There’s now been 6 of the 8 Indy Lights drivers for HMD named. After joining HMD Motorsports part way through the 2022 season, Kyffin Simpson will return to the team in 2023 for his sophomore year in Indy Lights. With an extensive off-season test program, including competition in IMSA events, Simpson will look to turn heads when the green flag flies at the start of the 2023 season.

This past year in his rookie Indy Lights campaign, Simpson finished the season with a best finish of fifth at Barber Motorsports Park, which he then duplicated in the first race of the Detroit Grand Prix. After moving to HMD Motorsports for the ninth round at Iowa Speedway, Simpson began to settle in with the team. Since joining the team, Simpson has been able to build a strong working relationship with the crew and will be able to carry the positive momentum into the upcoming season.

“I’m excited to continue working with a team that understands how to win,” Simpson said via a team release. “I feel I’ve progressed as a driver since joining HMD earlier this year, and I am confident we can build on that momentum to have a much stronger season. HPD and Chip Ganassi Racing have been very supportive in the off-season, culminating in a crazy win at Petit Le Mans. It felt good to get back on the top step. In 2023 we have the tools and the people around me to deliver a step forward in performance. Race wins and podiums are the goal.”

Moving up from karting at 15 years old, Simpson began his open-wheel career in 2020 where he competed for the first half of the season in the Formula 4 United States Championship powered by Honda, before moving up to the Formula Regional Americas Championship powered by Honda. The following season, Simpson returned to FR Americas.

In his second season, Simpson dominated the field, claiming seven wins and six additional podiums on his way to winning the Championship title. During the same year in 2021, Simpson also began his Road to Indy quest and competed in Indy Pro 2000 presented by Cooper Tires where he finished with three podiums and was seventh in the championship.

Just this past weekend, Kyffin Simpson was part of the race-winning GTD effort at the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Piloting an Acura NSX with a pair of co-drivers over the ten-hour event, Simpson set stint-topping lap times en-route to first in GTD, as well as overall top GT finisher.

“We welcome Kyffin to the team for his first full season with HMD Motorsports,” said team general manager, Mike Maurini. “Understanding what is needed to win for Kyffin and his management program has put the right people in the right places for success in 2023 and beyond.”

Simpson joins Danial Frost, Christian Bogle, Josh Green, Nolan Siegel and Christian Rasmussen with the team for 2023. That leaves 2 spots left.

Car Count

We know HMD has 8 cars, Andretti should return with 4 and now JHR has 2. Legacy Autosport and Cape Motorsports will join the series as both will each have a pair of drivers themselves.

That brings the car count up to 18 already.

Then you can see a return of Force Indy and Abel Motorsports may stay too. Whether that’s 1 or 2 cars for Abel remains to be seen but that’s at least 20 cars there. What about TJ Speed? They had 2 cars in 2022?