First-Ever INDYCAR SERIES Pole for Ohio-based team

LONG BEACH, Calif. -(20 April 2024) – A Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) car will lead the NTT INDYCAR SERIES grid to the checkered flag Sunday for the first time in its eight-year series history after veteran Felix Rosenqvist took his No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda to the pole for the Acura Long Beach of Grand Prix.

Rosenqvist gave the team its first INDYCAR SERIES pole and its first back-to-back front-row starting positions since 2021 with a strong performance, claiming the top spot with a best lap of 1:06.1672 (107.317 mph) on his final trip around the 1.968-mile Long Beach street circuit just as the clock ran out on the session.

The six-year series veteran put his MSR machine in the Firestone Fast Six for the second time this year, coming after Rosenqvist scored a front-row start in St. Petersburg to open the season as he set a new track record on the Florida street circuit. The pole was the sixth of Rosenqvist’s career, the last coming a year ago in Toronto.

“Felix did a great job and it is fantastic to have the speed that we did today,  especially with (President of HRC) Koji Watanabe here to see Honda get another INDYCAR pole,” said team co-owner Mike Shank.  “We’ve had a strong start to the year with good pace and now our next mission is to bring home a big result tomorrow.”

Tom Blomqvist (No. 66 AutoNation / Arctic Wolf Honda) continued his climb up the grid as he navigates his rookie INDYCAR season, posting his career-best qualifying effort by taking the 15th spot. Blomqvist, who missed some time in the opening practice session, carded a best lap of 1:06.3372 (106.800 mph) in the first qualifying session to land on the inside of Row Eight for tomorrow’s race.

Sunday’s 85-lap Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will air on USA Network on Sunday starting at 3:00 ET. SiriusXM will also host live IndyCar Radio coverage on XM Ch. 218.

Meyer Shank Racing Driver Quotes:

Felix Rosenqvist:  “That was hard! Honestly I didn’t think I had (the pole) because I had a big tankslapper out of Turn Five, but we got it. Nothing comes easy on this track, but this was a fun one. Huge thanks to Meyer Shank Racing, AutoNation, SiriusXM and Honda – this is our first official pole together, a hard fought one. It was so close, but that’s INDYCAR for you. I think here it is huge to start on pole. We’ll take advantage of that and try and make the best out of it. It’s normally a two-stop race, and a straightforward strategy, and we have a good race car so I’m excited.”

Tom Blomqvist : “This weekend has been a bit of a struggle to be honest. I didn’t have a lot of confidence in the car. It didn’t help that I missed some time in the first practice session and it is such a competitive series that if you are on your backfoot a little bit, it can be hard to catch up. We’ll continue to work on it and be ready for tomorrow.”