Meyer Shank Racing has completed its driver lineup for the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series with the addition of former Chip Ganassi Racing driver Marcus Armstrong. The New Zealander will partner with fellow CGR graduate Felix Rosenqvist and pilot the No. 66 …
Meyer Shank Racing has completed its driver lineup for the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series with the addition of former Chip Ganassi Racing driver Marcus Armstrong. The New Zealander will partner with fellow CGR graduate Felix Rosenqvist and pilot the No. 66 Honda.
“I’m very proud to be joining Meyer Shank Racing in 2025,” Armstrong said. “I had a great feeling when I met both Mike Shank and Jim Meyer, their passion for performance and meticulous work ethic was obvious from our first conversation and I want to thank them both for this opportunity. I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone at MSR over the off-season with the goal of hitting the ground running at the first race of the season in St Pete.”
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Armstrong, in his first full NTT IndyCar Series season, placed 14th in the championship and earned five top-five fionishes and a podium at Detroit.
“This year I got closer to where I want to be performance wise, including oval racing for the first time and I’m looking forward to continuing to push up the order with MSR,” he added. “We want to be at the front, fighting for wins and I believe we have the recipe to do it.”
“We’re very excited to welcome Marcus onboard,” said Mike Shank. “He’s really shown a lot of growth and consistency in his first two years in IndyCar, which is really difficult to do. This series is probably one of the most competitive series out there and he has proven himself to be a real contender. We are going to do everything we can to give him the car and the tools to produce results next year.”
Marcus Armstrong is riding a hot streak at the right time of the season. The New Zealander has four top 10 finishes in the last five races and a pair of top fives, including Sunday at Portland in the No. 11 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, and has found …
Marcus Armstrong is riding a hot streak at the right time of the season.
The New Zealander has four top 10 finishes in the last five races and a pair of top fives, including Sunday at Portland in the No. 11 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, and has found the only thing he was missing—the consistency—needed to turn his natural speed and talent into results.
“IndyCar is extremely competitive, if you didn’t already know, and any circuit, to be inside the top five, you need to have a lot of things go right,” Armstrong told RACER. “You need to have the pace. You need to have some element of luck and just everything to go right. To be deep inside the top 10 for a couple of races, it just shows that we’re moving forward and making progress.”
Armstrong and new race engineer Angela Ashmore have clicked in their first year together, which has made life easier for the Kiwi as he completes his first complete season in the series.
“I feel like I jell with the car on road courses and street courses, really,” he said. “Oval racing, I still need to understand a few things, clearly, but when it comes to circuits like this, I feel very, very at one with the car, and I’m also building a lot of chemistry with my race engineer, Angela Ashmore, who’s doing a great job as well. I just want to thank her, because she’s doing an amazing job.”
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Ovals are the last key area for Armstrong to make strides, and based on his drive to eighth at World Wide Technology Raceway, the potential is there.
“I did feel confident at [WWTR],” he added. “In fact, when the oval races have quite a lot of action, side by side racing, trying to find clean air, it’s actually not too dissimilar to racing on a street course, or … even racing around Zandvoort, for example. In a high downforce car, it’s not totally dissimilar on a short oval. I felt like I made a lot of progress at [WWTR], even though I’d never been there before, so it’s cool.”
Armstrong’s rise in consistent competitiveness can only help in his quest to secure his future in IndyCar. With his Chip Ganassi Racing team expected to drop from five cars to three next season, the 24-year-old isn’t guaranteed to continue in the No. 11 Honda. Showing his strength in the twilight of the current season can only help when it’s time to return next year, wherever that might be.
“Mike [Hull, CGR managing director] and Chip [Ganassi] are the ones that call the shots, and I’m my own manager, so I want to be in the loop,” he said. “I just want to maximize my performance on track and trust that the situation will resolve itself.”
Don’t hit your teammates. That’s the first rule within a multi-car team. Unfortunately for Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong, who qualified third for Sunday’s Road America IndyCar race-directly behind teammate and first-time polesitter Linus …
Don’t hit your teammates. That’s the first rule within a multi-car team.
