Indianapolis, Ind. (18 May 2023) – Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) completed its second day full-day of on-track action at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on a high note, with Simon Pagenaud posting the third quickest lap speed of the day in the No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda.
Thursday’s Indianapolis 500 practice is the final day of running before engines are turned up on Friday for the annual “Fast Friday” which teams utilize to prepare for qualifying.
Simon Pagenaud, No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda:
Top Speed: 228.681 mph
Total Laps: 104
Simon Pagenaud closed out the day third on the charts after running a 228.681 mph lap. The result was a confidence boosting one not only for the team and crew, but also for Pagenaud who celebrated his birthday on Thursday.
The day was a combination of race running and qualifying sims, practicing running in both traffic and solo situations. The final two hours of the day saw Pagenaud run in traffic with the No. 60 Honda showing significant speed and stability.
Simon Pagenaud Quote:
“Great day obviously, P3 at the end of the day. We got a monster tow, which we will take it when we can! It’s great for the team and the crew, they are working so hard to make the car as fast as possible, so I’m really pleased. It is great to give the team a little gift with that P3 – especially on my birthday! It’s great for our partners that support us so well so, I am really happy with that. Top speed doesn’t really tell you what you are going to be like in the race, but it felt like we made great progress today. Really interesting day with mega improvements and I felt comfortable in race running too, so It was a really good day all around.”
Helio Castroneves, No. 06 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda:
Top Speed: 226.497 mph
Total Laps: 120
Helio Castroneves and the No. 06 AutoNation / SiriusXM crew continued to check the boxes on Thursday’s Indianapolis 500 practice program. Similar to Pagenaud, the final few hours of the day allowed Castroneves to work on the balance in race conditions. Running 120 laps throughout the day, Castroneves and the No. 06 crew are looking forward to putting the focus on qualifying for tomorrow’s Fast Friday.
Helio Castroneves Quote:
“It was a really productive day. The No. 06 AutoNation / SiriusXM MSR guys did another fantastic job today. We just keep pushing, keep trying new little bits. Not only working on finding a good balance, but we found a little more speed than we anticipated which is great. The competition keeps improving and pushing us, so feels like a really good day. Tomorrow, we get the boost up and focused just on getting all the speed that we can out of the car, so I’m really looking forward to that.”