine in contention.
The recovery was especially impressive given where Simpson began. Entering the weekend, he was 14th in the championship standings with 252 points, and his 2026 average finish on street courses stood at 13.6. A fifth-place result in Washington represented a substantial step forward from those numbers.
Simpson’s strong finish also placed him alongside some of IndyCar’s biggest names in the final classification. Kirkwood dominated the race, leading 128 of 147 laps, while Lundgaard and Power completed the podium. Ericsson and Simpson rounded out the top five.
For Simpson, the Freedom 250 was ultimately a race of recovery. Starting deep in the field on an unforgiving temporary circuit, he avoided the major incidents that eliminated or compromised several competitors and steadily moved toward the front.
The fifth-place finish gives Simpson and Chip Ganassi Racing valuable momentum heading into the final two rounds of the season, beginning with the Milwaukee weekend next Saturday and Sunday.
After a challenging start to the weekend, Simpson left Washington with his best IndyCar result since finishing fourth at XPEL Grand Prix at Road America this past June and a performance that showed just how much ground he can make up when given a clean, trouble-free afternoon.
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