Lexington, Ohio (7 July 2024) – Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) had its high hopes for today’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio dashed on a couple of trips down Pit Lane, but the team fought back for a pair of top-15 results as David Malukas (No. 66 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda) finished 12th while Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda) ended his day in 14th.
Malukas, who had matched his personal NTT INDYCAR SERIES best by taking the third spot in Saturday’s qualifying, ran a strong third throughout his first stint, before pitting for new Firestone alternate tires on Lap 27. Unfortunately, that was as close as he would get after a stall leaving the pit box cost him a 10-second deficit.
Malukas stayed with the same pit strategy as the leaders, making two pit stops, which gave him a chance to gain ground on those cars that made an extra stop. The strategy allowed him to show consistent on-track speed and gain a spot back on his way to the 12th-place finish.
Rosenqvist started 19th after a six-position grid penalty for an engine change, which led MSR to employ an alternate fuel strategy in hopes of earning spots. The Swedish driver started on the softer alternate Firestones in a move that saw him gain four positions before pitting in just 12 laps, but eventually brought him to three fuel stops over the 80-lap race and leaving him to finish 14th.
The 12th-place finish for Malukas was the best of the 2024 season for the No. 66 machine and marked the third time in as many tries that he has finished in the top 12 at Mid-Ohio.
The team will head one hour south back to it’s shop just outside of Columbus and turn its two-car stable over to it’s oval set up as the series heads to Iowa Speedway next weekend for the first double-header race weekend of the year.
Meyer Shank Racing Driver Quotes:
David Malukas: “Unfortunately we had some clutch issues on the pit stops and we lost about 10-15 seconds on that first stop and another few positions on the next one. Pace-wise on the reds, it wasn’t really there. Overall without all of those issues I think we would have finished in the top 5. If you told me in Laguna that I would be really upset with a P12, I would be surprised. This race is another good step forward at Meyer Shank Racing.”
Felix Rosenqvist: “P14 at Mid-Ohio. It was a very stagnant race, not much going on. We actually made up a lot of spots in the beginning, 19th to 14th. We chose the three stop strategy which I don’t think was the right decision, but it wasn’t way better or worse than the two stop strategy. We were the best car to finish on that strategy. We had great pace to be honest. We started in the back and that hurt us in the end. I learned a lot of good things and waiting for that good result that’s going to come soon.”