“We needed each other,” Michael Shank told RACER while walking down pit lane after Felix Rosenqvist secured Meyer Shank Racing’s first IndyCar pole. “We’re two groups, Felix and Jim [Meyer] and I, that needed each other. And this was the time to do …
“We needed each other,” Michael Shank told RACER while walking down pit lane after Felix Rosenqvist secured Meyer Shank Racing’s first IndyCar pole. “We’re two groups, Felix and Jim [Meyer] and I, that needed each other. And this was the time to do it.”
Rosenqvist offered a glimpse of what was possible after qualifying second to open the season at St. Petersburg and claiming the pole — albeit one that was unofficial — at the non-championship visit to The Thermal Club. Going one step better, Rosenqvist’s Long Beach pole was among the most popular in recent memory as Shank and Meyer were cheered and congratulated the entire length of pit lane as they headed towards the pole celebration.
“For Jim and I, we’ve been together six or seven years now, and to have this is just awesome,” Shank added. “Our guys did a great job; I can’t believe the time Felix ended up doing on those tires. And even though we’re running well, the expectations are still like I told you three or four months ago: Be cool and whatever tomorrow gives us, it gives us. But now the team has to deliver now too, so we’ve got to make sure it happens.”
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MSR’s technical partner Andretti Global was on pole last year at Long Beach; its top driver was fourth as Rosenqvist gave great chassis information back to assist the three Andretti cars.
“That’s a really important thing for us to be able to do,” Shank said. “It’s a great point that we are now contributing to them and we can help the whole group. That’s what we always wanted. I think we’re becoming more valuable.”
Felix Rosenqvist put Meyer Shank Racing’s No. 60 Honda on pole for the 49th running of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, beating Will Power by 0.0039s. It is the sixth pole of his IndyCar career, but MSR’s first. Team Penske’s Power and Marcus …
Felix Rosenqvist put Meyer Shank Racing’s No. 60 Honda on pole for the 49th running of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, beating Will Power by 0.0039s. It is the sixth pole of his IndyCar career, but MSR’s first.
Team Penske’s Power and Marcus Ericsson of Andretti Global elected to start the Firestone Fast Six on alternate tires, and the Penske driver produced a 1m06.3993s before pitting for a second set of alternates while Ericsson’s first effort was just 0.0046s adrift.
Penske’s Josef Newgarden then grabbed P1 with 1m06.1059, but Rosenqvist jumped to the top with a 1m06.0172s on his fourth lap, despite a huge slide out of Turn 5. Power’s final effort fell less than four thousandths short but was content to end up on the front row, the Australian admitting he couldn’t think of anywhere on the track where he could have done better and shaded Rosenqvist.
Newgarden made it two Penskes in the top three, ahead of Colton Herta and teammate Ericsson — who adopted his teammate’s setup. The only Chip Ganassi Racing entry to make it to Q3, Alex Palou, will start sixth, but set the fastest time of the session in Q2, a 1m05.9103s, which equates to 107mph around the 1.968-mile circuit.
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Christian Lundgaard of Rahal Letterman Lanigan was just two-hundredths short of making it into Q3, but shaded Ganassi’s Scott Dixon, whose teammate Marcus Armstrong — who topped Q1 Group 1 — will roll off ninth.
Defending Long Beach pole winner and race winner Kyle Kirkwood was surprised to get eliminated in Q2 after having been quickest this morning, but dirty air from the car ahead spoiled the final part of his fastest lap, leaving him 10th. Another rapid entry to not make the Firestone Fast Six was the third Penske of Scott McLaughlin, who finished qualifying in 11th, just ahead of Graham Rahal (RLL).
Surprising exclusions in Q1 were Pato O’Ward and Alexander Rossi of Arrow McLaren, who finished seventh in Group 2 and Group 1 respectively. O’Ward sounded puzzled, saying he wasn’t unhappy with the car, it was just slow. Their IndyCar debutant teammate, F2 champion Theo Pourchaire, will start 20th after producing a brave lap that left him only 0.52s off O’Ward.
Neither Rinus VeeKay nor Christian Rasmussen got through to Q2, a disappointing result given the pace the Ed Carpenter Racing cars showed in practice.
