Lundqvist back with MSR as stand in for Simon Pagenaud
Pataskala, Ohio (21 August 2023) – With the end of the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season nearing its end, Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) has shown solid improvements in qualifying and race results over the last month and is hoping to continue that string of results through the next three races of the season.
The final stretch will begin with Sunday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 (3:30pm ET, NBC, SXM Ch. 160), to be run on the 1.25-mile World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR) near St. Louis.
Sunday’s 260-lap race will be the last oval race of the ’23 season but may be a welcome sight for MSR’s Helio Castroneves. The driver of the No. 06 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda has carded his best results of the year on the circular layouts, qualifying a season-best eighth in Iowa and setting a high-water race-day mark of 10th on the Texas Motor Speedway oval.
As is the case with many tracks on the INDYCAR circuit, the Brazilian has had success on the egg-shaped track formerly known at Gateway. Castroneves won from pole there while leading 96 laps in 2003 and finished third in two other starts. The four-time Indianapolis 500 champion only has four starts on the WWTR oval but has led more than 50 laps in three of those starts.
As was the case in Nashville and two weeks ago on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, Castroneves will partner with rookie Linus Lundqvist, as the Swedish driver stands in for the injured Simon Pagenaud for the third consecutive race.
Lundqvist (No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda) will be making his first-ever INDYCAR oval start, but he has visited WWTR on three occasions during his two years in the INDY NXT by Firestone series, winning the pole in 2022.
Sunday’s 260-lap race will air on NBC starting at 3:30 pm ET. Qualifying takes place on Saturday, August 26, beginning at 2 pm ET with live coverage on Peacock. SiriusXM will also host live race coverage on XM Ch. 160.
Meyer Shank Racing Driver Quotes:
Helio Castroneves:
“I’m definitely very excited to get back to another oval, they are definitely tracks that I love, especially WWTR. The team has been really picking up the pace these last few races and the No. 06 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda has been great to drive, so I’m confident that we can keep that going this weekend. So far, we’ve had some good results on ovals, so here’s to finishing out the final oval of the season with a good result.”
Linus Lundqvist:
“I’m extremely happy to be joining MSR again in St. Louis this weekend. The last few weekends in Nashville and at Indy have been the time of my life and I can’t wait to continue to work with this team. We’ve been through some challenging race formats – Nashville a street course, Indy a road course, and now St. Louis, an oval. I will be learning once again. I know that it is going to be tough and tricky, but I know the team is going to give me a good car to have a solid result like we had at Indy. I’m also very much looking forward to working with Helio as a teammate. Working with him on an oval is something that every driver would want to do and I’m just going to learn from it as much as I can this weekend.”
