2025 IndyCar Team Preview: Meyer Shank Racing

Another week has come to a close and the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season is 44 days away from commencing. 

Meyer Shank Racing saw a big turnaround in 2024. After having one top ten finish the entire 2023 season, MSR opened last year with four consecutive top ten results and five top ten finishes in the first six races. This included a pair of top five results, the team's first since 2022, and MSR even picked up its first pole position in IndyCar competition. 

While there was plenty to rightfully celebrate, MSR took its lumps along the way. A gamble on driver selection backfired and forced the team to make a midseason change. It worked out for the better as both its entries finished in Leader Circle positions, but after the team's hot start, it had only three top ten finishes in the final 11 races. 

There were positives to draw upon from 2024, but still much work to be done. MSR has bolstered its driver lineup with its new technical partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing, and its outlook for 2025 should sound familiar.

At First Glance... Results should be better

Like A.J. Foyt Racing, results should be better for Meyer Shank Racing in 2025. 

Joining Felix Rosenqvist will be Marcus Armstrong, essentially loaned from the Ganassi organization with the new charter limit of three entries per team. After the Tom Blomqvist experiment did not pay off, MSR has brought in the 2023 IndyCar Rookie of the Year and a driver who had four top five finishes last season, including his first career podium finish, a third in Detroit. 

Rosenqvist won a pole position and started in the top five in seven races. Armstrong started in the top ten in ten races, including starting third on two occasions. The raw pace is there for MSR to be better. Some of the issues were old issues last season. MSR could still not close out races. It could not take the hard work on Saturday and yield fruitful results on Sunday. That has also been a flaw of Rosenqvist's since he entered IndyCar. 

The good news is the team found speed, which was not there in 2023. Now it must get more out of it. The Ganassi partnership will help the team and potentially lead it to some of the answers it has been missing when it comes to long-run pace. If it can do that and maintain its qualifying form, MSR could win a race or two. 

These two drivers were 12th and 14th in the championship last year with Rosenqvist only eight points ahead of Armstrong. They are two drivers on the same level and both have a working relationship with the Ganassi organization. It will still be difficult to top Álex Palou and Scott Dixon and the Penske cars, but we saw last year Rosenqvist could run at the front of the field even if it could not sustain for an entire race. It feels more likely that MSR should be there at the end of races.

It might not lead to a full championship push but on one of the circuits that have favored Rosenqvist best, it could lead to him contending for a victory and pulling it out. The same goes for Armstrong. This will be his third season but he drove respectably well and kept up with Palou and Dixon on days when the entire Ganassi team clicked. There could be a day where it is his to lose and he maintains control. 

This is a midfield team in a tightly packed midfield. The smallest advantage can go a long way. Two years after MSR was in the cellar, it should make a step closer to the top in 2025 and it could have a few glorious days that seemed unimaginable not long ago.

2024 Meyer Shank Racing Review

Wins: 0

Best Finish: 4th (Barber)

Poles: 1 (Long Beach)

Championship Finishes: 12th (Felix Rosenqvist), 24th (David Malukas), 30th (Tom Blomqvist), 35th (Hélio Castroneves)

Felix Rosenqvist - #60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda

Numbers to Remember:

11: Top ten starts in 2024

10: Times in those 11 top ten starts where Rosenqvist finished worse than or equal to his starting position

5: Laps led in 2024, the fewest among the seven drivers to have an average starting position inside the top ten and start at least 70% of the races

What does a championship season look like for him?

His race pace matching his qualifying pace, and that qualifying pace not falling off. If Rosenqvist is qualifying in the top five, he is finishing in the top five. If he is qualifying in the top ten, he is finishing in the top ten but ahead of where he started. A championship season starts with Rosenqvist not going backward in races. 

It can start with a podium day in St. Petersburg after starting fifth. The worn surface of Thermal Club suits the Swede's driving style and he takes a surprising victory early before another podium run in Long Beach. Entering the Indianapolis 500, he has four top five finishes from five races. 

When it comes to ovals, Rosenqvist does a good job even if he doesn't look like a contender. He is able to finish in the top ten and pick up respectable point totals. He may only have one or two top five finishes, but he is finishing ahead of the key competitors. 

This championship will be decided on road and street results. On the streets of Detroit, he picks up another victory. He gets another pair of top five finishes at Road America and Mid-Ohio. He dominates Laguna Seca and Portland is another top five run. 

For Rosenqvist to win the championship, he will need at least three victories and 11 top five finishes, like most champions do, but he does it with an average starting position that ranks inside the top three in IndyCar.

What does a realistic season look like for him?

Championship top ten. He was close last year but the end of the season cost him dearly. Not all of those were his fault. Rosenqvist had two retirements due to mechanical issues at Iowa and Toronto. The concern is his form of starting well and dropping back in races isn't going to disappear overnight. If it is still an issue in year five, it is going to be around in year six. 

The balance could be better where it doesn't feel like a weekly thing, but it will likely come up, and if he is starting third at Mid-Ohio, there is a good chance that will be a race where he finishes seventh or eighth. It isn't the worst result in the world, but it does not feel great when top five starts are netting only top ten finishes.

IndyCar is somewhat due for an unexpected winner, though no one should be surprised if Rosenqvist has everything go in his favor at Long Beach or Toronto or Laguna Seca. The pace would likely justify the final result, but I don't think we will see eight or nine races where Rosenqvist is in contention. 

One victory with two or three podium results, but only four top five finishes and eight or nine top ten finishes feels like the best outcome for this group, and it would likely get him seventh to tenth in the championship. Even without a victory, Rosenqvist should be knocking on the door of the championship top ten.

Marcus Armstrong - #66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda

Numbers to Remember:

12: Top ten starts in his career

8: Times in those 12 top ten starts where Armstrong finished worse than or equal to his starting position

11.828: Average starting position for a Meyer Shank Racing entry in 2024, the third-best in IndyCar behind only Team Penske (6.803) and Andretti Global (10.865)

What does a championship season look like for him?

Stunning his previous/current employer. It is sending a message early that Chip Ganassi Racing should have found a way to keep him in a CGR car, even if they kind of are keeping him in a CGR car. 

Armstrong wins right out of the gate at St. Petersburg and he has a pair of podium finishes in the first four races before winning the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and becoming the first multi-time winner of the 2025 season. He completes more than six laps in the Indianapolis 500 but settles for a good eighth-place finish in his first real run at the 500 miles.

Another pair of good days at Detroit and Gateway follows, but he strikes back with a victory at Road America and a podium at Mid-Ohio, and this puts him into the championship lead. Armstrong is due for a bad day at Iowa, but he rebounds with three consecutive top five finishes over Toronto, Laguna Seca and Portland, and one of those is a victory.

With two ovals to close the season, Armstrong raises his game, finishing in he top five at Milwaukee and ahead of all his championship rivals and then he clinches the title with another top five run at Nashville.

What does a realistic season look like for him?

Armstrong and Rosenqvist should be close to indistinguishable when it comes to race results. When comparing the finishes once the 2025 season is over, we should have trouble picking out which MSR driver is which. 

Both these guys should be on the cusp of the championship top ten, and there is a good chance one will be just inside and the other will just be outside, but ending up just outside should not feel like a failure. 

If there is one thing for Armstrong to work on it is his eagerness. He may have started third in two races last year, but on both occasions he was involved in opening lap incidents and he played a significant role in how those events turned out. When at the front, he must remain settled and get into a race before taking chances. If he can do that, results will improve. 

Armstrong can win a race. Like Rosenqvist, if the qualifying speed is there, Armstrong could have a weekend where he qualifies on the front row and the tire strategy is in his favor. He has good wear and doesn't have to make a risky decision. It puts him ahead of everyone and he closes out the race. That isn't a guarantee but he is setup for success should such a situation arise. 

While he had four top five finishes last year, Armstrong only had eight total top ten finishes. He was outside the top twenty in six races. That last number should decrease. 

What is best outcome for Rosenqvist is also the best possible outcome for Armstrong. If he finishes seventh or eighth in the championship, it has been a tremendous year, but a season where he may dip and only have three top five finishes but increases his top ten finish total to nine or ten and leads to 11th or 12th in the championship would not be a failure either. That would be a solid season for the New Zealander.

The 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season opens on Sunday March 2 with the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Fox's coverage of the season opener will begin at noon Eastern Time.

IndyCar Wrap-Up: Meyer Shank Racing's 2024 Season

We hit the halfway of the IndyCar Wrap-Ups, and out of the cellar is Meyer Shank Racing. After a year to forget in 2023, which saw MSR lose its top driver due to injury, the team came into 2024 with a new lineup. There were concerns if this new duo could produce better results than the tried-and-true experience of Simon Pagenaud and Hélio Castroneves. The good news is the speed was there, and MSR was at the top immediately. However, an experiment was aborted early, but the early choice to make a change might have proved to be poignant and earned the team at least $1 million when this season was said and done. 