Agustin Canapino caused a yellow with a spin in Q1 and lost his best lap, while his Juncos Hollinger Racing teammate Romain Grosjean was only hundredths faster but will start from the eighth row.
Felix Rosenqvist says that his regular presence at the top of the IndyCar times this season is down to the leadership role he has adopted at Meyer Shank Racing. After qualifying on the front row at St. Petersburg and finishing third in the …
Felix Rosenqvist says that his regular presence at the top of the IndyCar times this season is down to the leadership role he has adopted at Meyer Shank Racing. After qualifying on the front row at St. Petersburg and finishing third in the non-championship round at Thermal Club, Rosenqvist ended opening practice at Long Beach in fourth, and the top Honda representative.
After two seasons at Chip Ganassi Racing alongside Scott Dixon, and three at Arrow McLaren partnering Pato O’Ward, Rosenqvist joined Meyer Shank Racing this year as partner to Tom Blomqvist. Although Blomqvist knows the team better having raced for two years in IMSA (winning the title in 2022) and starting three IndyCar races last year as a sub for the injured Simon Pagenaud, he is nonetheless an IndyCar rookie.
Naturally, therefore, Rosenqvist’s five years of experience in the NTT IndyCar Series has meant he spearheads the Meyer Shank’s setup direction on race weekends, and he says he’s reveling in this prominent role.
“Sure, I feel like they’re really behind me, which is huge,” he said. “I mean, I think honestly everywhere I’ve been in IndyCar, I’ve felt good support. Maybe this year it’s a bit different ’cause I have to step into that role.
“I have to trust that my direction is going to be good both for me and Tom. He’s getting up to speed still. He’s a rookie. A lot of these places are new tracks and new experiences for him, where I’m kind of feeding out of what I did in the past.
“It’s been working good so far. I feel like we get it right more times than we don’t. We’re not perfect, obviously. We want to do better. Yeah, it’s been gelling well between us. It’s a rewarding experience, as well, because it’s tough. Pato probably knows what it’s like when you’re the leading driver in the team. It’s also pressure that you want to take the right decision and lead the team in the right direction. Yeah, it’s going really well so far. Happy for them to put that trust behind me.”
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Rosenqvist said it was no surprise that his MSR Honda’s strong pace from St. Pete had carried through to Long Beach.
“I think they’re both kind of in the same family of track,” he said. “They’re fairly smooth for being street courses, if you compare to Toronto and Detroit. They’re the more aggressive ones we go to. Also Nashville…which we’re not going to anymore.
“I think a lot of it [applies] here. We took our package and polished it a little bit for what we need here. It’s essentially more or less the same car…
“We’ve been confident, especially on the street courses. Still kind of learning how to work with each other every run out there. Yeah, happy so far. Solid.”
The 32-year-old Swede also observed some notable improvements in the Long Beach track surface for its 49th Grand Prix, particularly the corner leading onto the back straight.
“Turn 8 was quite a big difference,” he said. “I didn’t actually know it was different. I know they did some modifications, but I didn’t think that was the worst place.
“It’s really nice now. You can carry a ton of speed. I think there’s going to be some interesting onboard footage in qualifying for you to watch, for sure.
“They’ve done a good job. I think even in Turn 5 they did a curve modification that seemed to work well for us.”
Felix Rosenqvist loves the new home he’s made for himself at Meyer Shank Racing. Based on how their first race weekend went from start to finish, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was filled with success as the Swede and his No. 60 Honda …
Felix Rosenqvist loves the new home he’s made for himself at Meyer Shank Racing.
Based on how their first race weekend went from start to finish, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was filled with success as the Swede and his No. 60 Honda crew were fast in every practice session, qualified second, and raced in the lead pack throughout Sunday to start the year with a seventh-place finish.
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It’s the team’s best start to an IndyCar season since the program debuted in 2017, and with rookie teammate Tom Blomqvist showing promise as well, the retooled team is feeling positive about its chances in 2024.
“Me and Jim Meyer and Mike [Shank] talked a lot before the season, and they’re like, ‘Hey, fellas, don’t put pressure on yourself. We need a solid finish in St. Pete to get the season rolling, and if that’s a P3, or P5 or a P12, we don’t care. We just want to get going well here and have something good to build from,’” Rosenqvist told RACER.