Unfortunately for Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong, who qualified third for Sunday’s Road America IndyCar race—directly behind teammate and first-time polesitter Linus Lundqvist — that primary rule was broken when the New Zealander hit the back of the Swede’s car at the first turn on the first lap and caused both Ganassi cars to spin and stall.
Armstrong would retire on the 35th of 55 laps and Lundqvist, who dropped to 25th in the 27-car field, put in a stellar recovery drive to claim 12th for a Ganassi team that had a race to forget for four of its five cars.
The two made amends after the race, and the rookie’s maturity showed after his best qualifying day in the series turned sour due to the racing equivalent of the cardinal sin.
“We had a chat after the race, and honestly, I’m more so just sad, disappointed that the race didn’t go further from where we started,” Lundqvist told RACER. “I was so excited about this race. I thought we were in for a good one, but sadly, it didn’t last longer than Turn 1. It would have been so fun and interesting to see what we could have done starting at the front, because I think after that happened, the pace was pretty good from our part.
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“You know, again, it would have been fun to have had a go at it, but these things happen in racing. There’s a lot of positives to take from this weekend, so I’m going to try to focus on that. I know I’ll have a beer tonight, but we’ll back at it again in two weeks at Laguna.”
A contrite Armstrong was understandably disappointed with what took place on Sunday.
“Tough day,” he said. “One of the toughest I think in my career. Turn 1, I don’t really know what happened to be honest, but I got penalized for it so it must have been my fault. It was not my intention to ruin the race already in the first 20 seconds so I’m disappointed with myself. Then we had mechanical issues after that. It was a trying, bad day. A very bad day.”
Lundqvist gave himself a few laps to wallow in frustration for the opportunity that was lost, and then he and race engineer Brad Goldberg got down to business and picked up 13 positions at the end of 55 laps.
“Obviously…Saturday was amazing, but if you disregard what happened on lap one, and even, honestly, even the first six or seven of laps — because I was a little bit deflated — but then we kind of got back into our groove and then I think we we did as good as we could have,” he said. “Our pace was good in clean air. I struggled a little bit in traffic and trying to pass people but once we committed to our overcut strategy, every time we hit those clear laps at the end, we were always able to move ourselves forward.
“Brad came to me after the race and said, ‘That that was quite enjoyable for me,’ because he had to think a little bit outside of the box here. Overall, it was a race of what could have been. We just have to do it again. Give it another shot.”
RACER’s Marshall Pruett recaps qualifying at Road America for the XPEL Grand Prix, and interviews Marcus Armstrong, Kyffin Simpson, Felix Rosenqvist, and Nolan Siegel. RACER’s Trackside Report at Road America is presented by Radical Motorsport. As …
RACER’s Marshall Pruett recaps qualifying at Road America for the XPEL Grand Prix, and interviews Marcus Armstrong, Kyffin Simpson, Felix Rosenqvist, and Nolan Siegel.
RACER’s Trackside Report at Road America is presented by Radical Motorsport. As one of the world’s most prolific sports car manufacturers, Radical Motorsport sets out to create a race-bred thrill-a-minute driving experience on the racetrack. Radical Cup North America is the continent’s premier Radical championship offering exhilarating multi-class Le Mans style racing for a fraction of the price. Click to learn more.
Chip Ganassi entered more cars than any other team owner for the 108th Indianapolis 500. Although there were no expectations for the winner of the last three Indy 500 poles to place all five Ganassi cars in the Fast 12 group that will run for pole …
Chip Ganassi entered more cars than any other team owner for the 108th Indianapolis 500.
Although there were no expectations for the winner of the last three Indy 500 poles to place all five Ganassi cars in the Fast 12 group that will run for pole on Sunday, nobody predicted the Honda-powered team would miss the Fast 12 altogether.