Felix Rosenqvist

After three good but not great years at Arrow McLaren, Rosenqvist moved to the third organization in his IndyCar career. It was a new situation for everyone. Rosenqvist became a team leader after taking secondary roles at his first two stops. Meyer Shank Racing had hired a driver with a somewhat unproven track record. The pace had been there and he had gotten good results, but not with great consistency. For where things were for each driver and team coming into this season, 2024 was a promising sign for the future.

What objectively was his best race?
Rosenqvist's best finish this season was fourth at Barber Motorsports Park after sticking to a two-stop strategy. Rosenqvist was able to pass Álex Palou late in the race to take fourth after spending the entire race in the top ten and competing for a top five for most of that time.

What subjectively was his best race?

It is tough to say St. Petersburg is anyone's best race because the results are a tad misleading. The record book will say Rosenqvist was fifth, but he really finished seventh on the road. Regardless of the finish, this was a great statement to start the season for him and the MSR organization. He qualified second and he was hanging with pole-sitter Josef Newgarden over the opening stint. Rosenqvist struggled on the primary tire and that cost him, especially on restarts. He still got a top ten result, which turned into a top five after the fact, and it was a positive start.

What objectively was his worst race?

Twice did Rosenqvist finish 27th this season. He was 27th in the Indianapolis 500 after losing his engine while running in the top ten. He suffered a tire puncture while running in the top ten at Nashville.

What subjectively was his worst race?

Overall, we could say the let down of Rosenqvist's season was finishing so far behind where he started. Too often would he start sixth or seventh and finish outside the top ten or he would start in the top five and then finish eighth. His 23rd at Toronto was not entirely due to a driver fault. The hybrid let him down, but Rosenqvist was running in contention for a top five result. He had a bad pit stop cost him time and he went off in turn three before the hybrid issue ended his race.

Felix Rosenqvist's 2024 Statistics

Championship Position: 12th (306 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 2
Top Tens: 6
Laps Led: 5
Poles: 1
Fast Sixes: 5
Fast Twelves: 7
Average Start: 9.411
Average Finish: 13.882

David Malukas

Nobody had a more chaotic season than David Malukas. Set to drive for Arrow McLaren, coincidentally to replace Felix Rosenqvist at the organization, Malukas suffered a wrist injury in a mountain biking accident less than a month before the start of the season. The injury was so severe that it kept him out for an extended period of time. After the Barber Motorsports Park round, McLaren released Malukas from his contract. It wasn't until there was an opening at MSR did Malukas get his shot to race in 2024, returning for the final ten races of the season. 

What objectively was his best race?
While Toronto was one of Rosenqvist's worst races, Malukas had his best race in Canada, starting and finishing sixth, but Malukas did catch a break avoiding all the chaos in this race and he made up spots us other drivers fell out. For a portion of this race, it wasn't certain he would finish in the top ten.

What subjectively was his best race?

Malukas probably should have been on the podium at Gateway Motorsports Park. After starting on the front row, Malukas was holding his own batting at the front with Josef Newgarden, Will Power and Scott McLaughlin. Malukas was the best Honda for majority of this race before he was squeezed in turn two by Power, taking Malukas out of the race and placing him 21st.

What objectively was his worst race?
On the opening lap in the first Iowa race, Malukas spun exiting turn two and he was out of the race before completing a lap.

What subjectively was his worst race?

It is Gateway because this felt like Malukas' best chance at victory. He was in the picture for the entire race and he was probably going to finish on the podium if it wasn't for the contact. Malukas did nothing wrong, and it was surprising Power did not receive a penalty for what looked to be avoidable contact. 

David Malukas' 2024 Statistics

Championship Position: 24th (148 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 2
Laps Led: 19
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 2
Fast Twelves: 3
Average Start: 8.7
Average Finish: 16

Tom Blomqvist

The Tom Blomqvist experiment had already been put into motion in 2023. Blomqvist ran three races as a substitute for the injured Simon Pagenaud. Those were some rough days, but Blomqvist was returning to open-wheel competition after having been away from it for practically a decade. Expectations were low, and Blomqvist looked more comfortable than his IndyCar sampling the year before, but the results were not good enough and pressure forced MSR to make a difficult decision.

What objectively was his best race?

Blomqvist's best result was 15th in the season opener at St. Petersburg. It was better than any of his first three results in IndyCar from the previous season. It was an improvement of two spots from his starting position.

What subjectively was his best race?

It was St. Petersburg, though Blomqvist had a good showing at Barber Motorsports Park. He made a surprise appearance in the second round of qualifying at Barber, and he did well though he slid back to 19th. Blomqvist did complete all the laps.

What objectively was his worst race?
It was 31st in the Indianapolis 500 after Blomqvist spun in turn one after getting a little too low on the opening corner of the race.

What subjectively was his worst race?

It is Indianapolis because Blomqvist's season ended right then and there. His best finish through five races was 15th, his average finish was 22nd, he had only scored 46 points, and he was 24th in points as was the #66 Honda 24th in the entrants' championship. Meyer Shank Racing could not afford to have this entry not be in the Leader Circle for a second consecutive season, and a change had to be made. 

Tom Blomqvist's 2024 Statistics

Championship Position: 30th (46 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 0
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 1
Average Start: 19
Average Finish: 22

An Early Look Ahead

We know the 2025 lineup. Rosenqvist is staying and Marcus Armstrong is being farmed out to the #66 Honda from Chip Ganassi Racing as Meyer Shank Racing will form a technical alliance with Ganassi after having run in partnership with Andretti Global since its IndyCar debut in the 2017 Indianapolis 500.

MSR should be feeling significantly better than it did at this point last year. Last year, MSR was coming off a year where nothing went right and it didn't appear the team could do anything right. This year, MSR look competitive and had good days, but there is still another step this team must take. 

The qualifying pace is there, but the race pace was notably absent. That hurt the team on a consistent basis. The team must work on having better cars over entire races and also employing correct strategies to yield the best result. Too often did we see the MSR cars go backward after everyone was enthused to see them at the front at the end of qualifying on Saturday. 

Before this season, I questioned if Rosenqvist could be a leader. He did a great job qualifying and putting MSR at the front, but the race results must follow in 2025. Not all his bad days were entirely driver error. MSR is a team that has struggled to maximize strategy to get a result and Rosenqvist is a driver that has struggled to maximize turning single-lap pace into a result. It is a rough combination when neither side's strength can make up for the other's weakness. 

Considering how 2023 went, 12th in the championship is a great result for Rosenqvist and MSR. This team was not going to leap into the top five in the championship, but this was the step it had to see. Top ten in the championship looks reasonable, especially if it can have its race finishes more close match its qualifying efforts.

Marcus Armstrong will lift this team and Armstrong will push Rosenqvist. These are two drivers that should be able to work off one another. Armstrong had some teething moments in his sophomore season, but he had flashes and if he can have a car that is regularly starting in the top ten and occasionally making the Fast Six, Armstrong could be lined up to improve from his second season. 

The Ganassi relationship should help. Rosenqvist has history with the team and it seems he is still well regarded at that organization. This could feel like a five-car team even if these are two separate entities. Top ten in the championship is possible, but MSR could reach new heights. This could be the sleeper team that wins a race or two in 2025. All the pieces are there on paper. It is a matter of what they do in reality starting March 2. 

2024 IndyCar Team Preview: Meyer Shank Racing

Fifty-three days separate us from the IndyCar season opener from St. Petersburg. Some teams want to start the season to pick up where they left off. Other teams will want to start the season to change perceptions. Meyer Shank Racing falls in the latter group. MSR has been on a slump for over a year and a half. After hitting it big in May 2021, it has been all downhill since. A championship winning team in sports cars, MSR can't buy a top ten finish in IndyCar. With the sports car program on hiatus in 2024, all attention will be on IndyCar, and there is a need to succeed.

At First Glance... Meyer Shank Racing is in need of a leader, and it doesn't have one

Meyer Shank Racing is coming off a season where it had an average starting position of 18.617 and an average finish of 18.647. When the 2024 season begins, it will have been 343 days since its most recent top ten finish, the longest drought in IndyCar; 666 days since its most recent top five finish, the longest drought in IndyCar; and 1,015 days since its first and so far only victory, not the longest drought in IndyCar but long enough to feel like eternity. 

After such results, it is understandable that a team would make a change, looking for new life and hope in new drivers. What a team needs is a leader, and it doesn't feel like MSR even has that. 

