Rosenqvist finishes seventh, Armstrong leads laps but retires early to finish 24th
St. Petersburg, Fla. (2 March 2025) – Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) showed strong pace in the opening round of the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, with both Felix Rosenqvist and Marcus Armstrong running at the sharp end of the field in Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
With race strategy that was anticipated to be influenced by tire choice, both Rosenqvist (No. 60 SiriusXM Honda) and Armstrong (No. 66 SiriusXM / Root Insurance Honda) opted to start on the Firestone primary tires with the goal of building an early gap from the field. But that plan was temporarily hindered with a Lap 1 caution bunching the field together.
Once back to green, Armstrong showcased his speed early on, leading the field before pitting on Lap 35 for a set of Firestone alternate tires. Unfortunately just 10 laps into his second stint minor contact with the wall sent Armstrong into the pit lane for a tire change. One back out on track, further suspension damage was discovered and ended his race prematurely – finishing 24th.
Rosenqvist ran comfortably in the top ten throughout the race with a big push in the final laps as he hunted down the top five and running laps consistent with the leaders. Rosenqvist ultimately crossed the line seventh, giving the No. 60 Honda solid points to start off the season.
The season opener was also highlighted by MSR and SiriusXM’s first artist collaboration of the season. MSR kicked off race day with a special appearance from Shinedown members, Zach Myers and Barry Kerch who got to see the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda which featured both SiriusXM’s Octane (channel 37) and Shinedown.
The team now shifts its focus to the next round of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, aiming to build on the promising pace shown in St. Petersburg.
Meyer Shank Racing Driver Quotes:
Felix Rosenqvist: “I think it was a pretty decent day, we had a quick car. We were on the black tire at the start and the worst that could have happened was a yellow at the start and that’s literally what happened. I think, considering that, I’m happy with the seventh. I honestly thought it was going to be worse. It was a good recovery, I think there is nothing to be upset about, we went for a strategy that didn’t work out and we will learn from it and move on. But, an exciting start to the year, good pace and I feel more excited about the pace that we showed this year compared to last, so that exciting.”
Marcus Armstrong: “It was really unfortunate to not be able to finish the race. We had some really good pace in the No. 66 SiriusXM / Root Insurance Honda. I felt like we were strong on both tires. I was on a really good run on the greens and feel like we could have gone pretty long on those which would have put us in a position to potentially fight for the lead had we kept that pace. Unfortunate way to start the season, but I think we showed the speed that we have as a team and we have a lot to look forward to the rest of the season.”
