Pataskala, Ohio (9 July 2024) – Just one week after the NTT INDYCAR SERIES broke new ground by running a new hybrid powerplant for the first time ever, the series throws another new wrinkle at its teams this weekend as it will run its first doubleheader of the 2024 season with two weekend races to be held at the .875-mile Iowa Speedway oval in Newton, Iowa.
Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) started the hybrid era in fine fashion last weekend at Mid-Ohio with David Malukas (No. 66 AutoNation / Arctic Wolf Honda) matching a career-best qualifying result when he started third on the grid. Both he and Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda) finished on the lead lap and in the top 14, as MSR continues to demonstrate speed and reliability on race weekend.
Rosenqvist has led the team’s efforts thus far in 2024, earning MSR’s first INDYCAR SERIES pole position and scoring a half-dozen top-10 qualifying results through the year’s first nine points-paying races and is currently ninth in the season point standings.
MSR has two top-10 finishes to its name at Iowa Speedway, including a pair of seventh-place results coming in the 2020 doubleheader. Its current driver lineup does bring cause for optimism, as both drivers have shown well in recent visits.
Rosenqvist has seven Iowa starts with a trio of top-10 finishes to his credit. He has led in two of those starts and his best finish of fourth came in the Sunday race in last year’s doubleheader. Malukas has four starts at Iowa with three of those being from the top 10 and has turned those into a pair of top-eight finishes.
MSR recently announced its latest collaboration with SiriusXM which will showcase Eric Church’s Outsiders Radio SiriusXM channel on the No. 60 MSR machine for the double-header race weekend. The country music star will see the livery up close and personal in the MSR garages on Saturday before the first of two races at Iowa Speedway. Following Saturday’s Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart, Eric Church will play a special performance to close out the first day of INDYCAR race action.
The Outsiders Radio channel launched back in 2022, showcasing music from Church’s career, including his vast catalog of nearly two decades that has earned him seven ACM awards, four CMA Awards and 10 GRAMMY nominations.
Teams will qualify for the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 at 3:45pm ET on Saturday with the first of the weekend’s two races set for an 8:00pm ET start. Sunday’s race starts less than 15 hours later, with the race broadcast set for Noon ET. Both races will be carried live on NBC and Peacock. The races, along with all other INDYCAR action can be heard live on SiriusXM Channel 218.
Meyer Shank Racing Driver Quotes:
Felix Rosenqvist: “It’s a double-header and a very tough track. They repaved it so it’s going to be very physical – I think that is going to be the name of the game as far as talking with some of the other drivers. Big physical challenge, but we’ll just have to make sure we are well-prepared and hydrated and maybe get a good massage after the first race. It’s normally a very good race at an exciting track, so I’m ready to get out there.”
David Malukas: “I’m really excited to go into Iowa. It’s going to be a doubleheader and of course ovals are something that I am more used to and more comfortable with. We got a test at Iowa and the car was really quick. The team has had some good results at Mid-Ohio and Laguna so I think the next jump would be to continue that and get some good results in Iowa.”
