Tag: Michael Shank

‘We needed each other’ – Shank on MSR’s first pole with Rosenqvist

“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.”

Michael Shank stepping back from strategy role

Michael Shank has been a fixture on timing stands since the 1990s, calling the shots for his racing programs dating back to his early days running cars in the Atlantic Championship. That practice continued when his team moved into the Grand-Am Rolex …

Michael Shank has been a fixture on timing stands since the 1990s, calling the shots for his racing programs dating back to his early days running cars in the Atlantic Championship. That practice continued when his team moved into the Grand-Am Rolex Series, and IMSA, and IndyCar, but as his responsibilities have increased outside of the competition department, the Ohioan has decided it’s time for a change.

Shank is set to take a step back in that race strategy role with the Meyer Shank Racing IndyCar team and hand those duties over to MSR’s George Klotz, who will take Shank’s radio and headset and lead the strategy for rookie Tom Blomqvist on the No. 66 Honda. MSR’s founder and co-owner won’t be missing from pit lane altogether, but he says it’s the right time to transition off of the frontline and into a supporting role when his cars are on track.

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“I’ll still be on the stand on Tom’s stand with George, but George will call strategy, and I’ll be there to just support him,” Shank told RACER. “I’m not going anywhere. But I would like to see if we can make an improvement over me in that that department, and George has a lot of experience there with when he was at Andretti and some more teams he’s worked for.

“And he wanted to get back to calling strategy; that was his desire. And I want to try to back off of it a little bit, so it was perfect timing for it. We’re hoping he’s better than me and I’d like to make a gain there if we could get it.”

Shank sees the potential benefits of untethering himself from leading a major competition role with one of his two entries.

“I want to really focus on our partnerships, and be a little bit more flexible on the pit lane and go between the cars or hospitality unit or whatever I need to make sure our partners are being taken care of,” he said.

“But I’m still that competitive guy who loves being a part of the racing action so I’m not going to quite jump off right away. I’m going to stay there on the stand with Tom for a while. It may not be all year, but I’ve got full confidence in George and all of our team, for that matter, to do excellent jobs whether I’m in the thick of things, or not.”