“So objective number one was obviously completed to finish and to get good points. Did we believe we were going to be as quick as we were? We surprised ourselves a little bit. And obviously, for me, it was a new position to be in as the team leader, and there was a lot of little things in the background that people can’t see on TV, with some technical issues that were out of our control, but we didn’t panic and we did get P7. Overall, I think that was a super good weekend.”
In typical fashion for the Swede, the highlights were acknowledged and briefly celebrated before turning to the business of making MSR better for the next event.
“We did really good in St. Pete, but it could have been a lot more than it was, which leaves us with a lot of hunger,” he said. “If we did these things a little better and just put together a more polished race, I think we can really be contenders. It’s not that we feel like we nailed it and this is all we can do. It is actually the opposite.
“We’re firing in the same direction and I think we’ll have a good year, but there’ll also be for tough times. We know we have challenges coming at us that will test us, but we’ll have more time together like at Thermal and will have more mileage together so we will be a lot more prepared coming back for the points races at Long Beach and after. We’re all still really new together, but we’re really pumped for where we can take this team.”
Talk about a great first day on the job. Felix Rosenqvist was signed by the Meyer Shank Racing team many months ago, but the part that matters most-the on-track performance side-is where the real work starts. And in that capacity, MSR’s new leader …
Talk about a great first day on the job. Felix Rosenqvist was signed by the Meyer Shank Racing team many months ago, but the part that matters most—the on-track performance side—is where the real work starts.
And in that capacity, MSR’s new leader sprung a welcome surprise to start the new season by running towards the front of the 75-minute opening practice session at St. Petersburg and sealing his debut with a lap that was massively faster than anyone else in the 27-car field. For a team that suffered through a rough 2023 season, it was a long overdue shot of adrenaline for the Honda-powered squad.
“I’m really happy about that,” Rosenqvist said. “The team has just been super, super nice. And you know, it’s obviously a smaller group, which is good, I think, because it’s just so much easier to get to know everyone and get up to speed quickly. A super good start.”
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The 32-year-old from Sweden spent the last three years with the high-profile Arrow McLaren team, and while he had some success there, expectations from both sides weren’t met as the team’s direction on chassis setup did not match Rosenqvist’s needs until the latter stages of their relationship.
With MSR tied to Andretti Technologies for race engineering, chassis setup info, and dampers for both cars, Rosenqvist has found himself quite pleased with the MSR-Andretti IndyCar package.
“I think it’s also no secret when I went to McLaren, there was a big learning curve with a car and obviously I was a bit worried that it was going to be the same here,” he said. “But it’s been a direct opposite. Like, it clicked from lap one and with the [limited] amount of testing we have, that is super important because you really don’t have time to learn the car.”
On the flip side of the MSR garage… Marshall Pruett
Rosenqvist’s shot to P1 was countered by a problematic start to the event for his rookie teammate Tom Blomqvist who spent a long stretch of time at the start of the session parked on pit lane. With a leak in the gearbox spotted by the team, the 30-year-old Briton sat in the car while the No. 66 crew pulled the gear cluster out of the transmission, inspected everything, and then reinstalled and resealed the unit.
It left him playing from behind, and where Rosenqvist was able to turn 24 laps, Blomqvist was limited to 14 and placed 25th as a result of the issue.
MEYER SHANK RACING No. 60 Honda: Felix Rosenqvist (12th in 2023 championship with Arrow McLaren) No. 66 Honda: Tom Blomqvist (rookie) Mean streets The last two seasons haven’t been kind to Meyer Shank Racing. In losing Jack Harvey to Rahal Letterman …
MEYER SHANK RACING
No. 60 Honda: Felix Rosenqvist (12th in 2023 championship with Arrow McLaren)
No. 66 Honda: Tom Blomqvist (rookie)
Mean streets
The last two seasons haven’t been kind to Meyer Shank Racing. In losing Jack Harvey to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing after 2021 and going full-time with Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud in 2022, the team’s grand expectations for the ex-Penske drivers were never met. We know about Pagenaud’s genuinely sad ending to his season last year with the brake failure and giant crash at Mid-Ohio, but there were underlying issues long before that happened.