The last time it happened was 2019, and before that, it was 2013 and 1990. In light of Scott Dixon’s poles in 2021 and 2022 and Alex Palou’s in 2023, having at least one of them in the Fast 12 seemed like a foregone conclusion, but Palou was bumped out late on Saturday by Dreyer & Reinbold Racing’s Ryan Hunter-Reay.
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When day one of qualifying was over, Palou was the top Ganassi representative in 14th, followed by rookie Marcus Armstrong in 16th, rookie Kyffin Simpson in 18th, Dixon in 21st, and rookie Linus Lundqvist in 27th. Among the quintet, the 21st-place starting position for Dixon represents his worst in the New Zealander’s 22-year career at the Speedway. His previous 21 starts were all inside the top 20.
“It’s been tough, as everybody…was expecting us to be up front; we always also wanted to be up front,” Palou told RACER. “The team is coming from three poles in a row here at the 500. We wanted to be there; we wanted to fight. Unfortunately, we’re missing speed — still don’t know where, but that’s the truth. Today, it’s just a hard day.”
Marcus Armstrong led the final practice session before this afternoon’s Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course. Chip Ganassi Racing’s younger New Zealander used a set of the softer alternate compound Firestones to lap the …
Marcus Armstrong led the final practice session before this afternoon’s Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course. Chip Ganassi Racing’s younger New Zealander used a set of the softer alternate compound Firestones to lap the 14-turn 2.439-mile course in 1m09.8485s, shading nearest pursuer, Colton Herta, by a sold 0.3829s.
Initially, the majority of teams focused on warming up their crews by doing practice pit stops.
In the opening 10 minutes, on the primaries, Romain Grosjean of Juncos Hollinger Racing and the Team Penske cars of Will Power and Scott McLaughlin looked particularly strong, although in overall lap times they were behind Rinus VeeKay of Ed Carpenter Racing, Kyle Kirkwood’s Andretti Global entry and the third Penske car of Josef Newgarden.
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Late in the session, Armstrong jumped to the top with a 1m09.9331s effort and then trimmed a further tenth from that to set the final benchmark ahead of championship leader Herta, who will roll off 24th this afternoon after running out of fuel during qualifying.
VeeKay was third fastest, ahead of yesterday’s pole winner, two-time champion Alex Palou, with Graham Rahal fifth.
The session was brought to a slightly premature halt by Pato O’Ward’s Arrow McLaren blowing up its Chevrolet and causing a red flag.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong and Linus Lundqvist turned 92 laps in their cars on Wednesday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway while completing their Indy 500 Rookie Orientation Programs. Meyer Shank Racing’s Tom Blomqvist, who was the …
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong and Linus Lundqvist turned 92 laps in their cars on Wednesday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway while completing their Indy 500 Rookie Orientation Programs.
Meyer Shank Racing’s Tom Blomqvist, who was the fastest of the three in his No. 60 Honda, finished his ROP running in 70 laps and left IMS with a quick lap of 220.176mph. Lundqvist was next at 219.504mph in the No. 8 Honda and Armstrong completed the list at 219.252 in the No. 11 Honda.
“It’s boyhood dreams coming true, you know?” Blomqvist said. “It’s such a cool, iconic place. What a phenomenal day — really, really excited. Enjoyed every minute of it. Definitely had a big smile on my face after that first proper run. I can’t wait to come back here. So much to learn; I still feel like I’m a novice, which I basically am. I was very fortunate to get these laps under my belt before coming back here again, so there’s a lot of time to process things. Just a cool day, really.”
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Armstrong has been pining to lap the big 2.5-mile speedway since he decided to go full-time next season with the defending series champions.
“I’ve enjoyed it a whole lot more than I expected,” Armstrong said. “I’m not saying I didn’t expect to enjoy it, but I think the intensity of it is pretty special and watching onboards and on TV is one thing, but actually feeling how the car moves and how the wind affects you and the tiny details of this place – and Texas – has kind of given me so much enjoyment.”
