Motorsport Week delved into five key, developing stories to follow in the upcoming 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship season.

The 24 Hours of Daytona is one of the key events on the global endurance racing calendar and takes place on 25-26 January.

IMSA is set to host the 63rd running of the historic event as the second round, the 12 Hours of Sebring, is even older with its 73rd edition on 15 March.

This unique pair of two races in the motorsport ‘Triple Crown of Endurance’ sets IMSA apart from other championships owing to their iconicity and intensity.

Since the merger of the American Le Mans Series and the Rolex Sports Car Series, it marks IMSA’s 12th SportsCar campaign of thrilling multi-class racing across sprint and endurance events.

Whilst many of the same teams and drivers are ready and reset for another season, a manifold of new talking points bring intrigue and excitement for this year.

READ MORE: Examining the 63rd 24 Hours of Daytona entry list

Meyer Shank Racing’s anticipated return

Changes have taken place in the headline GTP category for this year.

Wayne Taylor Racing (WTR) are back in Cadillac machinery and their two Acura ARX-06s are both enabling Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) to make their IMSA comeback.

Prior to their absence last year, they had one Acura ARX-06 in the first GTP season whilst WTR ran the other machine.

Meyer Shank Racing won the last ever 24 Hours of Daytona in the DPi era in 2022 before they took another victory at the start of the GTP era – albeit under controversial circumstances.

A mixture of talented names will pilot the two Acuras, including former BMW driver Nick Yelloly, reigning Petit Le Mans winner Renger van der Zande and Japanese racing sensation Kakunoshin Ohta.

Their driver lineup is compelling in the prediction around which teams will stand out not only to win, but take the title by the end of Road Atlanta.

MSR are undoubtedly contenders in both of these areas against the might of Porsche Penske.

Lamborghini partners with Riley

The exotic Italian automotive manufacturer are finally making their first 24 Hours of Daytona appearance this year in partnership with Riley Motorsport after their split with Iron Lynx.

Lamborghini has condensed their LMDh project into one entrant competing in the IMSA Endurance Cup, like last year, but without any means to the WEC’s Hypercar category.

Their project last year was a challenging debut season in two of the world’s most prominent international multi-class racing championships.

Le Mans marked their only WEC points finish in 10th position (two points), admittedly impressive for the SC63 LMDh’s first 24-hour race.

Underwhelming results characterised the IMSA campaign with retirements at Watkins Glen and Indianapolis, as well as having finished three laps down on the race winner at Road Atlanta.

In spite of this trend, their genuine showcase of competitive pace in the wet at Indianapolis was a distinctively high moment for the team. As the wet caused chaos during the first of six-hours, the #63 Lamborghini fought for the lead for the first time – even though they retired due to contact with another GTD car.

In this excitement, one must not ignore that outing and so a rain-soaked Daytona race could enable Lamborghini to fight once again with great pace.

Their split with Iron Lynx was the result of unseen frustrations from the four total retirements across the IMSA and WEC projects.

Perhaps with Riley, they can now use their former struggles to propel into progress throughout the five endurance races at Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Indianapolis and Road Atlanta.

PR1 Mathiasen solo once again

PR1 have won four LMP2 drivers’ and teams’ titles – finishing runner-up in 2022 amidst the success; plus another from last year’s collaboration with Inter Europol.

Meanwhile the Centenary Le Mans-winning outfit and well-known Polish bakery chain Inter Europol are pursuing an independent IMSA entry this year.

As reigning champions once again, PR1 have put themselves as a benchmark with a completely new driver lineup for this year.

Rodrigo Sales and Mathias Beche will run the full season, including two sprint events whilst Benjamin Pedersen will assist at the endurance races, and Ben Keating for the Daytona opener.

LMP2 is a category filled with quick and capable lineups and so PR1 will need to overcome their opponents with consistent points finishes and cunning driving.

Inter Europol’s #43 Oreca are amongst the protagonists as they will aim to win their second 24-hour race and also project themselves as title contenders.

Could PR1 take their six championship title in seven years? Even more so, the pressure is on to perform at Daytona and Sebring.

Paul Miller Racing doubles BMW GTD Pro charge on Corvette and Ford

In the GTD Pro competition, two-time GTD champions Paul Miller Racing are stepping up their game with another BMW M4 GT3 EVO.

Their sole win last year came at the VIRginia International Raceway sprint event, though it was their performances at the endurance races which earned them the Endurance Cup title.

Corvette and Ford fielded brand new cars for the season and procured their high and low moments whilst learning their new packages.

