NEWTON, Iowa (July 12, 2025) – Marcus Armstrong (#66 Spectrum Honda) ran one of his most consistent races of the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season and his Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) squad provided solid pit work to earn the young driver a ninth-place finish in Saturday afternoon’s SYNK 275 Powered by Sukup at Iowa Speedway.
Starting 11th after the day’s early afternoon qualifying session, the MSR crew on the #66 machine earned Armstrong four positions with a lightning-quick opening stop, vaulting him into seventh with 200 laps to run around the tricky 0.875-mile oval. The New Zealand-born driver took full advantage of the track position and stayed at the sharp end of the grid for the rest of the afternoon, extending his career-best top-10 streak to five, and his seventh this season.
He had to battle to get it done though, as a crash with 28 laps to go brought out a red flag, bunching the field for a late restart. Armstrong fought off six-time series champion Scott Dixon – and then a second time when a spin forced another yellow with eight laps to run – to secure the ninth-place result. His P9 was also the second-highest finishing Honda in the race.
Meanwhile the day that started so brightly for Felix Rosenqvist (#60 Sirius XM Honda) devolved into a rough outing, starting the Iowa doubleheader weekend with a 17th place finish.
Rosenqvist took the third spot on the starting grid with a lap of 183.635mph in afternoon qualifying, but dropped five spots in the first 50 laps leading to his first pit stop. His trips down pit lane didn’t yield him any gains, as he slipped into the middle of the 27-car field before settling for 17th.
The Swedish driver was rewarded for his tenacity, however, as he moved into a tie for fifth in the Series standings after 11 events. Armstrong’s effort gives him the ninth spot in the Championship chase, putting both MSR drivers in the top 10 in the standings for the second consecutive week.
Rosenqvist has a great opportunity to rebound in tomorrow’s second race of the Iowa doubleheader as his qualifying effort put him P2 and on the outside of the front row for Sunday’s Farm to Finish 275 Powered by Sukup, while Armstrong will start 12th. Rosenqvist’s qualifying success marks MSR’s best-ever qualifying result at Iowa.
Teams and drivers will have less than 18 hours before coming back for Sunday’s race, which starts at 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. The 275-lap event can be seen live on FOX and will also be broadcast live on Sirius XM Channel 218.
Meyer Shank Racing Driver Quotes:
Marcus Armstrong: “It was a lot of work for P9, but I definitely felt more confident towards the end of the race. I didn’t feel like the car balance was perfect, but I think we can make some small adjustments for tomorrow and we’ll be rockin.”
Felix Rosenqvist: “A bit of a tough one. We didn’t really go forward at any point and we lost positions at every restart. Then we had one bad pit stop which cost us another six or seven spots. From there I just couldn’t really go forward. We need to get something better going for tomorrow. We’re starting on the front row for Race 2 and I want to take advantage of that. Luckily we have some time to look at the data and hopefully we’ll come back stronger tomorrow.”
