Madison, Ill. (16 August 2022) – Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) will be looking for a strong finish to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES as the season enters the homestretch with Saturday evening’s running of the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway (6:00pm ET, USA/Peacock, SiriusXM Ch. 160).
Simon Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves will drive the two MSR Honda-powered entries for the 260-lap race on the tight 1.25-mile egg-shaped oval located in the St. Louis suburbs.
Following Saturday’s race, only the events at Portland (Sept. 4) and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (Sept. 11) remain on the 2022 schedule.
Both Pagenaud and Castroneves are coming off a short weekend off following a rough and tumble race on the streets of Nashville which saw Pagenaud race to ninth – while racing with a broken damper – and Castroneves to 13th.
MSR is now prepping for the fourth and final oval race of the season set for this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Pagenaud is going into the weekend with a strong record at WWTR with the Frenchman racing six times at the circuit originally known as Gateway International Raceway. He led 14 laps, with his best finish third in his debut race in 2017. Pagenaud also finished fourth in 2018 and fifth in 2019. Last year, he started fourth and finished eighth, finishing on the lead lap.
Similarly Castroneves has had several strong finishes at WWTR and is a former winner at Gateway. After placing second in his 2002 IndyCar debut, he won the 2003 race from the pole. His lone race since then was in 2017, when he started third and finished fourth. He completed a perfect 648 laps in the three races, leading 233 of them. Castroneves also ran in three Champ Car events at the circuit, finishing second after starting third in 1999.
MSR made it’s debut at WWTR in 2020 for a double-header race weekend. The team brought home 11th and 13th place finishes in 2020. Last year’s outing saw the team race to a top ten finish.
Saturday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 will be broadcast live on USA and Peacock starting at 6:00pm ET. SiriusXM will also host live IndyCar Radio coverage on XM Ch. 160.
Driver Quotes:
Simon Pagenaud:
“World Wide technology Raceway in St. Louis is a really interesting event because it’s a short oval, very fast and it’s the only event that we run at night. It’s very enjoyable, great racing and it’s always very tight and it’s a street fight I like to say. I’ve had some good races there – and also some not so good race there. I’m looking forward to going there with Meyer Shank Racing and try to push as far as we can and execute. We’ve improved so much every weekend, I’m very hopeful for this one.”
Helio Castroneves:
“Wow, I’m so excited to head back to Gateway. My first race there was actually in 1999 and I finished second. I lost to Michael Andretti and that was such a cool race. I love the track – it’s fun, it’s difficult. I can’t wait to go back after so many years [4 years], we are going to have a great time.”
