Second consecutive top ten INDYCAR finish for Harvey
Newton, IA. (18 July 2020) – Race two of two kicked off on Saturday evening at Iowa Speedway as Meyer Shank Racing driver Jack Harvey once again delivered a strong race pace with the No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda, coming home with another seventh place finish to close out the NTT INDYCAR Iowa double-header race weekend.
Four flawless pit stops and continued improvements around the .875-mile ‘bull ring’ gave Harvey a competitive advantage as he made his INDYCAR debut at Iowa Speedway.
Having finished seventh in the Friday night race, Harvey took the green flag in sixth position which was determined during Friday’s qualifying session. A quick jump at the green bumped Harvey up to fifth during the opening stint.
A well-balanced Honda-powered machine gave Harvey the confidence to make several passes along the bumpy and non-stop circuit. Meyer Shank Racing strategy called by team co-owner Mike Shank, brought Harvey into pit lane twice before the first full course caution on lap 115. The team took advantage of the yellow flag to make a third pit stop under yellow on lap 120 to stay on the lead lap.
Harvey’s final pit stop on lap 172 would give him a fresh set of Firestone Racing tires and a full tank of fuel which brought him to the finish. Running 78 final laps on one set of tires was a battle of its own, but that strategy call allowed Harvey to stay in the fray and continue his pursuit to the front.
Utilizing his tools to hang onto the No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda, Harvey matched his Race 1 results from Friday, to finish seventh.
“I thought that was a really solid weekend for Meyer Shank Racing,” said Harvey. “If you would have said before this weekend we’d have two seventh place finishes and two top tens in qualifying, we’d have taken that for sure. I’m so proud of everyone at Meyer Shank Racing who have had constant and relentless determination to have a good season. We’re just going to keep rolling with our momentum into the bossman’s home race at Mid-Ohio in a few weeks.”
The solid weekend was a well-received outcome after the Meyer Shank Racing squad opened the 2020 season with remarkable qualifying pace from Harvey, but lacked the racing luck to convert that into big results. Harvey and Meyer Shank Racing will now look forward to the next round of IndyCar action at the team’s home track, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
“We really needed a weekend like we had to get back on track,” said Meyer Shank Racing co-owner Mike Shank. “Jack really did a great job. These weekends don’t give you much track time so you’re just kind of thrown into it all and have to learn quickly, but Jack had no issues with that. The guys had great stops today and our strategy worked in our favor. Having two top ten qualifying runs and two top ten race results really puts us back in the game. I’m very pleased with this weekend.”
After a busy few weeks of three consecutive INDYCAR races, the team will have two weeks before they head to Meyer Shank Racing’s home track at Mid-Ohio on August 9th for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio.
Ahead of that INDYCAR outing, Meyer Shank Racing will return to IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship action at Road America on August 2nd.
