Simpson charts progress with fast Long Beach lap, most passes

Kyffin Simpson set the fastest race lap last weekend at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, just as he did in his very first IndyCar Series race last year at St. Petersburg. The demonstration of speed from the Chip Ganassi Racing sophomore shouldn’t come as a complete surprise; the kid from the Cayman Islands has shown flashes of quickness since making his IndyCar debut.

He’s also demonstrated a knack for executing passes, which hasn’t necessarily stood out from the midfield during the educational phase of his early IndyCar career, but like his fastest lap on Sunday, it’s also hard to ignore how Simpson led all drivers at Long Beach with 62 total passes and 50 for position as he started 17th and finished 10th.

The youngest driver in IndyCar -- he turned 20 in October and also carries the least amount of open-wheel experience -- is making significant progress just outside of the spotlight where his veteran teammates Scott Dixon and Alex Palou live, and at his current rate of progress, improving upon his career-best of 10th seems possible.

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“Through last year, we felt pretty solid through all the races,” Simpson told RACER. “We made a lot of moves, especially at the beginning of last year, and at one point, were leading in most positions gained on the season. I think the racecraft has been there the whole time, we just need to start qualifying a bit higher up. But I feel like pace is becoming much more solid, and I'm really happy about it.”

Simpson has a new race engineer in Luke Goldenstein to look after the No. 8 Honda, and on the timing stand, CGR team manager Taylor Kiel is calling race strategy. There’s plenty of changes for Simpson to process, but the sophomore says the pit crew led by Jason Beck and everyone on his timing stand have formed a strong unit in a short period of time. With their support, Simpson is taking meaningful strides.

“The whole team just works really well together, between me, Scott and Alex, but also me and all the other people on my car,” he said. “Everyone's able to work really well together this year, and I’ve been really noticing the jelling happening a lot in my second year.”