That isn't meant as any disrespect to Felix Rosenqvist, a veteran of five IndyCar seasons, a past rookie of the year with a race victory to his name, but in his first 79 IndyCar starts he has only one victory, which came 58 starts ago. He stood on the podium twice last year, but he has only six trips to the rostrum in his career. He has 15 top five finishes and his top ten finish percentage is at 44.3% despite having driven for Chip Ganassi Racing and McLaren. 

Rosenqvist has always been a number two driver in IndyCar, understandably so when he first joined Ganassi with Scott Dixon leading the way and the same is true when he moved to McLaren, which had found its number one driver with Patricio O'Ward. At Meyer Shank Racing, all eyes will turn to Rosenqvist for first word about setup and feel and directions on where they should go. In IndyCar, it is a position he has yet to be in.

It is a position where MSR must be sure it is being led in the right direction. The team must turnaround results and return to a more consistent state of competitiveness. It cannot afford to toil around at the back of the grid anymore. A veteran driver with pedigree is what MSR needed after the last season and a half. Rosenqvist has experience, but he has yet to establish if he is someone who can score surefire results. He will have to be it in 2024.

Whom MSR could have used was Simon Pagenaud. Pagenaud fit the description in 2022 when MSR expanded to two cars. Pagenaud was struggling prior to his Mid-Ohio accident last year, which has left the Frenchman out of competition indefinitely. What cannot be ignored is the start of Pagenaud's run at MSR. In his first ten starts he had a podium, six top ten finishes, his average finish was 10.1, he was tenth in the championship and had been as high as eighth. 

It is unclear what happened in July 2022, but MSR fell off the planet returning from Toronto that year. 

This could be the breakout chance Rosenqvist was waiting for and likely needed. Pushed into the number one role, it could be a chance for the Swede to take charge after always being at least second in line in his first two stops. MSR can be his team and the attention could allow him to flourish. He is really MSR's only choice. 

As much love as Tom Blomqvist has been given and for all his success in the sports car world, some of which came driving for MSR, this is a mighty jump up for him in a program that is uncertain about its competitiveness. Blomqvist's cameo appearances in 2023 did not go well, not all of that was Blomqvist's fault, but he is a driver pushing a decade since he last drove an internal combustion powered single-seater. Not everyone is Robert Wickens and can pick it up like riding a bicycle, nor is everyone Scott McLaughlin and take to IndyCar like a duck to water after a lifetime in tintops. Jimmie Johnson won seven NASCAR Cup championships and yet Johnson struggled to just remain on the lead lap in IndyCar. 

For Blomqvist, he will be treading water. For Rosenqvist, he must carry the weight and prove himself in a new role.

2023 Meyer Shank Racing Review

Wins: 0

Best Finish: 10th (Texas)

Poles: 0

Best Start: 8th (Detroit, Iowa II)

Championship Finishes: 18th (Hélio Castroneves), 28th (Simon Pagenaud), 31st (Linus Lundqvist), 34th (Tom Blomqvist)

Felix Rosenqvist - #60 AutoNation/Sirius XM Honda

Numbers to Remember:

21: Times Rosenqvist has been the top finisher within an intra-team battle over his first 79 starts

8.7647: Average starting position in 2023, fifth best in IndyCar

14.471: Average finishing position in 2023, 13th best in IndyCar

What does a championship season look like for him?

It starts with Rosenqvist showing off the street course form he was long celebrated for prior to his arrival in IndyCar. It starts with a head-turning St. Petersburg victory followed by another impressive Long Beach victory. Two races, two victories, over 100 points just like that. 

Off the back of that start, Rosenqvist drives smart, bringing the car home in the top ten, getting a top five result occasionally when the car isn't quite at that level. He doesn't have an accident in the Indianapolis 500, but he does get a top ten finish. Though he is in the top ten, it doesn't feel like he is a threat, until he wins at Detroit and has three victories in seven races. 

It is all about running respectably everywhere else and taking top ten finishes when he can get them. What happens at Toronto? He wins. He will lose points elsewhere, but not in devastating totals. He is able to hold serve with good results. How is the championship season capped off? With a victory in Nashville, naturally.

What does a realistic season look like for him?

Rosenqvist could bring MSR back into the top fifteen in the championship. Top ten is a stretch. Rosenqvist's longest streak of consecutive top ten finishes is four. He is not a driver that has ever gone on long runs of good results. At best, we are looking at three races on, one race off. At that rate, Rosenqvist could do something special and perform well above expectations. No one envisions him getting 12 top ten finishes this season. 

It is more likely Rosenqvist ends up with six to eight top ten finish, at best. This team had one top ten finish all 2023. Expecting a six-fold improvement is asking for a lot. The bad days should remain and considering Rosenqvist's oval track record, we will not see the Swede contending at Iowa, Gateway and Milwaukee. Any finish in the top half of the field would be a good day. 

There will be stretches where MSR is not mentioned. It will have its rough patches, but Rosenqvist could have a few breakthrough days.

Tom Blomqvist - #66 AutoNation/Arctic Wolf Honda

Numbers to Remember:

3: Average finish in 19 starts in DPi/GTP competition in IMSA

15.2: Average finish in 23 Formula E starts

83: Formula Three races Blomqvist and Rosenqvist competed in against one another between 2012 and 2014

What does a championship season look like for him?

In a late reversal of its decision to delay the introduction of the hybrid system to IndyCar, the series decides the hybrid system is pertinent for the 2024 season, so it decides to adopt the tried and trusted LMDh cars and IndyCar becomes a series of 15 Acura ARX-06s and 12 Cadillac V-Series.Rs. 

This late change plays directly in Blomqvist's favor and with a year's worth of experience in the Acura, he thrashes the championship. Everyone is playing catchup. Blomqvist ends up winning ten of 17 races and takes one of the most lopsided championships in IndyCar history.

What does a realistic season look like for him?

Many races where Blomqvist is struggling to crack the top twenty. He should be more comfortable after an offseason adjusting to the car and have a few competitive sessions, but MSR's shortcomings will be rather difficult to overcome. There will be races where he cannot quite find the pace and be trudging along at the back. 

Top ten results feel out of reach. It will require many things going into Blomqvist's favor. Pure pace alone will not be enough. If there are a few races where he is around the top fifteen on speed, it gets him in the ballpark to crack the top ten through strategy or attrition. That will be his best hope this season. 

The ovals will be eye-opening. The good news is Indianapolis is the only big oval. He will not have to experience Texas where he is fighting to catch his breath and losing chunks of time. It will still be exhausting at Iowa, and the tire wear will make that the longest weekend of his season. He can mostly stay out of the way at Gateway and Milwaukee while running in the final third of the field. 

A few top fifteen finishes would be a good season, somewhere around three to five would be a good start. It will be a battle for Blomqvist to finish third out of the four rookie drivers, keeping in mind Ed Carpenter Racing's Christian Rasmussen is contesting only 12 of 17 races.

The first round of the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season will be the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 10. Coverage will begin at noon on NBC and Peacock.

IndyCar Wrap-Up: Meyer Shank Racing's 2023 Season

We have completed another IndyCar season, and 37 drivers started a race this season. In our traditional format, each IndyCar team will be reviewed, looking at the best and the worst from each driver. Unlike past seasons, we start with a different team. New to the cellar, Meyer Shank Racing entered 2023 with concerns, and the year ended with plenty of disappointment. Two of IndyCar's most successful drivers in the 21st century were not enough to produce respectable results for MSR. An accident forced a change midseason, and now the team is set for a significant shakeup.

Hélio Castroneves

Castroneves returned to full-time IndyCar competition last season, and it was a rude-awakening compared to when the Brazilian was last full-time driving for Team Penske. Things did not get better in year two with MSR. In what was his 26th season of competition and 22nd as a full-time driver, Castroneves had the worst results of his career. His second IndyCar exit does not have the same joy as the first one six years ago.

What objectively was his best race?
It was a tenth-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway. Castroneves benefitted from a late wavearound to gain a few more positions and Romain Grosjean's accident on the penultimate lap did give Castroneves an extra spot.

What subjectively was his best race?

This was not a great season for Meyer Shank Racing, and Castroneves did not have many standout days. Texas was good and the only other race where he was a notably gaining ground was Nashville, moving from 17th to 11th.

What objectively was his worst race?
Castroneves was caught in the opening lap accident at St. Petersburg and did not complete a lap. He barely completed three corners, finishing 23rd. He was also 23rd in an unremarkable day at Gateway.

What subjectively was his worst race?

