Kyffin Simpson will not be hard to spot in 2026. The Caymanian’s No 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda is going full Sunoco next season, wearing the classic yellow and blue colours for every round of the NTT IndyCar Series. The deal brings one of motorsport’s most recognisable liveries back into the championship as a full season primary partner for the first time since the early seventies, and it lands on the car of a 21 year old who is just starting to stretch his legs at the sharp end.
The fuel giant has signed a multi year agreement with Ganassi and picks a team coming off a brutal 2025 campaign where Alex Palou, Scott Dixon and Simpson combined for wins, poles, an Indy 500 victory and yet another title. This is the operation that treats championships like routine, and Sunoco wants its colours in that frame, not buried in the midfield. The No 8 entry becomes the flagship for that push, surrounded by team mates who between them have more IndyCar crowns than some grids manage in a decade.
For Simpson the timing could hardly be better. Year two in IndyCar delivered his first podium on the streets of Toronto, plus a growing stack of top fives and top tens that showed he belongs at this level. Now he heads into a third season with a stable seat at Ganassi, an iconic brand on the sidepods and the freedom to race without wondering what happens next. He knows the benchmark inside the camp is mercilessly high, but he also knows the outfit trusts him enough to hand over one of the most famous colour schemes in racing.
The car itself will lean into that history. Expect a bold, bright yellow base with deep blue sweeping over the engine cover and wings, big Sunoco script hammered down the sidepods and the kind of contrast that pops even on a gloomy Mid Ohio afternoon. It is a look that ties Simpson straight back to the great Sunoco machines of the past without trapping him in sepia tone. This is a current spec Honda with modern aero and hybrid tech coming, not a museum piece, and the livery is there to shout that from pit lane.
Behind the paint lies a straight business play. Sunoco gets huge visibility across all seventeen races, on a car that should live on the world feed rather than in the gaps between ad breaks. Ganassi gets a heavyweight partner with deep American roots and a brand story that fits the team’s talk about innovation and performance. Simpson gets the clout that comes with a full season primary sponsor and the pressure that rides alongside it. Deliver, and he carves out his own chapter in Sunoco folklore. Miss, and the colours will still look good, but they will be doing too much heavy lifting.