In the team’s technical alliance with Andretti Global where chassis setup info, dampers, and race engineers are supplied for both MSR cars, Andretti’s downturn in performance in 2022 and again in 2023 was also felt by MSR. Andretti’s cars have been quick in preseason testing, and the same goes for MSR, so whatever was missing over the last two years just might have been found, and that should improve the fortunes of newcomer Felix Rosenqvist and the returning rookie Tom Blomqvist.
Rosenqvist has Dave Seyffert as Andretti’s returning race engineer for the No. 60, and Blomqvist has Andretti’s Ron Barhorst, who made his IndyCar race engineering debut last year with Devlin DeFrancesco, in charge of the No. 66.
It’s been a long, long time since driver talent could compensate for setup shortcomings — where trying harder and taking big risks would reduce the gap — but that isn’t really possible with a chassis that’s been around since 2012 where the difference between first and last is a tiny amount of time. MSR’s drivers will go as well as their cars allow, but there’s also a lot for the team to clean up under its tent, and on pit lane, that has nothing to do with Andretti.
And that’s another area of optimism for MSR. It didn’t want to step away from IMSA for the year, but they’ve had no choice after Acura consolidated its GTP programs under the WTRAndretti banner. Mike Shank and Jim Meyer have kept the entire IMSA team on the payroll — with the hope of returning to IMSA in 2025 — so in the meantime, plenty of its championship-winning sports car crew members have been sprinkled into the IndyCar program.
In recent years, MSR’s IndyCar outfit has been a fixture in the midfield, unable to reach its potential, while over in IMSA, MSR was one of the big teams that was hard to beat. Bringing some of the people and that winning culture from IMSA over to IndyCar should make for a better and cleaner season, and if the technical alliance is paying dividends, MSR should get back to their pre-2022 form and make a noticeable impression on the championship.
Rosenqvist is ready to embrace the role of team leader. Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment
The Felix factor
The Arrow McLaren team loved Felix Rosenqvist. His prior team, Chip Ganassi Racing, also loved Felix. At Ganassi, he was the No. 2 to Scott Dixon and at Arrow McLaren, he was the No. 2 to Pato O’Ward. Entering his sixth IndyCar season, the 32-year-old from Sweden is the No. 1 driver for the first time in his career, and he’s primed to thrive in that position.
Castroneves and Pagenaud were leaders within the MSR due to their past accomplishments and tenure in the sport. But it’s hard to point to the Brazilian or the Frenchman and say either fully embraced a team leader role all year long. That’s been the difference here with Rosenqvist, who is a regular presence at the shop, on Zoom calls, and is taking an active role in any and all areas he can find. This is someone who wants to lead, speak loudly when necessary, offer support and guidance to Blomqvist, and whose playful-but-serious personality is a wonderful fit for MSR.
He’s the right guy arriving at the right time for this team.
Tommy Blom in bloom
Blomqvist’s unexpected call-up to fill in for the injured Pagenaud at a few IndyCar races last year presented the 30-year-old Briton with a physical issue to address during the offseason. The 2022 IMSA DPi champion was sports car-fit, but not IndyCar-fit, and with a lot more downforce to wrangle in an Indy car that doesn’t have power steering, Blomqvist’s core and arms were burning wrecks after some of the races.
So he went to work and put on nine pounds of muscle, increasing his body weight by 6.2 percent from 143 pounds to 152 pounds, all to help his ability to mount sustained attacks against the steering wheel for an entire race.
Hello Helio
And don’t forget we have Castroneves, the ageless 48-year-old, who’s take a minority ownership role with MSR, will be trackside throughout the season working with sponsors and mentoring the drivers, and resuming his “Drive for 5” at the Indy 500 in a third entry.
Tom Blomqvist had no problems wrestling IMSA GTP and LMP2 cars around the world, but with his sudden nomination to compete in the NTT IndyCar Series, the Briton realized the physical demands placed on him were unlike anything he’d previously …
Tom Blomqvist had no problems wrestling IMSA GTP and LMP2 cars around the world, but with his sudden nomination to compete in the NTT IndyCar Series, the Briton realized the physical demands placed on him were unlike anything he’d previously experienced.
With team owners Mike Shank and Jim Meyer nominating the 30-year-old to move from their IMSA program to a full-time role in their No. 66 Honda Indy car, Blomqvist used the offseason to transform his workout routine and focus on building the upper body strength required to overpower the steering wheel which, unlike in IMSA, does not have power steering to assist in the turning the car.
