With the official news on Wednesday (Oct. 30) on who would pilot Chip Ganassi Racing’s three NTT IndyCar Series cars in 2025, a name not included was reigning Rookie of the Year Linus Lundqvist.
Instead, it was Kyffin Simpson who was selected to take over the No. 8 CGR Honda in the upcoming racing season, putting the young Swedish driver out on the street.
The move was just another chapter in the ongoing adventure novel “Budget vs. Talent.”
Obviously, two of CGR’s seats were going to be filled by its prior IndyCar champions. Scott Dixon is a lifer at CGR, and has every right to be considering he’s climbed up to Mount Rushmore labeling in the open wheel series. The other champion Alex Palou just added a third title to his growing legacy and, with legal drama aside, was locked into his No. 10 ride.
After Marcus Armstrong‘s departure to Meyer Shank Racing, the battle for the third seat was down to Simpson and Lundqvist.
If a novice fan was looking at the accomplishments of both young drivers, the facts would probably lean one to choose Lundqvist based on the results. In Lundqvist’s inaugural year with CGR, he earned two podiums at very different types of tracks: at Barber Motorsports Park — a road course — and Worldwide Technology Raceway — an oval. He also added a pair of top 10s at Milwaukee Race 1 (where he led 29 laps) and Nashville and paced the field eight more times at three different other events. At Road America, he earned his first career pole. By season’s end, he finished 16th in points, two spots behind his then-teammate and second-year driver Armstrong.
Simpson had a best finish of 12th in the opening round at St. Petersburg and never led during the season. At the same race that Lundqvist took pole, he notched his best starting spot, a 12th, which was just one of three times he qualified higher than 20th.
Furthermore, looking at their prior racing experience in the top IndyCar ladder series, Indy NXT, Lundqvist won eight times as well as the 2022 championship. Simpson’s best result was a second at Mid-Ohio, with one other podium.
And yet, it’s Lundqvist that has no ride.
As is often the case in motorsports, the decision was not based purely on talent but on resources — namely, the financial backing a driver can bring to a team. Despite his success, Lundqvist lacked the funding that can often secure a seat in…
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