It was tough to watch Castroneves be regularly uncompetitive this season. Each race it felt like you could chalk Castroneves to be somewhere between 16th and 22nd on the starting grid and not finishing much better than that. The Indianapolis 500 was probably the one hope that Castroneves could be toward the front, but he was stuck in the middle of the field all race and was 15th.

Hélio Castroneves' 2023 Statistics

Championship Position: 18th (217 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 1
Laps Led: 1
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 1
Average Start: 18.706
Average Finish: 17.294

Simon Pagenaud

One of the cleanest drivers in IndyCar, Pagenaud's ability to bring a car home was not enough to produce results. It was not for a lack of trying, but the Frenchman was out of reach from a top ten spot he once regularly occupied. Just as things were getting better, Pagenaud's season, and possibly even his entire career, was thrown for a loop.

What objectively was his best race?
At Detroit, Pagenaud qualified eighth, his best starting position of the season, but then he lost some ground during the pit cycles and then finished 13th.

What subjectively was his best race?

It was Detroit. It was the only strong race of the season.

What objectively was his worst race?
Pagenaud's worst finish was St. Petersburg, where he was 26th after being caught in the opening lap accident, and that was foreshadowing for his season, because it got worse from here. Ultimately, the worst race of the season is the one he did not get to participate in, Mid-Ohio.

What subjectively was his worst race?

His accident during Mid-Ohio practice took him out of a race and took Pagenaud out for the reminder of the season. He walked away but the physical toll of rolling six times in the air took him out for multiple months. Missing Mid-Ohio made sense but when it became Toronto and Iowa and then Nashville, it stunned most of us considering Pagenaud never showed any distress or anguish from the accident. Pagenaud did not return to competition this season after the Mid-Ohio accident. His IndyCar career remains a massive question mark.

Simon Pagenaud's 2023 Statistics

Championship Position: 28th (88 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 0
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 1
Average Start: 18.25
Average Finish: 19.75

Conor Daly

With Pagenaud out of the car, MSR called upon Conor Daly, who had been released from Ed Carpenter Racing after Detroit in June, to fill-in for the Mid-Ohio round. As Pagenaud remained sidelined, Daly was called upon once more for Iowa.

What objectively was his best race?
In Daly's third start for MSR, he was 17th in the second Iowa race, only finishing two laps down and only one position behind his teammate Castroneves.

What subjectively was his best race?

It was Mid-Ohio. To jump into the car on Sunday just for the morning warm-up and the race and finish 20th, one position ahead of Castroneves, was a good outing and a good rebound after being booted from Ed Carpenter Racing less than a month prior.

What objectively was his worst race?
In the first Iowa race, Daly was 21st, five laps down.

What subjectively was his worst race?

In reality, none of these three races were all that spectacular, but it was an accurate showing of MSR's capabilities in 2023.

Conor Daly's 2023 Statistics with Meyer Shank Racing

Championship Position: 25th (32 of his 134 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 0
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 0
Average Start: 21.333
Average Finish: 19.333

Linus Lundqvist

As the #60 Honda needed a driver, MSR rotated through a selection of drivers in place of Pagenaud. The 2022 Indy Lights champion Lundqvist was unable to secure a full-time ride at the start of the season. Without receiving offers from anyone else, Lundqvist ran a few races as a substitute at MSR, and the Swede produced some of MSR's best results.

What objectively was his best race?
In his second career start, Lundqvist started and finished 12th in the August IMS road course race.

What subjectively was his best race?

Though the better finish came at Indianapolis, Nashville was a stout debut drive for Lundqvist. He made the second round of qualifying on debut. He was solidly in the top half of the field before he brushed the barrier on exit of the final corner. He also picked up fastest lap on debut.

The IMS road course race deserves a mention because Lundqvist was on the edge of the top ten for a portion of the race, but then settle back in 12th. He didn't really run lower than 12th for the entire race. 

Since he only made three starts, Gateway should not be ignored. Lundqvist was faster than Castroneves the entire weekend, the first oval weekend for Lundqvist in IndyCar. The Swede faded late in the race but was running in the middle of the field for most of it. He was 18th, but picked up his second fastest lap in three appearances.

What objectively was his worst race?
That accident at Nashville meant Lundqvist was 25th with 69 laps completed. 

What subjectively was his worst race?

Lundqvist was hard on himself after the Nashville accident, which is understandable. He was slightly off line and the marbles tripped him up, but he showed over the first 69 laps of the race that he fits in IndyCar and the moment was not too big for him. Chip Ganassi apparently agreed in that assessment.

Linus Lundqvist's 2023 Statistics

Championship Position: 31st (35 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 0
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 1
Average Start: 11.667
Average Finish: 18.333

Tom Blomqvist

MSR did not have to look far to find a fill-in for the #60 Honda. It didn't even have to look further than its own building. Called up at Toronto, MSR took its sports car driver Blomqvist and gave him his IndyCar debut after having tested the Briton earlier in the year. This turned out to be more than just a substitution. It was the start of an entire change of scenery.

What objectively was his best race?
At Portland, Blomqvist completed 109 of 110 laps and finished 24th.

What subjectively was his best race?

Portland is not much to write home about, but Blomqvist did make it to the end of the race in his second career start, which is much further than he got on debut, but that wasn't on him.

What objectively was his worst race?
Blomqvist was 26th at Laguna Seca after contact with Santino Ferrucci on a restart ended his race. The Briton's day was not going great up to that point, but his race ended after completing only 61 laps.

What subjectively was his worst race?

That would be his debut in Toronto, where Blomqvist was collected in the opening lap accident exiting turn one and he failed to complete a lap, placing him in 25th. This was not Blomqvist's fault. He was caught on the outside and got bumped into the barrier. There was nothing he could do and it was a harsh welcoming to IndyCar.

Tom Blomqvist's 2023 Statistics

Championship Position: 34th (16 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 0
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 0
Average Start: 22.667
Average Finish: 25

An Early Look Ahead

Meyer Shank Racing will flip the lineup for the 2024 season. Tom Blomqvist will move over from the sports car program to run IndyCar full-time. Joining him will be Felix Rosenqvist, who is leaving Arrow McLaren, and will be joining his third team in six seasons. 

The issues are greater than the drivers. Castroneves was in his mid-40s and spent a handful of seasons out of full-time IndyCar racing prior to his stint with MSR. The results were not going to be great for this second act of his career. However, Pagenaud joined the team only three years removed from winning the Indianapolis 500 and he had finished in the top ten of the championship in six consecutive seasons and in nine of the previous ten seasons. 

Something happened in July 2022 that sent MSR in a downward spiral it has not gotten itself out of. After Toronto 2022, Pagenaud was ranked tenth in the championship and he had six top ten finishes in the first ten races of that season. Since the 2022 Toronto weekend, Pagenaud had one top ten finishes. In that same timespan, Castroneves had one top ten finishes. Out of 48 entries, MSR had two top ten finishes. The bottom fell out on MSR in July 2022 and the team has not figured out how to correct the issue. 

The team will now bring together a quick but inconsistent IndyCar veteran and a successful sports car driver whose only single-seater experience in the previous nine years is Formula E. 

Rosenqvist left us impressed as a rookie in 2019, but he has yet to run at the level again outside a few races over the last four seasons. Blomqvist showed he has a lot of work to do in his three appearances this season. Nothing shouts that this is going to work in 2024. Of all the moves MSR could have done, this feels like one of the more riskier ones. 

Pagenaud's health forced the team's hand, but the steadiness of a veteran is not there. Rosenqvist is unproven to be a driver to build around. He is primed for a second seat, not a lead seat at this time, especially with a teammate that is behind a learning curve. 

The hope is MSR improves because IndyCar needs MSR around. Mike Shank is a young car owner with an interest in IndyCar. It wasn't long ago IndyCar was drawing 21 cars to a race and it had gone over five years since a new team appeared on the grid. MSR slowly got into the IndyCar waters and won an Indianapolis 500 with a one-off entry in its second season as a full-time competitor. 

MSR can be a competitive team but it has lost its way. In the right hands, MSR could re-establish itself as a regular top ten finisher while occasionally showing the pace to push for the podium. That rise feels unlikely to come in 2024.

2023 IndyCar Team Preview: Meyer Shank Racing

Down to 45 days until the 2023 NTT IndyCar season opener and we come to a team whose driver lineup is approaching an average age of 45 years old. Meyer Shank Racing is still relatively new to IndyCar, but it has been around long enough and shown enough signs to expect big things from the organization. After slowly growing into IndyCar, 2023 will mark its second season as a multi-car team full-time. Year one with two cars left much room for growth, and in an ever increasingly competitive IndyCar, success is pivotal for this group. 

