We are at our eighth IndyCar Wrap-Up and it is the second of two single-car teams. Meyer Shank Racing expanded to a full-time operation and after two years of testing the waters, the team was up to speed for the entire season. The team might not have picked up a victory or a top five finish, but it was the encouraging season the team was looking for.
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| Jack Harvey was one of the sleepers of the season |
Jack Harvey
In his first full season, Harvey had plenty of promising days. A few races went against him, but more times than not, Harvey left a positive impression. He was one of the best qualifiers in IndyCar in 2020. Meyer Shank Racing should be proud of what it accomplished and the team is set up well for its second full season.
What objectively was his best race?
Harvey ended up scoring a sixth-place finish in the second Harvest Grand Prix race after starting seventh.
What subjectively was his best race?
Harvey ended up scoring a sixth-place finish in the second Harvest Grand Prix race after starting seventh.
What subjectively was his best race?
I am going to say his ninth-place finish in the Indianapolis 500 from 20th on the grid. Harvey has more experience at Indianapolis Motor Speedway than any other track on the IndyCar calendar, but the results were uninspiring from his first three starts in the Indianapolis 500.
That changed this year. Harvey drove a smart race and his run went mostly unnoticed, but he ended up in the top ten and held on for his best finish in this race.
He also had a great weekend at Iowa the round before, where he finished seventh in both races and ran in the top ten for almost the entirety of that weekend. Indianapolis was the only oval he and MSR had run in IndyCar prior to this year. For a first full-time year, it did remarkably well on ovals. It started slow at Texas, but the team quickly found it legs.
What objectively was his worst race?
An accident in the first Road America race after losing his brakes left him with a 23rd-place finish from that day. Harvey had been running the top five at the time of the incident.
What subjectively was his worst race?
It is really that first four-race stretch that stands out for Harvey. Texas was the worst place the 2020 season could have started for MSR. It was a new track. Its only oval experience was Indianapolis. There was no testing, a quick two-hour practice and the team could not afford to tear up equipment on day one of the season.
The Grand Prix of Indianapolis was a complete 180º swing for the team, with Harvey qualifying second, but a caution before the team could make a pit stop snuffed out possible podium finish and he was mired in traffic on his way to a 17th place finish.
Road America started with that accident and the second race started with Harvey being spun on lap one, dropping him from ninth on the grid to 18th an all he could manage was a 17th-place finish.
Outside of that, MSR and Harvey was stout. Gateway was another difficult weekend, because Harvey probably should have had top ten finishes in both races, and at least a top five or podium result in race one. A rain shower in that first race caught Harvey out, took him out of contention at the front and dropped him to an 11th-place finish. The team could not make the pit strategy of stopping early in race two work in its favor, leaving with a 13th in race two.
Harvey had a strong weekend going at St. Petersburg and then had a handful of cars run into him, dropping him to a 19th-place finish.
Jack Harvey's 2020 Statistics
Championship Position: 15th (288 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 6
Laps Led: 1
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 2
Fast Twelves: 2
Average Start: 8.785
Average Finish: 12.285
Championship Position: 15th (288 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 6
Laps Led: 1
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 2
Fast Twelves: 2
Average Start: 8.785
Average Finish: 12.285
An Early Look Ahead
For a single-car team, Meyer Shank Racing had a stellar first full season in IndyCar and the results on paper do not tell how competitive this group was.
Harvey had a legitimate shot at podium finishes in a handful of races, including at Gateway. The qualifying pace was impressive. Two front row starts, five times starting in the top five and 11 times starting in the top ten with the exceptions being Texas, Indianapolis and Mid-Ohio where Harvey spun off, caused a red flag before even setting a lap and was forced to sit out the remainder of the session. He ended up ranked fifth in average starting position. The only drivers ahead of him were Will Power, Josef Newgarden, Colton Herta and Ryan Hunter-Reay. The champion Scott Dixon was behind him. All the Ganassi drivers were behind him. Alexander Rossi was behind him.
MSR and Harvey have always felt like the right match and they have a great thing going into 2021. Shank had set the bar pretty high in my mind before the season, expecting three podium finishes and finishing at least eighth in the championship. Though neither of those were met, the team is on the right path and I think next year Harvey and MSR can be competing for race victories.
There are still going to be tough days and Penske, Ganassi and Andretti will continue fielding multiple cars. A championship run would be monumental, but this team could absolutely be competing for a top ten championship position. If the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, first Road America race and first Gateway race had gone in the team's favor, it probably has at least two podium finishes and three top five finishes. That's easily another 72 points for the team and 72 points would put Harvey up to seventh in the championship. A top ten championship result is not a crazy thought for this team in 2021.
As for off-track business, the team announced a partnership with Liberty Media, which owns Formula One but also owns Sirius/XM, the team's sponsor. I doubt MSR is going to become some Formula One development team, but if Liberty Media's increased presence is something along the lines of Arrow's increased support of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (minus the toxic work environment where drivers are treated worse than dogs), MSR could make a massive stride forward.
The team will expand to two cars with Hélio Castroneves competing in six races (Barber, Long Beach, Indianapolis, the second IMS road course race, Portland and Laguna Seca). I think Castroneves is a short-term move, but Shank is doing this the right way. He isn't expanding just for the sake of expansion. Castroneves can provide a level of expertise that could take the team to a higher level. Castroneves will turn 46 years old next May. I don't think he is a four-year option, but he could be a two-year option. One year to set up the team, another to give it a full run of the season and come 2023 that second car could be ready to go with another talented driver.
Shank has a good eye for drivers. He picked up Harvey, he spotted Sam Hornish, Jr. all those years ago and put him in Atlantics. Justin Wilson, A.J. Allmendinger, Oswaldo Negri, Michael Valiante, Andy Lally, Katherine Legge, Mario Farnbacher, Álvaro Parente, Trent Hindman and Christina Nielsen have all driven for Shank in sports cars. Whomever Shank hires in the future, and he will hire drivers, will be up to the task.
This is a good time to buy stock in MSR. I only expect things to get better in 2021.
