By Cayman Compass contributor Ted Nesbitt
Cayman IndyCar driver Kyffin Simpson kicked off the 2026 IndyCar season on 1 March in St. Petersburg, Florida with high hopes and a new look from last season.
Still running the #8 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing, Simpson’s ride this year is adorned in the beautiful deep blue livery of Sunoco race fuels.
St. Petersburg has been the opening race of the season for more than 20 years now, with part of the circuit on an airport runway and the balance of the track made up of streets. Drivers and fans alike look forward to getting the season going at St Pete’s, and the enthusiasm this past weekend was palpable throughout.
Sharing the track with the NASCAR Truck Series and a revitalized Indy NXT Development series, the IndyCars were still the stars of the show.
Practice Friday saw Simpson’s recently knighted New Zealand teammate, Sir Scott Dixon, struggle and hit the wall hard – an uncharacteristic event for the wily veteran that many call the GOAT (greatest of all time) IndyCar driver.
Ganassi teammate, three-time defending IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou, turned in a strong effort with the 6th fastest time, but it was Cayman’s Simpson leading the way for the Ganassi time charting the team’s fastest lap of the day and setting the fourth fastest time.
Saturday qualifying set the field for Sunday’s race with Simpson placing 10th in the field of 25. Teammate Dixon’s struggles continued as he charted only the 16th quickest time. Palou qualified his DHL Ganassi Honda fourth, with New Zealander Scott McLaughlin taking the pole in his Penske Chevy.
NFL quarterback Jameis Winston of the New York Giants was the honorary starter for the race and took quite a liking to Simpson and his team over the course of the weekend. Winston and his 5-year old son Antonor were the stars of the television broadcast before the race and the young racing fan had lots of great things to say while wearing his Kyffin Simpson #8 jersey.
Later, it was up to Winston to wave the starting flag and the field broke for corner 1. The cars got no further than turn four before the yellow caution flag flew due to a crash. Americans Sting Ray Robb and Santino Ferrucci came together, blocking part of the track, leaving rookie Mick Schumacher, former F-1 driver and son of seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher, nowhere to go but into the back of them, ending his IndyCar debut before it had barely started.
When the green flag flew again, Penske’s McLaughlin maintained his lead from starting first and led the first third of the race with little pressure from behind. The crucial moment of the race occurred on laps 36 and 37, when McLaughlin pitted. Alex’s Palou’s Ganassi strategist left the Spaniard out a couple laps longer on their original tires in an ‘overcut’ strategy, a gamble that paid off. After pitting later, Palou came out in front of McLaughlin and wound up leading 59 of the race’s 100 laps.
Nobody could catch Palou as he streaked away to win the race by more than 13 seconds over second place Penske’s Scott McLaughlin. Arrow McLaren driver Christian Lundgaard of Denmark completed the podium in 3rd place.
Simpson meanwhile had a somewhat unremarkable race, bringing his new Sunoco ride home in 15th place. Ganassi teammate Dixon had an unfortunate pitstop incident leaving his left-rear tire loose, ultimately coming off the car at speed. Dixon was able to control the car and take it down an escape road on the street course, ending his day after 39 laps and leaving him to finish 23rd.
It’s a short week for IndyCar this week as they load up the transporters and cross the country to Phoenix, Arizona, where they will share the one-mile tri-oval bullring with the NASCAR series this coming weekend. The IndyCar race will run Saturday, with the NASCAR series running Sunday.
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