At First Glance... Meyer Shank Racing is one year away

In what was a season of expansion and excitement in taking the next step, MSR's 2022 season was rather a dud. One top five finish. One driver in the top fifteen in the championship. MSR rarely established itself at the front, and MSR could not become something greater despite having two of the most consistent drivers on the IndyCar grid. 

For 2023, there have been no changes in the driver lineup, and expectations should be set accordingly. Simon Pagenaud is still a good driver. Hélio Castroneves is in the final days of his career. Until another driver is paired with Pagenaud, MSR is going to be stuck in the middle of the field, and any hope of significant improvement will have to wait until 2024. 

The pieces are there for MSR to be a contender, but Castroneves' Indianapolis 500 victory two years ago was an aberration. He can still pull off a result like that at Indianapolis and hold his own on ovals, but after  four years away from full-time competition, IndyCar left Castroneves behind. Tied to the name and the history, MSR elevated Castroneves to a full-time driver, but that wasn't the right choice for constructing a dangerous two-car team. 

Pagenaud had a good start to 2022, ranked in the top ten of the championship through the second Iowa race, but he began to fade late in the season, and so did the entire team. MSR is set for a hungry young driver to prove himself. In a time when Dale Coyne Racing brought Álex Palou over from Super Formula, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing snagged Christian Lundgaard from Formula Two, and Juncos Hollinger Racing plucked Callum Ilott from across the pond, MSR should already have its young talent in the stable. The team is easily two years behind its contemporaries. 

MSR has the potential to replicate its sports car success. Pagenaud hasn't lost it. He is sneaky old though, as the Frenchman turns 39 years old this May, but he still has a few good seasons left in the bank. To maximize those years, he should have a teammate at least close to equal ability. One splash and MSR could be winning races. That doesn't feel likely in 2023. At St. Petersburg, this will be the oldest team on the grid. Change will be coming soon and it is paramount to get it right. 

This is going to be a lost season, and all eyes should be on 2024.

2022 Meyer Shank Racing Review

Wins: 0

Best Finish: 2nd (Grand Prix of Indianapolis)

Poles: 0

Best Start: 3rd (Belle Isle)

Championship Finishes: 15th (Simon Pagenaud), 18th (Hélio Castroneves)

Simon Pagenaud - #60 SiriusXM/AutoNation Honda

Numbers to Remember:

0: Laps led in 2022

4: Finishes outside the top 20 in the final seven races in 2022

8: Finishes outside the top 20 in Pagenaud's 192 starts prior to that stretch

What does a championship season look like for him?

Pagenaud starting out the year as one of the best qualifiers, making the Fast Six or at least challenging for it. He will go forward from those starting positions and find himself in the top five and finishing on the podium. The pit crew will be accountable and not cost him any positions. An early victory would go a long way, but more importantly he would need a strong Indianapolis 500, scoring qualifying point while at least finishing in the top ten, preferably in or close to the top five. 

As the second half of the season approaches, he would likely need another victory but continue regularly finishing in the top five. Iowa would have to be a flawless weekend. To close the season, a third victory in the final races would cement his grasp on the title and he would close with a few top five finishes. 

What does a realistic season look like for him?

Top ten isn't out of the question, but it will be difficult. MSR has to only repeat what went well in 2022 and not have a handful of races where it is outside the top twenty and looks incapable of achieving more than that. I think a few of those dreadful days could linger, but not be as numerous as we saw at the end of last season. 

Pagenaud has the ability to finish on the podium. It comes down to the car he is provided. I think it is a stretch, but the team can find the pace to pull off multiple top five finishes. There are going to be good days where Pagenaud is in the top ten and feels inspired, but there will still be those weekends he is qualifying 15th and only getting to 11th or 12th. A year with a handful of top five finishes and eight to ten top ten finishes feels adequate. 

Hélio Castroneves - #06 SiriusXM/AutoNation Honda

Numbers to Remember:

17.176: Average finish in 2022, worst in a full season since his rookie season in 1998

8: Consecutive finishes outside the top ten

0: Top five finishes, the first time Castroneves did not have a top five finish in a full season

What does a championship season look like for him?

Castroneves finding the fountain of youth and winning his fifth Indianapolis 500. The Brazilian would have to rediscover his qualifying form that has seen him amass 50 pole positions already and start piling up pole positions from the first race of the season. From those pole positions, he would need to be living in the top five, almost mirroring Will Power's start to the 2022 season. 

An Indianapolis 500 victory would be the springboard to his season, and with his fast start, it could provide distance from the pack, allowing for an off day or two without those being detrimental to his campaign. Another victory would be critical, and it would come just when it appeared he was faltering. The second half would still see a consistent run of form, no bad days, not giving an inch to the competition. He would head into the finale needing only a top 12 finish to clinch the title and come home in eighth at Laguna Seca to take a long-awaited title.

What does a realistic season look like for him?

None of that. The fifth Indianapolis 500 is the most likely of those outcomes. Castroneves has something special at 16th & Georgetown, and as we have seen experience goes a long way at the 2.5-mile oval. He may be on the verge of 48 but the skill on that circuit has yet to fade.

It is everywhere else that is the problem and 2023 will probably look a lot like 2022. Mostly finishes outside the top ten, long days on the road and street courses and frequently being second in the MSR camp. There will be a few bright spots. He will turn in the occasional gem of a day taking a 19th starting position and turning it into a ninth or tenth through excellent strategy and smart decisions on track, but those days will be few and we will have to treasure them when they come. It could be worse than last year, as tough as that is to imagine. He should cling to the top twenty in the championship, but it could be closer than any of us would ever have imagined for Castroneves. 

The 2023 NTT IndyCar Series begins on Sunday March 5 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. NBC and Peacock will have coverage of the race.

IndyCar Wrap-Up: Meyer Shank Racing's 2022 Season

The fourth IndyCar Wrap-Up looks at the expanding Meyer Shank Racing organization. This was the first season for MSR as a full-time two-car program, and it saw a new driver added to the lineup, a past champion at that. After winning the Indianapolis 500 in 2021, MSR had high expectations for the following season. There were a few good days, but they were more infrequent than the team would have hoped for and the team saw a slight dip from past seasons.

Simon Pagenaud

After seven seasons with Team Penske, Pagenaud joined Meyer Shank Racing looking for his seventh consecutive top ten championship finish. The Frenchman went winless in 2021 and was looking to avoid a second consecutive winless season. Meyer Shank Racing had one victory to its name, but it was looking for its first road/street course triumph after a few close calls in the last few seasons. Pagenaud had good days with MSR, but the second half saw a downturn in form as the team struggled for speed and reliability in the final races.

What objectively was his best race?
One of probably only two cars not to have any contact or off-track excursions during the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Pagenaud wound up second to Colton Herta. Pagenaud kept Herta honest, but the Frenchman was not going to repeat his 2019 Grand Prix of Indianapolis performance in the wet when he chased and overtook Scott Dixon for the lead with two laps to go. Second was always going to be Pagenaud's prize for that Saturday afternoon. 

What subjectively was his best race?

The Grand Prix of Indianapolis is likely number one on this list, but in the Indianapolis 500, Pagenaud spent much of the race in the top ten and ended up finishing eighth. He never looked like a threat for victory, but he was one of the most consistent drivers throughout the entire Indianapolis 500 festivities as he was around tenth in almost every practice session as well. 

What objectively was his worst race?

While arguably his best two races came at Indianapolis, so did one of his worst races of the season. He looked set for a top ten finish in the July IMS road course race, but Pagenaud run out of fuel during the second stint of his race and ended up 25th.

What subjectively was his worst race?

It is hard to beat the Brickyard weekend, but Pagenaud was 23rd in both Iowa races and both Meyer Shank Racing cars were dreadful during the doubleheader. He also had two wasted runs late in the season. He was moving forward at Portland before gearbox issues halted his progressive and had him finish ten laps down. At Laguna Seca, he qualified tenth, but wound up a lap down in 17th at the checkered flag. 

Simon Pagenaud's 2022 Statistics
Championship Position: 15th (314 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1
Top Fives: 1
Top Tens: 7
Laps Led: 0
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 2
Fast Twelves: 7
Average Start: 13.647
Average Finish: 14.176

Hélio Castroneves

Returning to full-time IndyCar competition for the first time since 2017, Castroneves looked to use his fourth Indianapolis 500 victory the year before as a springboard for his 2022 season. The Brazilian had finished in the top five in the championship in nine of his final ten full IndyCar seasons, but five years removed from his last full championship push, it was expected he would not be at that same level. For some, Castroneves was further off than anticipated.  

