Tag: Meyer Shank Racing

The 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season got underway in Florida last weekend with the Firestone Grand Prix presented by RP Funding, while many teams in the series stayed the same in terms of their driver pairings, Meyer Shank Racing did not.

The team, led by Mike Shank and Jim Meyer decided to expand their operation to two full-time entries and brought in series veterans Helio Castroneves, who won the Indianapolis 500 for the team in 2021 and Simon Pagenaud who won the Indy 500 in 2019 with Team Penske.

The team received a boost over the off-season following the opening of their new race shop in Ohio and fresh investment from Liberty Media.

The team had a great pre-season test in Sebring last month as both Simon Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves led the way.

Speaking to Paddock Eye this week following the Firestone Grand Prix presented by RP Funding, Simon Pagenaud said that he is looking forward to his future racing with MSR.

Pagenaud credits former MSR IndyCar driver, Jack Harvey with assisting the team in terms of putting them where they are now competing with Penske and Ganassi.

The team heads to Texas Motor Speedway in two weeks for the XPEL 375 aiming for a strong performance however, Pagenaud told Paddock Eye this week that road course pace doesn’t necessarily translate to ovals.

Meyer Shank Racing’s Simon Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves had a tricky opening IndyCar Series race of the season here in St Pete at the Firestone Grand Prix presented by RP Funding.

Castroneves who finished 14th commented saying:

“I have to give big props to Meyer Shank Racing and especially Adam (Rovazzini – MSR Competition Director). The goal was to put some points on the board and that’s exactly what we did. Obviously 14th is not where we wanted to be, however some days that’s what you get as a result. We are going to take what we learned here and use it for Long Beach – but first we have Texas and that’s where we need to collect a lot of points.”

Simon Pagenaud commented saying:

“Overall I think we had a lot of performance this weekend, a lot of pace over one lap. Personally, I’m disappointed with my start and dropped back a few spots. And then we opted for three stops and defended to (Josef) Newgarden and the two stop strategy actually worked better. I think it was great to get my first race in the books. There’s a lot to learn from it and a lot of potential which I’m excited about.”

Simon Pagenaud says that it has been a great weekend so far with Meyer Shank Racing as he prepares to make his debut with the team in Sunday’s 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season-opening Firestone Grand Prix presented by RP Funding.

The Frenchman will start the race from sixth on the grid following a time of 01:00.2041s and speaking following the session he said:

“So far it has been a great weekend with the Meyer Shank Racing Honda. “Working with the team has been a lot of fun. We’ve made progress every session. This qualifying, we were missing a little bit of front grip to nail that perfect lap. But overall super excited to be in the fast six in our first race. I’m excited and there is more to come. We have a really good race car and that makes me happy for tomorrow.”

Helio Castroneves will start the race from ninth place on the grid and speaking following the action the defending Indianapolis 500 winner said:

It is great to be back in St. Petersburg and see a full house with everyone here. “It’s a great event. Today the AutoNation / SiriusXM / Arctic Wolf Honda was pretty good, but I didn’t take full advantage particularly on reds. But it was a great effort from everyone on Meyer Shank Racing and now we’ll just focus ahead to see what we can do in the race.

Meyer Shank Racing has undergone a transformation over the NTT IndyCar Series off-season.

The outfit, led by Mike Shank and Jim Meyer have added a second car full-time for this season and have brought in an all-new lineup.

MSR haven’t just employed any two drivers, they have arguably two of the most experienced drivers in the series.

Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves returns to full-time IndyCar competition with MSR and will be hoping to defend his Indy 500 in May.

Castroneves is joined at the team by his former Penske team-mate Simon Pagenaud, together, they form a formidable partnership.

MSR has moved into a new race shop and have fresh investment from their partners at Liberty Media meaning that they will be fighting at the front of the field from the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg later this month.

The team, who also compete in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship got their season off to a winning start.

MSR took overall victory with Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud in last weekend’s Rolex 24 Hours.

The team will be hoping that this success and momentum translates over to the IndyCar team and there is no reason why it shouldn’t.

Meyer Shank Racing is no longer the little team fighting the big guys, they are now a big team in their own right.

The 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season gets underway from February 25-27 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg.