Indianapolis, Ind. (18 May 2025) – Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) worked at both ends of the grid in Sunday’s final NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying sessions for next Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, and not only got a trio of cars qualified for the Memorial Day classic for the second straight year, but the team also earned its best-ever Indy 500 starting position with a strong qualifying effort.
Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 SiriusXM Honda) earned his fourth consecutive top-10 starting spot for the 500 and the first-ever top-five qualifying result on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval for the Ohio-based team as he claimed the fifth position on the grid.
The veteran was the last driver to run in the Firestone Fast Six on a sunny Sunday in Indianapolis and came away with a four-lap average speed of 231.987mph, an effort that will put him in the middle of the second row for Sunday’s race.
Rosenqvist earned his place in the pole shootout with a blistering qualifying run in the first session of the day, leading all 12 drivers. The run was capped by the speedy Swede running his fastest lap on his final trip around the 2.5-mile oval (232.621mph / 38.6896sec).
Meanwhile, Rosenqvist’s teammate Marcus Armstrong (No. 66 Spectrum Honda) faced another qualifying run of his own after a Saturday morning crash left him unable to post a time in Saturday’s qualifying. That left the New Zealander to deal with a last-chance shootout Sunday afternoon where four drivers battled for the final three spots in the 33-car field.
Armstrong and MSR answered the bell in style however, rolling first off the qualifying line and posting a four-lap average speed of 229.091mph to secure the 32nd position in the 200-lap race.
Meanwhile, four-time Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves (No. 06 Cleveland-Cliffs Honda), had no drama of his own to deal with on a sunny Sunday, having locked his MSR machine into the 24th starting spot in his quest to become the first driver to ever win five Indy 500 crowns.
The MSR drivers will have two final practice sessions available next week to prepare for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500. Teams will have two hours of practice Monday from 1 – 3 p.m. ET, followed by the final Carb Day practice which takes place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday afternoon. Fans can follow both practices live on FS1. Fox will air the Indianapolis 500 live next Sunday with pre-race coverage beginning at 10 a.m. SiriusXM will also host live INDYCAR Radio coverage on XM Ch. 218.
Meyer Shank Racing Driver Quotes:
Felix Rosenqvist: “Unfortunately only P5, which is still great. I feel like honestly we gave it a really good shot. The car was right on the edge for as comfortable as I could drive it and what we thought was possible today. But I don’t know, we just didn’t have the speed for some reason. But second row is amazing and we will definitely have a good shot at it next Sunday.”
Marcus Armstrong: “Happy that’s over because that was a tough two days. But we’re in the race and I’ve never been so happy to be starting almost last. Great job by the whole MSR crew and HRC to get us in the show. We’ll see what magic we can make happen on race day.”