What objectively was his best race?
It was at the race that made Castroneves famous, the Indianapolis 500, but it wasn't a victory, rather a seventh-place finish from 27th on the grid. Castroneves spent the entire race climbing up the running order and in the final run he got ahead of his teammate Pagenaud. Not a race victory, but a victory in terms of bragging rights. 

What subjectively was his best race?

It is really Indianapolis. Not much else comes close. A ninth at Long Beach and an eighth at Mid-Ohio don't quite cut it.

What objectively was his worst race?

Electrical issues took Castroneves out of Belle Isle after 21 laps, placing him in 25th after he qualified fourth. To add insult to injury, it was one of only two retirements for Castorneves this season. 

What subjectively was his worst race?

Belle Isle is particularly bad, but the worst part of Castroneves' season was how often he was anonymous. He had four finishes outside the top twenty alone and another four finishes worse than 15th. His qualifying pace didn't do him any favors with only two top ten starts but 12 starting positions outside the top fifteen. It is hard to have good days when you are starting the day at the back especially that often. 

It should also be noted in his only other top ten start, Castroneves was collected in the Devlin DeFrancesco-Graham Rahal incident. Castroneves had already lost ground from sixth on the grid, but he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time in that accident. 

Hélio Castroneves' 2022 Statistics
Championship Position: 18th (263 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 3
Laps Led: 1
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 1
Fast Twelves: 2
Average Start: 18.412
Average Finish: 16.471

An Early Look Ahead

The 2023 season will have a lame-duck feel to it. 

This will likely be Castroneves' final full season in IndyCar unless he pulls off a remarkable turnaround. His 2022 season was always going to be difficult being so far removed from full-time IndyCar competition, and to give him credit, Castroneves finished on the lead lap or only one lap down in 14 of 15 races he finished but keeping up to finish on the lead lap feels like his ceiling. He can hold on to 15th but not push for much higher. He is 47 years old and will turn 48 in the middle of next May. Castroneves has had a full career. It is time to move on. He could still be an Indianapolis one-off for the next few years. I would love to see him race into his 50s, but the full-time gig is done. 

MSR is likely disappointed its best driver was 15th in the championship and it probably thinks it should be contending for at least the top ten in the championship. That is a realistic expectation. The middle is quite tight in IndyCar. There is not much separating MSR from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Ed Carpenter Racing, Dale Coyne Racing and even Andretti Autosport is falling to that middle tier. Top ten is within reach for this group. 

MSR has shown the competitiveness of a top ten team, but since it became a full-time operation there is always one element the team cannot quite get a handle on. There have been strategic decisions and mechanical problems that have set this team back. The biggest problem for this team is it just can't seem to get out of its own way. 

The team was lost at Iowa and running Pagenaud out of fuel at the second IMS road course race likely cost the team a top ten, possibly a top five result. Then the team had another unexplained mechanical issue at Portland on Pagenaud and when it looked like the team would end on a high note at Laguna Seca with both cars making the second round of qualifying, both cars dropped like rocks in the race. 

The flashes of speed are there, but the team doesn't really maximize them. 

I don't think Pagenaud has lost it as a driver and frankly he was his same old consistent self in 2022, but with Pagenaud and Castroneves being the second wave of drivers for MSR after Jack Harvey these results expose the problems at the team level. There is no more wondering what is on the driver and what is on the team. These results should point where improvements need to be made in the 2023 season, and I think MSR can make those adjustments and become a more competitive team, but there is the lame-duck element in this group. 

The loyalty to Castroneves is understood, but MSR is a team with big ambitions. It tested Formula E champion and potential 2023 Formula One driver Nyck de Vries last offseason. I think the 2022 season looks pretty different if de Vries was in that car, and it would also show what the team's five-year plan is. Even when Castroneves was first announced as a returning to full-time competition that was at most going to be three years. Pairing a young driver such as de Vries with Pagenaud sets the direction for the next five years if not the next ten for MSR. Those plans are on hold until Castroneves is no longer the full-time driver in the #06 Honda.

I hope MSR didn't miss its shot but the more exciting season for this team will be 2024 than 2023. I really want to see what MSR can do with a dedicated driver it can build around for the long-term while the team also works on its strategic and technical shortcomings. 

This is a race-winning team and with the right pieces together it can contend for an IndyCar championship, but we are just a little off from that being a reality. 

2022 IndyCar Team Preview: Meyer Shank Racing

We are into the second half of 2022 IndyCar team previews, and we move to Meyer Shank Racing. In its second season with at least one full-time entry, MSR expanded to two cars on a part-time basis in 2021. It paid off. The team got its first victory, and it was the biggest race in IndyCar, the Indianapolis 500. A historic victory already, it was taken to a higher level because it was Hélio Castroneves' fourth Indianapolis 500 victory in Castroneves' first race with the team. 

Meyer Shank Racing will run two cars full-time this year. Castroneves will be one of the drivers, and the team is making a change. Jack Harvey is gone and entering is Simon Pagenaud, the past champion and past Indianapolis 500 winner reunites with his past Team Penske teammate.

2021 Meyer Shank Racing Review

Wins: 1 (Indianapolis 500)

Poles: 0

Best Start: 2nd (St. Petersburg)

Championship Finish: 13th (Jack Harvey), 22nd (Hélio Castroneves)

Simon Pagenaud - #60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda

The 2021 season started with a ho-hum day at Barber Motorsports Park for Pagenaud. He qualified 15th and spent most of the race outside the top ten, eventually finishing 12th. He bounced back at St. Petersburg with a third-place finish after starting fourth. The results continued with four more consecutive top ten finishes from the Texas doubleheader through the two May Indianapolis races. He had a charge from 26th to third in the Indianapolis 500. 

However, results went downward once the season entered the summer. He was eighth in the second Belle Isle race, and it was his only top ten finish in a six-race period. He did not start in the top five for nine consecutive races. He took a strategy gamble in the August IMS road course race, and he led seven laps because of it, but it cost him late and dropped him to 16th. 

Things were better at Gateway, qualifying fourth and finishing eighth. He was on an impressive drive from 23rd on the grid at Portland, but a spin when trying to pass Will Power cost him a top ten result. He finished the season with finishes of eighth and fifth, but it ended up being his second winless season in four years and third in seven seasons with Team Penske.

Numbers to Remember:

6: Meyer Shank Racing will be Pagenaud's sixth IndyCar team.

11: Victories with Team Penske from 2015-2021.

3: Drivers had more victories than Pagenaud from 2015-2021 (Josef Newgarden 20, Scott Dixon 16, Will Power 16).

12: laps led in 2021, Pagenaud's fewest in a full season in his IndyCar career.

What does a championship season look like for him?

Pagenaud starts with top five finishes in the first two races of the season in St. Petersburg and Texas. He goes a step further and gets on the podium in Long Beach before a top ten finishes at Barber Motorsports Park. 

Riding that wave of momentum, he wins the Grand Prix of Indianapolis for a fourth time in his career. Then he finishes in the top five of the Indianapolis 500 after qualifying in the top five. Back on the streets, he wins again in Belle Isle and heads into summer with another top ten finish at Road America. 

Over the Independence Day weekend, Pagenaud wins at Mid-Ohio for the Ohio-based Meyer Shank Racing. He returns to Toronto and wins there, his second consecutive victory at the track before scoring one top five finish and one top ten finish at the Iowa doubleheader. 

He is in the top ten again for the second IMS road course race and picks up another top ten finish on the streets of Nashville. The rest of the field might be closing in, but then he wins at Gateway to strengthen his grip on the championship. He is in the top five at Portland and an eighth-place finish is more than enough to secure the championship at Laguna Seca.

What does a realistic season look like for him?

As good as Pagenaud has been in recent seasons, the problem is he has only been good. He has been outside the top five in the championship in three of the last four seasons and led fewer than 100 laps in each of those three seasons. He still has a remarkable finishing percentage, but his average finish has been worse than tenth the last two years after being below 9.0 in seven of the previous eight years. 

There is nothing wrong with finishing sixth and seventh consistently, and Pagenaud can keep that up. It might not be at the same rate he had with Penske and there will likely be fewer days with him fighting for a podium spot, but good results are still possible with Meyer Shank Racing. 

Last year's Indianapolis 500 victory aside, MSR has come close to a few victories on road and street courses. Pagenaud is more than capable of turning a good qualifying day into a victory. He turned Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports into a contender when he returned to IndyCar full-time in 2012. IndyCar has tightened up since then, but Pagenaud can still make it up and not only break into the championship top ten but challenge for a top five spot. 

Hélio Castroneves - #06 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda

Shifting from Team Penske to Meyer Shank Racing, and stepping away from full-time sports car competition, Castroneves was set for a half-dozen IndyCar starts in 2021 with his new team. The first start was to come at the Indianapolis 500.

