Helio Castroneves will transition from his role as a full-time NTT IndyCar Series driver for Meyer Shank Racing into a new ambassadorial position for MSR that includes an ownership stake in the team and a seat in a third MSR entry at the 2024 and 2025 Indianapolis 500s.
With his four Indy 500 wins, including his triumph at the Speedway for MSR in 2021, the Brazilian will complete the year in the No. 06 Honda before handing the reins to MSR’s defending IMSA prototype champion Tom Blomqvist (pictured above), who becomes the team’s first confirmed driver for the 2024 season.
For the 48-year-old Castroneves, the transition will complete a full-time IndyCar career that began in the former CART IndyCar Series in 1998 with the Bettenhausen Racing team. His open-wheel stardom took flight after joining Team Penske in 2000 where he became a perennial title contender and win dozens of races and poles along with three Indy 500s. A detour to sports car racing with Penske delivered his first major championship in 2020 in IMSA’s DPi class in a factory Acura ARX-05 prototype, but a rebirth in IndyCar was not offered.
A chance to continue in IndyCar with MSR in 2021 produced the team’s maiden win in the series at the biggest event of all and elevated Castroneves to the exclusive four-time Indy winner’s club. His full-time status was regained in 2022 alongside fellow former Penske driver Simon Pagenaud where he’s delivered four top-10 finishes in the No. 06 car.
“I want to thank Mike, Jim and Liberty for accepting me as part of the ownership group,” said Castroneves (pictured above). “Throughout my career I’ve been very fortunate to surround myself with an amazing group of people and this journey will be my next chapter and I can’t wait for that. Don’t get me wrong, I still have a lot of fuel to burn inside in terms of driving and I will do that at the Indy 500 as I continue my pursuit of the ‘Drive for Five.’”
In Blomqvist, a nice piece of symmetry is found in his elevation to IndyCar where — like Castroneves — it comes on the back of winning the IMSA DPi championship using the same Acura ARX-05 model. The 29-year-old who was born in England and raised in both the UK and New Zealand, has one of the deepest backgrounds of any incoming IndyCar rookie.
The son of Swedish rallying champion Stig Blomqvist was a race-winning standout on the European open-wheel ladder, placing second behind Alpine Formula 1 driver Esteban Ocon and ahead of current world champion Max Verstappen in the 2014 FIA Euro Formula 3 series, but was diverted to the German DTM silhouette championship as a factory driver for BMW when opportunities to reach Formula 2 did not materialize.
Blomqvist raced in the FIA World Endurance Championship in LMP2 and GTE-Pro along with FIA Formula E and IMSA’s GT Le Mans category with BMW in the intervening years. A call from Shank leading into 2022 with a stated need of leading MSR’s IMSA DPi program turned into a perfect fit for the team and driver.
With Blomqvist given instructions to attack at all times, two giant wins at the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Petit Le Mans — along with five other podiums from 10 races — delivered the 2022 DPi title for the team and Acura with support from co-driver Oliver Jarvis and endurance teammates Castroneves and Pagenaud.
“Firstly I would like to say a huge thank you to Mike and Jim and all the partners — AutoNation, SiriusXM, Arctic Wolf, Clopay and Cleveland-Cliffs — for believing in me and giving me this opportunity,” said Blomqvist. “It’s been a good ride the last two years in IMSA, but I’ve been itching to make the step up to IndyCar and this is an opportunity I’m eager and motivated to make the most of. IndyCar is an incredibly competitive series and I’m under no illusions in how difficult this championship can be, but I am extremely motivated to make the most of this exciting new challenge.”
Paired this year with Colin Braun, the two have claimed two more wins and stood on the podium in four of seven rounds. Based on everything he’s seen Blomqvist do in MSR’s wickedly fast Acura DPi and the new hybrid Acura ARX-06 GTP machine, Shank and co-owner Jim Meyer knew Blomqvist was going to be their new IndyCar driver many months ago.
“We are thrilled to bring Tom over to our IndyCar program full-time starting next year, and to be able to keep Helio as a key part of our program moving forward and go for a fifth Indianapolis 500 victory next year,” said Mike Shank. “I feel like all the planets aligned for us to be able to do this, so I’m really grateful for us to be making this next step as a team. Helio brings so much to what we do overall as a team, both in terms of our competition package and all of his experience, as well as how he’s able to engage with our partners. So having him transition to this role is really exciting for everyone involved.”
Blomqvist is scheduled to complete his first oval test immediately after the season finale in Monterey, which would make him eligible for all forms of IndyCar competition in 2024.