Meyer Shank Racing Battles Through Challenging Inaugural Markham Race
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Markham, Ontario (Aug. 16, 2026) – Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) faced an eventful, yet disappointing afternoon in the inaugural Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham, with Felix Rosenqvist’s race ending early due to a fuel pump issue and Marcus Armstrong battling through an incident and penalty aboard the No. 66 SiriusXM Canada Honda.
After originally qualifying 18th, Rosenqvist started 16th on the grid aboard the No. 60 SiriusXM Canada Honda, featuring Three Days Grace and SiriusXM Octane (Ch. 37). The Swede started on Firestone primary tires, but an early slow leak in the right-front tire forced him to pit on Lap 6 and dropped him to the back of the field.
Rosenqvist switched to alternate tires and looked to begin working his way forward before his race came to an early end shortly after the Lap 19 restart. The No. 60 suddenly lost drive due to a fuel pump issue, forcing Rosenqvist to retire from the 90-lap race.
Armstrong qualified 22nd, but started 24th after incurring a six-place grid penalty for an unapproved engine change in the No. 66 SiriusXM Canada Honda, which featured a special Rolling Stone Canada livery. Starting on alternate tires, the New Zealander quickly gained three positions on the opening lap.
On lap 14, the team brought Armstrong to pit lane from 20th, just before the race’s first full-course caution. The timing of the stop put the No. 66 in a strong position within its strategy, and Armstrong quickly raced forward on the restart, running as high as 14th by lap 20.
Armstrong’s progress was interrupted on Lap 32 when contact sent the No. 66 into a spin and brought out another full-course caution. He was later assessed a stop-and-hold penalty for not following instructions from the AMR INDYCAR Safety Team following the incident, dropping him back in the running order.
The incident put Armstrong a lap down following the restart and the team made strategy calls for the proceeding yellows to make up the lap, but unfortunately it was a challenge. Keeping his eyes forward as the race approached the two-hour mark, Armstrong made up two additional positions and finished 16th.
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES continues its stretch of five consecutive race weekends with the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., Aug. 22-23. The third race of the five-week run will debut another new street circuit, designed around the nation’s capital in celebration of America’s 250th anniversary.
Qualifying for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. airs Saturday at 5:00 p.m. ET on FS2. FOX coverage begins Sunday with the pre-race show at 11:30 a.m. ET ahead of the 1:00 p.m. ET race, with INDYCAR Radio providing live coverage on SiriusXM Channel 218.
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES continues its stretch of five consecutive race weekends with the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., Aug. 22-23. The third race of the five-week run will debut another new street circuit, designed around the nation’s capital in celebration of America’s 250th anniversary.
Qualifying for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. airs Saturday at 5:00 p.m. ET on FS2. FOX coverage begins Sunday with the pre-race show at 11:30 a.m. ET ahead of the 1:00 p.m. ET race, with INDYCAR Radio providing live coverage on SiriusXM Channel 218.
Meyer Shank Racing Driver Quotes:
Felix Rosenqvist: “Lost drive and sounds like it was a fuel pump issue. Rough day for us anyway. Probably not the worst timing if you’re going to have an issue like that. So, yeah, onto the next.”
Marcus Armstrong: "It was looking ok for a little bit and we had something good going. Unfortunately we got hit by someone and it just knocked the wheel out of my hands and I spun. So then we were a lap down. But we picked up a few spots with everyone crashing. Challenging day. I’d say we are due a good result here in a minute."