For 2022 Indy NXT champion Lundqvist, who did his first IndyCar oval race in August at World Wide Technology Raceway, completing Indy’s ROP was another step in his journey to earn his place at top step of American open-wheel racing.
“It’s unbelievable,” Lundqvist said. “With the speeds that you’re going, it feels so fast. With the history and legacy around this place, it just feels magical. Even though the grandstands are empty, I can only imagine what it will feel like when they’re full. Even now it’s very, very special.”
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong and Meyer Shank Racing’s Tom Blomqvist spent Wednesday lapping Texas Motor Speedway where the duo passed their rookie test on the 1.5-mile oval. “It was quite fast,” said Armstrong, who turned 180 laps in the …
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong and Meyer Shank Racing’s Tom Blomqvist spent Wednesday lapping Texas Motor Speedway where the duo passed their rookie test on the 1.5-mile oval.
“It was quite fast,” said Armstrong, who turned 180 laps in the No. 11 Honda. “It was an awesome experience and I really enjoyed it. The first proper run in the morning was great. I was just smiling after that first run and even on the in-lap I had a different reaction to what I was expecting. It was a lot more natural than I anticipated and I felt at one with the car later in the day. I found that it was a lot easier to trust the car and the banking. Overall, it was a very positive experience and I’m very grateful that Dario [Franchitti], Scott [Dixon], Eric [Cowdin] and Blair [Julian] could help me out throughout the day.”
Armstrong kept busy during his season of road and street course racing as the New Zealander made trips to every oval to learn what he could while watching teammate Takuma Sato wheel the No. 11 at every event. For Blomqvist, who’s been busy racing full-time in IMSA, his run at TMS was more of a shock to the system as the Briton was immersed in 215mph lapping with no real knowledge of oval driving. His teammate, four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves, did his best to get the IMSA champion up to speed.
“Fast! It was pretty weird at first, not going to lie,” Blomqvist said after piloting the No. 60 Honda. “But it’s amazing how the mind and body adapt. I enjoyed going fast and by the end, it almost felt like it was in slow motion, relatively speaking. It was great to have Helio there to give me pointers throughout the day. It’s one thing driving around by yourself. Chuck 26 other cars out there and it’s a whole new ball game. Definitely a skill I’m going to need to develop but one I’m excited about.”
IndyCar’s newly crowned Rookie of the Year Marcus Armstrong believes that he is ready to take on his first full IndyCar season in 2024, thanks to great preparation with the Chip Ganassi Racing Honda team, but said he was happy with his year’s work, …
IndyCar’s newly crowned Rookie of the Year Marcus Armstrong believes that he is ready to take on his first full IndyCar season in 2024, thanks to great preparation with the Chip Ganassi Racing Honda team, but said he was happy with his year’s work, winning the rookie title against the odds.
The 23-year-old beat Agustin Canapino, Sting Ray Robb and Benjamin Pedersen to clinch IndyCar’s ROTY honors despite missing the five oval races, in which the No. 11 Ganassi car was driven by two-time Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato. Armstrong’s winning margin over Canapino of Juncos Hollinger Racing was 34 points.
Earlier this week, he was confirmed by Ganassi as a full-timer for 2024, alongside Scott Dixon, Alex Palou and rookie Linus Lundqvist.
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“It has certainly been an eventful week,” he said after a tough and incident-filled drive to eighth at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, scene of the 2023 IndyCar finale. “Today has been a long day with all the cars and chaos. It’s been a really nice week. I’ve had my announcement I think on Thursday, was it?… Seems like a year ago at this point. It was nice to finally talk about what I have in store for the future with Chip Ganassi Racing.
“As well, to win the Rookie of the Year championship, I’m extremely pleased to finally lock that down. Obviously we didn’t do five races, so it was going to be a tough ask, for sure. But nevertheless, I think we finished every race. We were consistent. We had some good results. Sometimes I think we could have done a lot better. Yeah, we were consistent and fast enough to win it without the ovals…
“My favorite race this year was Detroit, which was just chaos, survival mode at one point, much like today. That was actually a really fun and enjoyable track for whatever reason. The layout and the bumps made it quite a nice circuit.
