Pataskala, Ohio (23 April 2024) – The last thing a hot team wants is a break in the schedule, and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES calendar complied as Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) heads to Alabama following a successful weekend where the team earned its first-ever INDYCAR pole and another top-10 finish to start the young season.
Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda) etched himself in MSR lore last Saturday when he paced qualifying at Long Beach, before finishing ninth in the race, marking the first time in its 123 series’ starts that the MSR colors led the field to the green flag.
This week the pairing of Rosenqvist and Tom Blomqvist (No. 66 AutoNation / Arctic Wolf Honda) will trade the narrow streets of Long Beach to the relatively wide-open spaces of Barber Motorsports Park, for Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix (1:00pm ET, NBC, SiriusXM Ch. 218).
Rosenqvist has started his MSR career in style, qualifying on the front row in St. Petersburg, then leading his qualifying session at the exhibition event at The Thermal Club before taking the NTT P1 Award last weekend at Long Beach.
Blomqvist has continued to show improvement in his rookie campaign, again setting a new personal best last week by starting 15th before coming home in 22nd.
The 17-turn Alabama road course has never been an easy one for MSR as the team has yet to start or finish in the top 10 on the 2.3-mile circuit. Simon Pagenaud made up 13 positions to finish 11th in 2022, which matched Jack Harvey’s team best in . Rosenqvist, who is seventh in the 2024 series’ standings, has shown his ability to learn at Barber as he set a new personal mark by finishing ninth there a year ago, the best result in his four previous starts.
Although Blomqvist will be making his first career start at Barber, he is heading into the weekend with a Barber test session under his belt. Barber will be Blomqvist’s fourth new track since making his series debut last year in Toronto.
Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix will air on NBC and Peacock starting at 1 p.m. ET. Saturday’s qualifying will be shown live on Peacock beginning at 3:30 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: “We tested there a couple of weeks ago, which is helpful. It’s good to have that under your belt going into the race weekend where most of the teams haven’t. I still think it’s a track that we pointed out that we want to work on. I feel pretty good about it, I’m not 100% that our package will be as strong as it was here, but I think we have a good baseline to work with. First road course of the season and I’m excited to see how the car is going to feel.”
Tom Blomqvist: “There’s no better way to put a bad weekend behind you then getting thrown into another one. I’m really excited that we can roll straight into Barber. I’ve tested there in IndyCar, so it’s the first track that I’ve come into with some limited INDYCAR experience which I am excited about; although it is a challenging, big commitment track. I actually really enjoyed driving there. Let’s see if we can continue to make those small steps in the right direction.