More than 4500 pounds of downforce can be applied to an Indy car on road and street courses, and to ensure muscle endurance and fatigue wasn’t an issue, Blomqvist took his lithe 143-pound frame and added nine pounds of muscle to reach 152 lbs as he arrives in St. Petersburg.
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“It was such a shock to the system the first time; I think I underestimated it,” Blomqvist told RACER. “I did not expect to be dropped partway through my IMSA campaign into IndyCar, and in sports cars, it actually pays to be on the lighter side because not every team can meet the weight limit there, so the lighter you are as a the driver, it’s just free lap time. And I’m not a big guy from the start; I’m quite a slim dude.
“I’ve put in more work on my torso and arms to bulk up for what the Indy car asks of you, and the biggest thing for me is just getting in so many calories if you want to put on like muscle mass. You obviously have to work hard in the gym and stuff like that, but equally, in doing so you need to eat! The gym part has been easy. The hardest thing was getting the calories in.”
If Blomqvist needs to continue gaining muscle, he’ll do so in concert with a new addition to his diet that isn’t fun to consume.
“I take these shakes that are 1200 calories, which make me feel gross, but that’s the way to get the food in without doing big meals, and worked for me,” he said. “I started doing that for a month and slowly started to put on weight until I got to nine pounds. For someone like me who doesn’t weigh a lot in the first place, it’s pretty good. But I’ve still got to keep chipping away at it because I plateaued recently.”
Pounding the pavement at Sebring verified for Blomqvist the benefits of his off-season bulk-up. Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment
His first test in an Indy car came in late 2022 when MSR gave him a run on Sebring’s short course. Returning to test there last week after his IndyCar-specific physical changes produced a welcome confirmation.
“It was quite cool going back to Sebring and seeing where I’ve came since the very first time I drove the car; it’s night and day difference, which obviously gives me a lot of confidence on that side of things,” he said. “But nothing prepares you like driving. You obviously can do a global increase in muscle mass, working on the muscles you typically use, but the driving is what makes the final gains.
“But I felt so much better and didn’t feel like it was a limitation anymore. I’m just gonna keep improving as the season goes on, anyway. These are probably the most physical racing cars in the most physical racing series out there. It’s a physical beast.”
Colin Braun, Tom Blomqvist and Helio Castroneves sent Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian out with a bang, delivering the team’s third win of the season in the 26th Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, while Pipo Derani and …
Colin Braun, Tom Blomqvist and Helio Castroneves sent Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian out with a bang, delivering the team’s third win of the season in the 26th Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, while Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims claimed the drivers title for Whelen Engineering Cadillac Racing after their chief rivals for the title were eliminated one by one.
The race and the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP title turned on Filipe Albuquerque’s final attack on Pipo Derani for the championship with an hour to go in the 10-hour race. With Renger van der Zande leading in the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R, which had been the strongest car throughout most of the day, Derani was running second in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R. Albuquerque was right behind in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06. Those two were the last teams standing in the championship fight, and Albuquerque had to get past Derani to win the championship for he and Ricky Taylor.
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Getting a run out of Turn 12, Albuquerque went left into Turn 1 as Derani defended and was alongside as they turned in. But stuck on the outside and running out of room at the exit, Albuquerque’s fate was sealed with contact between the two cars. The Acura sailed off the track and into the tire barrier on the outside of Turn 1. The crash sent Albuquerque to the hospital for observation before he was evaluated and released, and effectively decided the title in favor of Derani and Alexander Sims.
“I think that he was a little bit too optimistic when there was still an hour to go,” said Derani. “We’ve seen that going through the outside of Turn 1 never really works. It happened last year with two Cadillacs, unfortunately. But over and over again, you try and go on the outside and just lose grip.
“He tried and he came in very aggressively trying to cut me off to the inside, obviously trying to search for grip. But I was there and we touched and he went off. That’s unfortunate for him. I hope he’s feeling OK; obviously that’s the most important.”
But as much as deciding the championship, it set up a dramatic shift in the final result of the race. During the ensuing full-course caution – one of 13 during the race and made longer by necessary wall repairs – half of the frontrunners pitted for energy.