For the first time entering the Indianapolis 500 with a team other than Team Penske, Castroneves looked more comfortable than ever. He made the Fast Nine and wound up eighth on the grid. In the race, Castroneves spent the entire race in the top ten. He worked his way into the top five. Castroneves remained in the lead pack and in the closing laps, it was clear Castroneves would be one of the contenders. It became Castroneves vs. Álex Palou after the final round of pit stops. 

With two laps to go, Castroneves took the lead into turn one. He held off the counterattack from Palou, using traffic to his advantage, and Castroneves became the fourth driver to win four Indianapolis 500s. 

After his brush with history, Castroneves was off until August at Nashville. He was ninth mostly through survival. He ended the year with a few rough results, finishing outside the top twenty in the August IMS road course race, Portland and Laguna Seca. He was a surprise third in qualifying at Long Beach but wound up 20th after being caught out after multiple cautions before making a pit stop.

Numbers to Remember:

13: IndyCar starts since his last full season in 2017.

8: Finishes of 20th or worse in those 13 starts.

16: Top ten finishes in 17 starts during his final full season in 2017.

What does a championship season look like for him?

Back as a full-time driver, Castroneves starts with a top five in St. Petersburg and then he wins at Texas, and it is a dominant victory with over 2/3rds of the laps led. He gets a top ten in the next two races at Long Beach and Barber.

In Indianapolis, he starts the month of May with a podium result in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. In the Indianapolis 500, Castroneves qualifies on the front row, leads over 80 laps, and he picks up his fifth Indianapolis 500 victory, handing Castroneves a solid championship lead. He has an off day at Belle Isle, but he will be back in the top ten at Road America. 

Mid-Ohio sees Castroneves back in the top five before another top ten result in Toronto. He wins the first Iowa race and finishes third in the other. Nashville doesn't go great, but he bounces back with a podium at Gateway. He closes the season with a pair of top five finishes at Portland and Laguna Seca.

What does a realistic season look like for him?

Castroneves has been one of IndyCar's best drivers over the 21st century, but since he stepped back from full-time competition, his results have been suspect. He might have won the Indianapolis 500 last year, but in the few road and street course races he has done he has not been a factor over the last few seasons.

 

Though he was a regular top five championship finisher at Penske, I am not sure Castroneves can accomplish that at MSR. His road and street course pace was lacking last year. There were a few bright moments, and he will be running the car on a regular basis and not as a part-timer, but IndyCar has gotten tougher since he was last time full-time, and Castroneves will turn 47 years old this season.

This might be a tougher season than many think it will be for Castroneves. Championship top ten would be an incredible accomplishment. It is more likely Castroneves will be fighting between 11th and 15th in the championship, but he could even finish outside the top fifteen. MSR has done a phenomenal job in IndyCar, but a two-car program is a big step. The team made questionable strategy choices last year with Jack Harvey. If Castroneves is off, the team could take bigger risks that do not pay off.

There will be one or two good road/street course events, but those races will be Castroneves' greatest struggle. Oval races should be where he gets his best results, but with only five oval events, they can only do so much for his championship standing. 

The 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season begins on Sunday February 27 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. NBC's coverage will begin at noon ET.

IndyCar Wrap-Up: Meyer Shank Racing's 2021 Season

The third IndyCar Wrap-Up brings us to one of IndyCar's newest and fastest rising organizations. Meyer Shank Racing competed in its second full season in 2021, and a second full season brought a slight expansion to the operation. With one full-time car, MSR ran a second car in a half-dozen races. Meyer Shank Racing achieved another incredible milestone, and yet, 2021 felt like it could have been better.

Jack Harvey bounced between good days and bad days

Jack Harvey

Harvey began his second full IndyCar season and fifth season overall with Meyer Shank Racing. After a split season with strong qualifying results but race results that did not always match in 2020, Harvey looked to make a leap forward. Though he continued to have good races, this season did not standout as a clear improvement.

What objectively was his best race?
Harvey was fourth at St. Petersburg after starting on the front row. He struggled on the alternate tire and that cost him a few spots, but he still pulled out a fabulous result. Harvey then finished fourth at Portland after starting 20th. He drove a superb race and going long on his first stint set Harvey up to run hard in the closing laps and get up to fourth. 

What subjectively was his best race?

Though Harvey did not have nearly as many strong results as he should have, I will say it is Portland because that weekend started well in practice, he then qualified 20th and it looked like he was doomed for another disappointing race and then he was quick in the race and matched his best finish of the season. 

The second IMS road course race deserves a mention because that ended an eight-race slump where Harvey's best finish was 15th. At Indianapolis, Harvey was sixth. 

What objectively was his worst race?

Twenty-third in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis after a botched pit stop took him out of contention for a podium spot, and possibly a race victory, and a tire puncture exiting pit lane took away any chance of a respectable result and left him a lap down.

 

What subjectively was his worst race?

Unfortunately, for the second consecutive season, Harvey's season is full of too many results that do not add up to the pace we saw and some of these were self-inflicted. 

The team tossed away a top ten finish at Road America trying to go off-strategy at a terrible point in the race prior to a pit window opening where there was no way Harvey was going to save enough and get a better result than if he had waited. What should have been a sixth or seventh was a 17th. The team employed a similar strategy at Nashville. See how wacky that race was, Harvey could have won it, but his strategy choices, and the oddly shaped pit lane, trapped him in 15th. 

One that was not on the teams the second Texas race when a wheel bearing broke and ended a possible top five run. 

The Grand Prix of Indianapolis is probably his worst result. He was up there with Romain Grosjean, Álex Palou and Rinus VeeKay. He could have won that race, if not it looked like he was set for a podium result.

Jack Harvey's 2021 Statistics
Championship Position: 13th (308 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 2
Top Tens: 6
Laps Led: 6
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 4
Fast Twelves: 6
Average Start: 13.714
Average Finish: 13.0

Hélio Castroneves turned a new, part-time gig into something historic

Hélio Castroneves

Meyer Shank Racing rolled the dice on Castroneves, newly released from Team Penske, and it paid off with Meyer Shank Racing winning the biggest race on the IndyCar calendar, the team's first victory in the series and a historic victory for Castroneves to boot. This pairing ran six races in 2020 and it will expand to a full-time operation in 2021, but their first race together might be the mountaintop for this duo.

What objectively was his best race?
Come on? What do you think? It is Castroneves' fourth Indianapolis 500 victory. 

What subjectively was his best race?

Expanding on the Indianapolis 500 victory, for starters, it was Castroneves' first race with the team. It was Meyer Shank Racing's first victory. Castroneves was in the top ten all race. This was not Castroneves pulling a rabbit out of his hat and he just happened to be first after stretching his fuel while others had to stop. This wasn't Castroneves leading at the right time when a rainstorm blew in. Castroneves won this race straight up after spending the previous three years committed to sports car racing while IndyCar was his side project. 

What objectively was his worst race?

Castroneves was nowhere to be found at Laguna Seca and he finished a lap down in 24th.  

What subjectively was his worst race?

Castroneves has some work to do on road and street courses. He may have been ninth at Nashville, but he was 21st in the second IMS road course race, 23rd at Portland and 24th at Laguna Seca. Castroneves did qualify third at Long Beach and he might have finished in the top ten if the team had not chosen poor on the pit strategy, failing to have him pit before the Patricio O'Ward caution and then not stopping under that caution nor the Marcus Ericsson caution only a few laps later. This comeback season is going to be tougher than many think it will be. 

Hélio Castroneves' 2021 Statistics
Championship Position: 22nd (158 points)
Wins: 1
Podiums: 1
Top Fives: 1
Top Tens: 2
Laps Led: 35
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 1
Fast Twelves: 1
Average Start: 14.667 
Average Finish: 16.333

An Early Look Ahead

With Harvey leaving the team, Simon Pagenaud will join his former Team Penske cohort Castroneves in the Meyer Shank Racing lineup in 2022. 

Harvey built a good identity with the team and it felt like the partnership was going to continue for many years to come. However, I think one of the reasons results were lacking is the team itself and that is one reason why Harvey left. 

There were a handful of races in 2021 where the team got the strategy wrong, either bringing Harvey in too early or having him stay out too long. Harvey's qualifying results did dip from an average around 8.8 to 13.714. However, his average finish only fell from 12.2 to 13.0, which wasn't great to begin with, but wasn't terrible either. There were strategy choices that cost him top ten and possibly top five finishes at Road America and Nashville. 

