Long Beach, Calif. (20 September 2021) – It’s been a busy three weeks for Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) it travels down the west coast, first making stops at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Portland International Raceway for the NTT INDYCAR Series.
The team then returned to Laguna Seca last weekend for the penultimate round of the INDYCAR Championship. Now, both MSR programs will reconvene for a big combined weekend of action at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, which will be the second time this season that IMSA and INDYCAR will compete on the same weekend.
Meyer Shank Racing Ready to Represent at Acura’s Home Race
Driver Lineup:
Dane Cameron & Olivier Pla: No. 60 Acura ARX-05 DPi
Tune in:
Saturday, September 25, 5:00pm ET on NBCSN
SiriusXM Ch. 202
Meyer Shank Racing heads into the final sprint race of the IMSA Championship this weekend, competing on the 1.968-mile street course in Long Beach, California. The Acura Grand Prix is a special one with Acura and HPD’s headquarters stationed an hour away in Santa Clarita.
The team is coming off of a fourth-place finish at Laguna Seca after the No. 60 Acura led 55 laps before needing to make a final stop for fuel. Dane Cameron and Olivier Pla will now be looking for redemption this weekend as they tackle the 100-minute race.
The weekend marks Cameron’s seventh start at Long Beach and his third in an Acura DPi. Cameron comes into the weekend with two podium finishes (third in 2016 & 2019) along with a pole position won in 2018.
For Oliver Pla, this will be his first time at Long Beach in seven years after last racing at the track in 2014. Pla started and finished 4th in that race while driving an LMP2 car.
Driver Quotes:
Dane Cameron:
“I’m excited to head back out west for another weekend in California. Long Beach is always a great event and it’s an even more important race for us with it being Acura’s home race. I’ve had some good results at Long Beach in the past, but I’m hoping this weekend we can represent Acura well and give MSR its first win of the season.”
Olivier Pla:
“Long Beach should be an exciting race. It’s been quite a while since I raced there but I love street course racing. We’re going into the weekend with a reset and a clear mind from Laguna and hopefully we can bring home a good result for MSR and Acura.”
Harvey and Castroneves Head Into INDYCAR Season Finale in Long Beach
Driver Lineup:
Jack Harvey: No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda
Helio Castroneves: No. 06 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda
Tune in:
Sunday, September 26, 3:00pm ET on NBCSN
SiriusXM Ch. 205
Meyer Shank Racing will be making its third INDYCAR start on the streets of Long Beach this weekend as the 2021 INDYCAR SERIES comes to a close. Harvey had a strong debut in Long Beach in 2018, finishing 12th in just his third race start with MSR. The 2019 race saw Harvey get caught in a first lap melee, but the team quickly made repairs for Harvey to finish 22nd.
The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will also mark Harvey’s final race with MSR. Harvey was a critical member of MSR’s INDYCAR history, scoring his first top ten finish in St. Petersburg in 2019 and going on to give MSR its first podium finish at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Since 2017, Harvey has made 46 race starts, earning 14 top ten finishes and two front row starts.
Helio Castroneves will be making his sixth INDYCAR start with MSR and returning to a site where he has produced significant results. Castroneves will make his 16th INDYCAR start in Long Beach on Sunday and brings with him two wins in 1997 and 2001. The Brazilian’s last INDYCAR race in Long Beach was in 2017 where he finished ninth.
Castroneves additionally made two starts in IMSA competition in 2018 and 2019 which saw him finish sixth and second respectively.
Driver Quotes:
Jack Harvey:
“I think the weekend itself is probably going to be a mix of emotions. I’m extremely grateful for my time at Meyer Shank Racing. I’m exceptionally proud of what we’ve achieved together, from being a one-time Indy 500 effort to being able to expand into two full-time seasons with the No. 60 and obviously the addition of Helio in the No. 06. I’m sad that it’s coming to an end, but I’m grateful that opportunities are still coming for me and for the team. It’s been the most incredible chapter of my life so far. I’m feeling good now, so we’ll wait and see how I’m feeling after the race on Sunday at Long Beach. I love Long Beach, I was on pole there in Indy Lights so I certainly know we’ve got speed there. That’s probably going to be the biggest one of the year, just trying to get a good result because that’s probably the best way to say thank you to you everyone. Hopefully, we’ll have a nice send-off and I just hope the team wants to match my intentions for that weekend and go and get the best result.”
Helio Castroneves:
“Long Beach is an incredible place. Last year we weren’t able to race there so I’m excited to get back. It’s a place that I really like and it’s a big race for MSR with Acura and Honda located don’t far away. I finished on the podium there in the Acura DPi [IMSA] last time I was there. I also won there in INDYCAR. I can’t believe we’re going to go back to Long Beach and we’re going to have a good time.”
