Monterey, Calif. (27 July 2025) – Sound strategy and strong pit work saved what could have been a dismal day for Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) at Sunday’s Java House Grand Prix of Monterey, earning the NTT INDYCAR SERIES team its 18th top-10 finish of the year.
Marcus Armstrong (No. 66 ROOT Insurance Honda) led the way for the Ohio-based team, after 95 laps around the famed Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca using strong fuel and tire management to climb from 10th on the starting grid to finish eighth.
Armstrong was on the same three-stop strategy as the lead pack around the 2.238-mile circuit throughout the first 75 laps of the race, a move that vaulted the New Zealand-born driver up to fifth at two points before making stops. Two late-race cautions bunched the field for a pair of restarts but Armstrong was equal to the task, not only fighting off a handful of challengers from the ninth spot, but gaining one of his own with five laps to run, earning the eighth position.
The finish was the seventh top-10 in the last eight races for Armstrong and the ninth top ten for the 66 car of the 2025 season, which is a career-high for the third-year driver.
For Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 SiriusXM Honda) it took just half a lap in his tie-dye Grateful Dead Radio (XM channel 23) -themed machine for his weekend to go from bad to worse. Starting 12th after a qualifying penalty scuttled his front-row chances, the Swedish driver got clouted by a car from behind heading into Turn Six, sending him into the tire barrier and leaving him three laps behind the field.
The team worked hard to replace the damaged front wing and right front toe link and were able to get Rosenqvist back on track, a move that eventually earned him a pair of spots in the final order due to attrition as he came home in 24th.
After five races in four weeks, MSR will finally get a week off before heading back to the West Coast for the Bitnile.com Grand Prix of Portland on August 10. There will be a Friday practice leading to practice 2 and qualifying on Saturday. Sunday’s race will air on FOX starting at 3pm ET. SiriusXM will also host live INDYCAR Radio coverage of all sessions on XM Ch. 218.
Meyer Shank Racing Driver Quotes:
Marcus Armstrong: “It was on ok day in the office. We were a bit locked in on strategy, and it was really the only way we could move forward without being faster than everyone. Luckily at the end we had two new sets of reds to use so we got through a couple of people.”
Felix Rosenqvist: “I don’t know exactly happened, but I got rear-ended in Turn Six, but luckily we were able to keep going and ended up picking up two spots. I have to thank the team for staying with it. It’s just a shame, it was a lot of points we lost.”
