Kyffin Simpson, driver of the No. 8 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing, will receive the unfortunate title of the first driver to have a major on-track incident during pre-race sessions for the 2025 Indianapolis 500, after a crash during Fast Friday.
Simpson was exiting Turn 4 at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway when his multi-colored car bobbled, spinning around and smacking the outside wall, just at the end of the SAFER Barrier.
After making some hard contact with the outside wall, Simpson’s No. 8 JOURNEE Rewards Honda lifted into the air, doing a full side rotation before it landed safely on its wheels.
That’s a big crash for Kyffin Simpson during practice for the #Indianapolis500#INDYCAR
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) May 16, 2025
Simpson, a second-year driver in the NTT IndyCar Series, was able to climb from the car under his own power, where he would be brought to the INDYCAR Medical Center, and eventually released after getting the all-clear from doctors.
“It was kind of weird. I hit the wall, and then I was in the air pretty soon after that, but I didn’t realize I was in the air until I looked out the aeroscreen, and I was like ‘Oh, that’s not good,'” said Simpson. “Just glad I didn’t end up on my roof, and then after that I was glad I didn’t hit the attenuator.”
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver will have to mentally refocus before getting back on the racetrack Saturday for qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, where he’ll have to be inside the top 31 to avoid going to Sunday’s bumping session.
“It’s a tough one,” Simpson said about mentally refocusing. “All you can do is hop back on the horse. Hopefully, we can get back out today, if not, we’ll just focus on tomorrow.”
