Indianapolis, Ind. (25 May 2025) – Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) fought through a myriad of incidents, pit strategies and even some early-race rain to post its best Indianapolis 500 result since 2021 as Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 SiriusXM Honda) used a strong late-race run to finish 5th at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday.
Drivers Helio Castroneves (No. 06 Cleveland-Cliffs Honda) and Marcus Armstrong (No. 66 Spectrum Honda) each improved nine positions over 200 laps of the 2.5-mile IMS oval, and only a late run down pit lane for a splash of fuel kept four-time Indianapolis 500 champ Castroneves from bagging his 18th Indy 500 top 10. The Brazilian was running in eighth with two laps to go before the fuel stop dropped him out of the hunt and left him to finish 13th. Armstrong also needed a late fuel stop but climbed from 30th on the starting grid to finish 21st.
Rosenqvist started from the middle of the second row and put his Creed / SiriusXM Turbo-themed MSR machine in the mix right away, moving up to third quickly before a Lap 19 caution that was extended by a brief rain delay turned meticulously-planned race strategies into a pile of lottery tickets.
The middle portion of the 500-mile event saw three different factions taking turns leading the 33-car field, but the MSR trio stayed on the same strategy as the leaders, allowing Rosenqvist to remain in the top five as the leaders rotated through their fuel stops.
A Lap 92 caution flag was extended to 18 orbits behind the pace car by the last of the brief showers that blew through Central Indiana on Sunday, but perhaps as an homage to the legendary event, Mother Nature retired for the afternoon and turned the second half of the day into a true race.
The MSR trio pitted one by one over their last two stops, importantly with Rosenqvist pitting one lap later than his stablemates on both of the final stops – a move that paid off for the Swede in the final moments of the race.
Rosenqvist found himself in the lead draft after his last stop, running fifth in a group that was separated by less than two seconds over the final 30 laps. He fought desperately over those final trips around the oval and was able to fight off the advances of those behind him to come home in fifth.
The result was the third top-five run of the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season for Rosenqvist and his fifth top 10 in the year’s six races. Castroneves’ impressive effort yielded his best Indy 500 finish since placing seventh in 2022 while Armstrong also posted his best-ever Indy result.
MSR will get right back to work next week as the series heads to the streets of Detroit for the Detroit Grand Prix, which will run on a temporary circuit through the downtown streets of the Motor City for the second straight season. Sunday’s race will get underway at 12:30 ET and can be seen live on FOX. Fans can also follow the action live on Sirius XM radio on Channel 218.
Meyer Shank Racing Driver Quotes:
Felix Rosenqvist: “The CREED wagon was really quick. It was a good race, we had two restarts where we lost a lot, kinda just got stuck on the inside. We also had some really good restarts as well. Everyone kinda went through the same thing and we were kinda hanging in the same group. It was hard to pass and I feel like we were a bit quicker than the guys in front. I felt like I was just risking the car every corner to try to get a run and I wasn’t even close to get around Pato. We started fifth and finished fifth. As much as I’m disappointed for having the opportunity to win, I’m super proud of my group – the 60 car crew did a masterclass execution with good pit stops and good strategy and that’s what we need for the rest of the season.”
Helio Castroneves: “Wow, the No. 06 Cleveland-Cliff’s machine, setup-wise was really good, I was having a blast out there. We had a couple of issues unfortunately but we had a phenomenal car to be battling in the end, but unfortunately, as I said, those issues cost us a little bit. I’m so proud of this MSR group, Felix did a phenomenal job in the top 5, I feel that Marcus learned a lot today, and I want to come back, so I want to come back next year and we can have three fast cars again and with a better ending.”
Marcus Armstrong: “I’m sorry to the team for getting a questionable penalty on the restart. We went a lap down because of that. Otherwise, we were kind of in the game. It was a trying week, after the accident and everything, but I think we handled everything really well. We went forward several places, so good job to the team, the car was strong.”