However van der Zande – who already had more time than the others since his last pit stop – as well as Colin Braun in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06, Harry Tincknell in the No. 59 Proton Competition Porsche 963 and Mike Rockenfeller in the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports 963, all stayed out to maintain track position.
That set up the final pass for the lead on the restart. Braun swept around the outside as van der Zande was trying to save energy. A couple of additional cautions in the final 30 minutes, including one that ended the race, curtailed the racing and helped the cars that didn’t pit make it to the end. The No. 01 Cadillac prepared by Chip Ganassi Racing finished second, with Tincknell, Gianmaria Bruni and Neel Jani delivering the first podium for a privateer Porsche team as the No. 59 Proton Competition Porsche 963 finished third.
“I took it real easy on that last restart, took a long time just to save as much fuel as I can,” explained van der Zande. “That’s why we were so slow going down to the restart. I don’t know where Colin got that grip from, but he had massive grip and sent it on the inside and he made the corner, I didn’t expect that, but hats off for that move.”
“I knew it was gonna be kind of all to play for and I thought if we could get clean air, we were going to be in good shape,” added Braun. “So I just kind of put it all on the line. We didn’t have a whole lot to lose, and I think they were kind of in the same boat with the championship.
“So I knew it was going to be a big commitment. And yeah, it was awesome. It was nice to make it happen. Then, yeah, I just kind of put my head down and tried to hold on.”
The result was victory for Braun, Tom Blomqvist and Helio Castroneves in what is MSR’s last IMSA race for the foreseeable future, the second Acura next year being run by WTRAndretti and Blomqvist moving to the IndyCar Series side of the MSR operation. It was an impressive feat considering the team was two laps down at one point in the race after contact with the Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 required replacing a toe link on the MSR Acura.
“It’s incredible,” declared Blomqvist. “I think good things happen to good guys and you know, I think that’s going to be more true. We’ve won three races this year. Obviously, we don’t have a championship, but I couldn’t be more proud and, at the same time, grateful to have spent these last two seasons with this team.
“We’ve done a lot together, won some good races, and it’s just such a good team atmosphere. It’s like a family and they work hard, they never give up.”
Fifth was enough to give the No. 31 Cadillac the title. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images
Derani ended up bringing the No. 31 V-Series.R home in fifth, more than enough to secure the championship. It was Derani’s and the team’s second championship in three years, he and Felipe Nasr taking the 2021 DPi championship after a similar late-race battle with a WTR Acura. It was the first prototype championship for Sims, who moves back to racing a Corvette in GTD PRO next season,
“It’s so much personal sacrifice by every member of the team,” said Sims. “It’s the non-glamorous side that really is necessary, but hugely, hugely appreciated by everyone that puts effort into getting the car into a position where we’ve been competitive every single race.
“It’s been a crazy season, as always in IMSA. It’s been so many highs, a few lows – as with every team – but it’s a really, really emotional moment to tie up the championship and thanks goes to Cadillac, Action Express, Whelen, these two guys next to me that have carried me most of the year. It’s been mega.”
Four teams came into the championship with a solid shot at the championship, the top three in a virtual tie. However, one by one they were eliminated.
The first was the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 of Nick Tandy, Mathieu Jaminet and Laurens Vanthoor, through no fault of Tandy who was at the wheel at the time. Dennis Andersen in the No. 20 High Class Racing ORECA LMP2 car made light contact with Charles Scardina in the No. 023 Triarsi Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, sending the Ferrari spinning across track into Brendan Iribe’s No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren, which then struck Tandy’s Porsche.
The 963 ended up stuck in the gravel. While it was fished out and returned to the paddock, by the time the car was repaired it was too many laps down to have any hope for the championship.
At one point the No. 7 PPM 963 squad of Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr was leading the championship when the other contenders were mired down the order. Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly also had their brief taste of glory. While their No. 25 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8 made it to the end, it was behind the No. 31 and no threat for the championship. Once Albuquerque crashed, all the No. 31 team had to do was finish sixth or better to secure the title.