Pagenaud moves over after a rough two-year period with Team Penske. His qualifying average has fallen tremendously, dropping to a career worst 15.9 in 2020, but he picked it up to 11.0 this year. While the Frenchman saw a tick up on the qualifying speed, his race finishes dipped. Two podium finishes matched his fewest in a season, his three top five finishes are his fewest in a season and he led only 12 laps, his fewest in a full season. Pagenaud was eighth in the championship for the second consecutive year.

Meanwhile, Castroneves might have won the Indianapolis 500 and finished ninth at Nashville, but he was 20th or worse in his final four starts. He started outside the top ten in three of those races with a surprising third-place qualifying result at Long Beach appearing to be more of an exception than the rule. Castroneves has made 13 IndyCar starts since his last full season in 2017. He has three top ten finishes and six finishes outside the top twenty. 

When Castroneves first exited IndyCar full-time, he was on a streak of six consecutive top five championship finishes and nine top five championship finishes in his last ten seasons. He will turn 47 years old on May 10 next year. I am not sure how much MSR can expect out of Castroneves and how long they will be committed to him. 

I think Pagenaud still has something in the tank, a lot in the tank actually, and while his results were not great in 2021, he is a competitive driver who is regularly in the top ten. Pagenaud could turn MSR into a regular contender and pull out a few victories. I just don't feel as good about Castroneves. He might have a few good days but I don't think Castroneves will be close to the Frenchman. I think we could see the two MSR drivers at different ends of the table at the end of 2022.

More than the drivers, what could decide MSR's success is its strategizing. It cannot continue to take front-running cars and put them at the back. The team was taking chances as if it was a mid-pack team, but its speed has it at the front. It cannot be running in the top five or six and act like it is running 13th and has to try something different. There are times to go off-strategy and take a risk, but it has to do a better job discerning when to roll the dice and when to stick to the plan. 

2021 IndyCar Team Preview: Meyer Shank Racing

Our fourth IndyCar Team Preview takes us to another expanding organization, Meyer Shank Racing. MSR's first full season showed that team was up for the task. Jack Harvey put up the fifth-best qualifying average in 2020, ahead of the champion Scott Dixon and all the other Chip Ganassi Racing drivers, and Alexander Rossi. The race results did not always go the team's way, but the team showed it could compete with the big boys. 

Harvey will return and look to improve on 15th in the championship, but MSR will run two cars for about a third of the 2021 season with Hélio Castroneves joining the Ohio-based team. Castroneves will run at Barber, the Indianapolis 500, the August IMS road course race, Portland, Laguna Seca and Long Beach.

2020 Meyer Shank Racing Review

Wins: 0

Best Finish: 6th (Harvest Grand Prix II)

Poles: 0

Best Start: 2nd (Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Road America I)

Championship Finish: 15th (Jack Harvey)

2021 Drivers:

Jack Harvey - #60 SiriusXM/AutoNation Honda

The season started with a new test for Harvey and MSR, Texas Motor Speedway, the team's first oval that wasn't Indianapolis. It was mostly a test of survival. Harvey did not show impressive speed, but he kept the car out of the barriers and was a lap down in 16th. 

The speed came over the next five races, qualifying on the front row for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and Road America and picking up five consecutive top ten starts. Unfortunately, the race results did not follow. A poorly timed caution caught him out before a round of pit stops on the IMS road course and shuffled him out of a top five position. He had an accident in the first Road America race and contact at the start of the second race put him in a hole. 

He found his footing at Iowa of all places, spending both races mostly in the top ten with a pair of seventh place results the reward for all his effort. He started 20th for his fourth Indianapolis 500 start and went forward, ending up ninth, his best finish in the event. His top ten streak was snapped at Gateway, but he again showed attention-grabbing pace and could have picked up a top five in both races if it wasn't for cautions.

Harvey would score top ten finishes in three of the next four events between Mid-Ohio and the Harvest Grand Prix. His season finale was encouraging, and he was set for a top five finish before James Hinchcliffe made contact with Harvey under yellow, damaging Harvey's car and knocking him from the edge of the podium to three laps down in 19th. 

Numbers to Remember:

146: Oval points in 2020, ninth best in IndyCar.

8.785: Average starting position in 2020.

11: Top ten starts in 2020, tied for the third-most in 2020.

Predictions/Goals:

Harvey is a top ten championship contender. If it wasn't for that contact with Hinchcliffe in the season finale, he likely would have finished third or fourth and ended up 11th in the championship. St. Petersburg was one of five races where something out of Harvey's control cost him points. There were also at least five races, probably closer to eight races, where Harvey was fantastic in qualifying and the race result didn't match. If he can level out his race results with his qualifying pace in 2021, not only will he be in the top ten, but he could push for the top five in the championship. 

He needs top five finishes this season. With the pace he showed, he has got to be mixing it up with Dixon, Power, Newgarden and Herta. We saw in the 2019 Grand Prix of Indianapolis that Harvey can contend for victories. That race has to happen again and multiple times this season. He has got to be in one of the top three or four positions, with a shot at victory and leading laps. 

This is still a small operation, no matter what kind of speed is shown. A single-car team is going to hit bumps in the road that most multi-car organizations glide over. MSR will have two cars in six races, but there are 11 other races where Harvey will fly unaccompanied and have no one to bounce problems off of. MSR is still working in partnership with Andretti Autosport, but there are limitations. 

If Harvey wins, I would not be surprised. I think he can get back to the podium and he should pick up a few top five finishes. He should shoot for four top five finishes and ten top ten finishes. 

What does Harvey need to do in 2021?

At least one top five finish, but preferability closer to four. 

At least one pole position. 

Top ten in the championship.

Hélio Castroneves - #06 Meyer Shank Racing Honda

Castroneves spent his 2020 season primarily in IMSA's Daytona Prototype international class driving for Acura Team Penske. That season could not have started any more poorly with a pair of last place finishes in class in the first two races and a seventh, the penultimate finisher in class in the third race at Sebring. 

In what otherwise would have been a championship-crushing string of results, Castroneves and co-driver Ricky Taylor erased that dismal opening with three consecutive victories. Castroneves and Taylor were then second at Petit Le Mans and won the penultimate round of 2020 at Laguna Seca and went into the finale with the championship lead. 

Despite the duo's comeback, misfortune was waiting at the 12 Hours of Sebring and early mechanical problems sent the team behind the wall. The #7 Acura would be able to return to the race but needed some help to hang onto the title. That help came. The #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac suffered damage after contact with a Mazda and fell to seventh. The #31 Action Express Racing Cadillac had contact with the #6 Acura lead to a penalty and ends its championship fight. Castroneves and Taylor were last at Sebring but won the title by one point. 

Castroneves also made three IndyCar starts. He was 28th in Indianapolis 500 qualifying driving for Team Penske but worked his way up to 11th. He substituted for the unfit Oliver Askew at the Harvest Grand Prix at Arrow McLaren SP and he drove two lackluster races with results of 20th and 21st to show for it.

Numbers to Remember:

30: IndyCar victories, 11th all-time.

351: IndyCar starts, fourth all-time.

6.037: Laps led, fourth all-time.

9.491: Castroneves' average finish across the six tracks he will race at in 2021 in 57 career starts.

46: Castroneves turns 46 years old on May 10. 

Predictions/Goals:

I don't know if Castroneves is auditioning for a full-time spot in 2022 or if he is a bridge for MSR's expansion to two cars, but I think the goal is to be positively contributing to the organization. 

Prior to his switch to full-time sports car, Castroneves had finished in the top five of the IndyCar championship for six consecutive years. However, in those six seasons, he had only five victories. He was only the top Penske driver in one of those seasons. The one gripe against Castroneves over that time was he was constantly good, picking up fifth, sixth and seventh-place finishes, but he was not pulling off four podium finishes in six races. You knew he would be there, but you weren't expecting him to be the man to beat. 

I can't think Castroneves is going to walk in as a part-time competitor in a newer, single-car team and be a top ten finisher in majority of his starts. I can't see how he is going to beat Harvey at any of the five road/street courses. 

The obvious goal is to get that fourth Indianapolis 500 victory. It is possible with MSR. It is unlikely, but still possible. He will be attempting his 12th Indianapolis 500 since he won his third. He won three of his first nine Indianapolis 500 starts. I think it will be out of his grasp. A top ten showing at Indianapolis would be good enough and if he can get top ten finishes in half his starts, it will be a successful season. 

What does Castroneves need to do in 2021?

Have one more tremendous Indianapolis 500.

Be within three positions of Harvey at most of the road courses. 

Not tear up cars.

Show MSR it is capable of running two IndyCar programs.

The 2021 NTT IndyCar Series season will begin on April 18 at Barber Motorsports Park. NBC will have coverage of the season opener.