Armstrong rates Toronto as the toughest track he faced this year…although it also produced his best result. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images
“I would say the toughest race of the year was probably Toronto, which was actually I think my best result [seventh]. Weirdly enough, I didn’t really feel at home at that track. Learning it was quite difficult, probably the most difficult circuit this season. With the tarmac changes, bumps, it was like driving around a carpark at one point. That was difficult. As I said, we had our best result there, so maybe I’m at my best when I’m uncomfortable.”
Although there was not much test time granted to IndyCar teams and drivers this year, ahead of a busy off-season of testing the hybrid units this winter, Armstrong said he was impressed with the amount of time on track that teams are granted on a race weekend.
“I would say I get more track time than in other series that I’ve done,” he said. “Like in F2 last year I think we were really, really tight on push laps. That’s because the [Pirelli] tire just can’t do so many push laps.
“Here I actually think I’ve done quite a decent amount of laps in the race weekends. This track in particular, I feel like I haven’t done — past qualifying, I don’t think I did six proper push laps because there were so many red flags and everything. That’s another story. I feel like the track time has been adequate for having a good season.”
Armstrong will test on an oval for the first time this week, at Texas Motor Speedway.
“My preparation has gone as far as asking the guy in the PNC Bank suit over there [teammate Scott Dixon] a couple of questions,” he said. “To be fair, I did a couple laps on the simulator the other day.
“Yeah, I’m going there with my eyes wide open and just seeing what I find, making the best of it. I feel like it’s going to be a brand-new experience for me. So it’s exciting. It’s the start of a new journey, I guess.”
He later added: “I feel well prepared, really. I feel like it was a good learning class for an IndyCar season. There’s obviously nuances to IndyCar — this car is very intense, the steering kickback is a lot, for whatever reason. The racing is pretty ruthless. There’s still some learning to be done.”
Marcus Armstrong’s future is tied to Chip Ganassi Racing, where the leader in the NTT IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year standings will return in 2024 under a new multi-year contract that will have the New Zealander elevated to a full-time driver. …
Marcus Armstrong’s future is tied to Chip Ganassi Racing, where the leader in the NTT IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year standings will return in 2024 under a new multi-year contract that will have the New Zealander elevated to a full-time driver.
“Marcus Armstrong has proven in 2023 his quick adaptation to IndyCar road and street tracks, he’s ready to be a full-time Chip Ganassi Racing IndyCar driver,” said CGR managing director Mike Hull. “Winning is integrated into his racing resume. This includes his pursuit of the 2023 IndyCar Rookie of the Year. He knows how to win as a teammate. Next comes ovals at the highest global level. We look forward to a long-term relationship driven by growth and opportunity with Marcus.”
Armstrong, who will conduct his rookie oval test next week at Texas Motor Speedway, relishes the chance to forge a steady career in IndyCar.
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“I am very proud and excited to continue with Chip Ganassi Racing for next year and beyond,” he said. “Together with this very talented and experienced team, I am confident we can compete at the highest level in this championship. I feel very grateful that Chip has given me the time to adapt to IndyCar and has helped me every step of the way in what has been a good season.
“I’ve spent the year learning from a great group of people, including my teammates and Dario [Franchitti]. I’m very grateful for how much help I’ve received from each team member. With a season under my belt, I now want to turn these lessons into results. I will be racing on the ovals for the first time next year and it’s an exciting challenge that I’m confident I can learn quickly. I spent the entire month of May either in the engineering office or in the pit stand this year, trying to familiarize myself with the details of oval racing. It’s a challenge that excites me a lot.”
Armstrong completes CGR’s four-car lineup led by six-time champion Scott Dixon, new and now two-time champion Alex Palou and rookie Linus Lundqvist, who takes over for the Andretti-bound Marcus Ericsson.
