Madison, Ill.  (16 August 2022) – Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) will be looking for a strong finish to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES as the season enters the homestretch with Saturday evening’s running of the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway (6:00pm ET, USA/Peacock, SiriusXM Ch. 160).

Simon Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves will drive the two MSR Honda-powered entries for the 260-lap race on the tight 1.25-mile egg-shaped oval located in the St. Louis suburbs.

Following Saturday’s race, only the events at Portland (Sept. 4) and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (Sept. 11) remain on the 2022 schedule.

Both Pagenaud and Castroneves are coming off a short weekend off following a rough and tumble race on the streets of Nashville which saw Pagenaud race to ninth – while racing with a broken damper – and Castroneves to 13th.

MSR is now prepping for the fourth and final oval race of the season set for this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Pagenaud is going into the weekend with a strong record at WWTR with the Frenchman racing six times at the circuit originally known as Gateway International Raceway. He led 14 laps, with his best finish third in his debut race in 2017. Pagenaud also finished fourth in 2018 and fifth in 2019. Last year, he started fourth and finished eighth, finishing on the lead lap.

Similarly Castroneves has had several strong finishes at WWTR and is a former winner at Gateway. After placing second in his 2002 IndyCar debut, he won the 2003 race from the pole. His lone race since then was in 2017, when he started third and finished fourth. He completed a perfect 648 laps in the three races, leading 233 of them. Castroneves also ran in three Champ Car events at the circuit, finishing second after starting third in 1999.

MSR made it’s debut at WWTR in 2020 for a double-header race weekend. The team brought home 11th and 13th place finishes in 2020. Last year’s outing saw the team race to a top ten finish.

Saturday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 will be broadcast live on USA and Peacock starting at 6:00pm ET. SiriusXM will also host live IndyCar Radio coverage on XM Ch. 160.

Driver Quotes:

Simon Pagenaud:
“World Wide technology Raceway in St. Louis is a really interesting event because it’s a short oval, very fast and it’s the only event that we run at night. It’s very enjoyable, great racing and it’s always very tight and it’s a street fight I like to say. I’ve had some good races there – and also some not so good race there. I’m looking forward to going there with Meyer Shank Racing and try to push as far as we can and execute. We’ve improved so much every weekend, I’m very hopeful for this one.”

Helio Castroneves:

“Wow, I’m so excited to head back to Gateway. My first race there was actually in 1999 and I finished second. I lost to Michael Andretti and that was such a cool race. I love the track – it’s fun, it’s difficult. I can’t wait to go back after so many years [4 years], we are going to have a great time.”

Nashville, Tenn. (6 August 2022) – The second annual Big Machine Music City Grand Prix got off to an eventful start as Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) took on the streets of Nashville for qualifying on Saturday.

Following a lengthy delay for lightning and rain, qualifying got underway with a completely green track setting the stage IndyCar’s knockout format qualifying.

Simon Pagenaud led the charge for MSR in the No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda in Group 1, but two red flag periods hindered any progress for the Frenchman. Pagenaud was on a one lap flyer on Firestone’s new sustainable Guayule tire when the second red flag put an end to the session just as Pagenaud was feet from crossing the timing line. Pagenaud will start 13th for tomorrow’s 85 lap race.

Helio Castroneves brought the No. 06 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda to Group 2 qualifying. With different track conditions compared to practice earlier in the day, Castroneves opted to add front wing for his second run on Guayule tires, but it faired to be just a bit too much and he locked up going into Turn four, flat spotting the tire. Castroneves will start 24th for tomorrow’s Music City Grand Prix.

The Nashville weekend has attracted not only tons of fans but several large groups of MSR partners. Arctic Wolf, Clopay, Cliffs, and SiriusXM have guests onsite to support the MSR squad for Sunday’s race.

The Big Machine Music City Grand Prix will be aired live on NBC starting at 4:00pm ET. SiriusXM will also host live radio coverage on XM Ch. 160.

Simon Pagenaud:

“I am so frustrated because the same thing happened to us in Toronto. We can wait all day for the storms to pass, but then we don’t get an opportunity to all put a lap down. I did one lap on reds [Guayule]. I’m speechless because it is such a shame because you don’t get to perform at your level and now we are going to start again where we don’t belong. The guys have been working so so hard and this shouldn’t keep happening because we are so much better than this. But now we’ll reset tonight and find a strategy that can hopefully move us up the field tomorrow.”

Helio Castroneves:

“Let me tell you, that is what they call a code brown. I wen’t into Turn four and almost lost it. We added a little bit of front wing and I did not expect that I was going to have that kind of moment. And as soon as I locked up there was a huge flat spot and I was just hanging on. That was a tough one and the guys on the AutoNation / SiriusXM machine are doing an amazing job and it’s just unfortunate. Here, when you miss it just a tiny bit, you lose a lot. So we will see what we can do tomorrow.”