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.