Crowdstrike Racing took the LMP2 MEC title with their win. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images
George Kurtz, Ben Hanley and Nolan Siegel won LMP2 in the No. 04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR ORECA over the No. 35 TDS Racing entry of Giedo van der Garde, John Falb and Josh Pierson and the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA of Ben Keating, Paul-Loup Chatin and Alex Quinn. The victory secured the Michelin Endurance Cup title for Kurtz and Hanley as well as the Trueman Award and the Le Mans entry that comes with it for Kurtz.
“We had to have a lot go right to win the overall championship, but the two things we were focused on was the endurance championship and the big one was a Le Mans entry,” said Kurtz. “So at the end of the race, just 20 minutes left, you never think there’s going to be a green flag to the end and there’s so many emotions going through your mind. I have to give so much credit to my co-drivers and the team did a fantastic job.”
Keating, Chatin and Quinn had battled all race long with the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA, whose full season drivers Steven Thomas and Mikkell Jensen were Keating and Chatin’s main rivals for the championship. Whichever team finished ahead of the other would take the title. Jensen was chasing Chatin as the sun was setting, but threw the No. 11 off track, ending their race and assuring Keating and Chatin of the championship.
Gar Robinson had already settled the final LMP3 title, but he, Felipe Fraga and Josh Burdon still wanted to win the race in the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier. They were leading with only minutes left when Garett Grist in the No. 30 Jr III Racing Ligier made a move for the lead resulting in contact that sent the No. 74 to the pits with a cut tire.
“I had a good run in Turn 7, I was catching up on the backstraight in his draft, and I knew it was probably going to be my best chance before we hit traffic to make the move,” explained Grist. “I think he was probably a bit surprised I sent it from that far back, but I was a long way up beside him once we got to apex. Unfortunately there was contact and he got a puncture; obviously, I don’t want that to happen, but I think it was my best opportunity so I took it.”
The result was victory for Grist, Dakota Dickerson and Bijoy Garg, the latter two getting their first victory in the WeatherTech Championship. Matthew Bell, Orey Fidani and Lars Kern were second in the No. 13 AWA Duqueine, and the Riley Motorsports squad ended up third.
Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian went out with a bang, taking victory in the 26th Motul Petit Le Mans in the team’s last IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race for the foreseeable future. During a late-race yellow, in a race punctuated …
Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian went out with a bang, taking victory in the 26th Motul Petit Le Mans in the team’s last IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race for the foreseeable future. During a late-race yellow, in a race punctuated by 13 full-course cautions, the team kept the No. 60 Acura ARX-06 out to gain track position, and Colin Braun swept around leader Renger van der Zande on a restart to take the lead and eventually the win for him, Tom Blomqvist and Helio Castroneves.
“It’s amazing with all the crap this team has been through this year. It’s too much. It’s just too much,” said team principal Mike Shank, his voice breaking.
While the victory brought MSR into spitting distance of the championship, it was Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims taking the title for Whelen Engineering Cadillac Racing as their competitors took themselves out one by one. They finished sixth in the No. 31 V-Series.R with Jack Aitken, but it was enough to take the title, Derani and the team’s second in three years.
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Ben Hanley, George Kurtz and Nolan Siegel won LMP2 in the No. 04 Crowdstrike by APR ORECA, delivering the Michelin Endurance Cup title to Kurtz and Hanely, as well as the Trueman Award for Kurtz. The championship went to Ben Keating and Paul-Loup Chatin, who finished third with Alex Quinn in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA after their chief rivals TDS Racing crashed out.
A late-race tangle between Garret Grist and Felipe Fraga in the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier decide the LMP3 contest in favor of Grist, Dakota Dickerson and Bijoy Garg in the No. 30 Jr III Racing Ligier. Fraga’s co-driver Gar Robinson had already claimed the championship by taking the start.
Daniel Juncadella held off Pfaff Motorsports’ Patrick Pilet to take the GTD PRO win for he and WeatherTech Racing teammates Jules Gounon and Maro Engel in the No. 79 Mercedes AMG, bookending their season with endurance race victories and delivering Juncadella and Gounon the Michelin Endurance Cup championship.
Loris Spinelli, Misha Goikhberg and Patrick Liddy took the first win for Forte Racing Powered by US RaceTronics in the No. 78 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2. A late-race incident that brought out the final full-course caution upended the GTD fight, taking out the second-place runner at the time, Jan Heylen in the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, with dramatic flames.
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.”
