Pataskala, Ohio (15 April 2024) – After a strong start to the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, Meyer Shank Racing is back in action on the streets of Long Beach after nearly a month between points-paying races.
Felix Rosenqvist started the season in St. Petersburg by earning the team’s first front-row starting spot since 2021 with a track-record setting run, and followed that with a podium at the exhibition race at Thermal. The team is also coming off of the the IMS Open Test which was reduced to one day of on track action due to weather in preparation for next month’s Indianapolis 500.
Now, MSR heads to Southern California for Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, which is the longest-running street course event on the series’ calendar (Sunday, 3:00pm ET, USA, SiriusXM Ch. 218).
Rosenqvist, who finished seventh in the season opener, will look to maintain the strong qualifying form he has shown in the No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda after earning front row starts in both St. Pete and Thermal. A repeat performance this week would give the Ohio-based team consecutive front-row starts in points-paying events for the first time since 2020.
Rosenqvist isn’t alone in showing qualifying speed for MSR this year as rookie Tom Blomqvist (No. 66 AutoNation / Arctic Wolf Honda) earned the first top-20 start of his young career in St. Pete on his way to a career-best 17th-place finish. This weekend’s event at Long Beach will be the first venue where Blomqvist has previous experience at, having competed at the 1.968-mile street course in 2022 and 2023 in IMSA competition with MSR.
MSR heads to the iconic event with eight previous INDYCAR Long Beach starts under its belt, including a solid 2021 effort where both its drivers (Jack Harvey and Helio Castroneves) led laps in the race, marking the first time that both MSR pilots paced the field in the same event. Rosenqvist also has a solid history with the race, finishing on the lead lap in each of his four starts, scoring a pair of top-10 results with a best result of seventh coming a year ago.
Sunday’s 85-lap Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will air on USA Network and Peacock starting at 3 p.m. ET. Saturday’s qualifying will be shown live on Peacock beginning at 2:25 p.m. ET. SiriusXM will also host live IndyCar Radio coverage of both sessions on XM Ch. 218.
Meyer Shank Racing Driver Quotes:
Felix Rosenqvist: “The whole team has done really well to kick off the season strongly, and now we’re finally back to a points scoring round and I feel like we are way more prepared than we were a month ago. We trust that we have a good package for Long Beach and have every chance to continue our strong form there.”
Tom Blomqvist: “I’m actually really excited for this one, it’s a track that I know really well from my years in IMSA. Every outing I’ve had in the INDYCAR I am slowly starting to become more comfortable in it. I’m pumped. I feel so much better going into Long Beach compared to how I felt going into St. Pete. Felix has also been doing incredibly well and we’re starting to prove that we have a competitive package. I’m excited and ready to go and feeling a lot more confident and eager to see how we get on.”