The BMW M4 is a capable machine as exemplified by the team’s dominant GTD campaign in 2023.

An EVO package will continue its potential and two cars sets the team up for representing BMW in a GT works setting against the two Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs and two Ford Mustangs GT3s.

Paul Miller Racing recently confirmed talented driver rosters in the #1 and #48 BMW M4 GT3 EVO entrants as the Roar Before the 24 testing on 16-19 January is fast approaching.

AO Racing were a key force in the GTD Pro category against Heart of Racing (HOR) but now it is time for BMW, as the only Germanic manufacturer with two class entries, to kindle another fight for the championship starting with a Daytona win – especially after Paul Miller Racing suffered a wheel-related issue after a pit stop towards the end of last year’s Daytona 24.

As a result, Sheldon van der Linde nursed the unfastened wheel and his car back around into the pit road, though the team still grasped third place in the end.

READ MORE: Dan Harper set for IMSA GTD Pro debut with Paul Miller Racing

Robert Wickens in GTD sprint competition

One of the more uplifting IMSA stories this year is about Robert Wickens’ return to the SportsCar Championship since his sole appearance at the 2017 running of Daytona with Starworks Motorsport, though it was an incident-filled affair resulting in a P23rd finish overall.

During his debut IndyCar campaign in 2018, Wickens suffered a dramatic accident at Ponoco Raceway which led to him becoming paraplegic after injuring his spinal column.

In 2022, he returned to racing in the IMSA Pilot Challenge after a careful initial recovery process by utilising adapted hand controls, developed by Bosch.

He co-piloted the #33 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N TCR with Harry Gottsacker towards the drivers’ title in the following year, and they were a runner-up in the 2024 season.

Wickens will be joined by a co-driver in the #36 DXDT Racing Corvette – fitted with hand controls – for the five GTD sprint races: Long Beach, Laguna Seca, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Road America and the VIR.

Out of his six podiums last year, he took his only win at home as a proud Canadian so this year he will finally be able to compete in the heat of the SportsCar Championship’s feisty prototype and GT classes once again.

***A bonus mention to the newest car

You might wonder why HOR’s single Aston Martin Valkyrie GTP entrant has not been mentioned in this piece, although it was in the WEC version.

It is an undeniable if not highly intruiging project to follow in the upcoming Endurance Cup schedule but is one which has not finalised its pre-homologation testing and development phase.

Their IMSA racing endeavours will begin at the gruelling 12 Hours of Sebring on 15 March, the second round of the 2025 season.

In between now and then, their V12 racer will be finalised and their as yet confirmed driver lineup of three will take on the challenge in two months time.

The ‘hype’ is certainly real but before the newest race car takes the spotlight, the mighty Daytona 24 Hours season-opener is first and foremost.

READ MORE: United Autosports announces full driver lineups for Daytona 24H

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Max Verstappen got his first taste of an Acura ARX-06 GTP car in a recent promotion demonstration ahead of the Las Vegas GP this weekend.

The reigning triple Formula 1 world champion piloted a Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) Acura during a demonstration at the Las Vegas Speedway.

Filming took place yesterday, Tuesday 19 November, as part of an upcoming promotion film for the Acura brand and their Honda Civic Hybrid road car.

Both the Acura GTP and IndyCar, plus an IndyCar-powered Honda CRV, were present – all of which utilise hybrid powertrains.

Verstappen attended along with his F1 teammate Sergio Perez and RB drivers Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda to sample the race cars.

IndyCar legend and four-time Daytona 24 Hours winner Scott Dixon joined Meyer Shank Acura GTP driver Colin Braun to assist the F1 drivers.

MSR are preparing for their comeback to the IMSA SportsCar Championship in the 2025 season.

Wayne Taylor Racing ran the Acura GTP package during 2024, before their return to Cadillac prompted MSR to utilise a pair of GTP entrants.

Verstappen has previously declared interest in the 24 Hours of Le Mans where LMDh and LMH machinery compete together for the overall win in the Hypercar class.

Although the ARX-06 is an eligible car for Le Mans, Acura has yet to pursue the historic event although their chassis partner Oreca currently works with Alpine.

He will have the opportunity to become a four-time champion at this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, the 22nd round of the 2024 F1 season.

READ MORE: Meyer Shank Racing finalises IMSA 2025 Endurance Cup drivers

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Meyer Shank Racing has finalised Alex Palou, Felix Rosenqvist and Scott Dixon as their 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship Endurance Cup pilots.

MSR has completed their full lineup for next year, following their existing confirmation of full-season drivers.

Four-time 24 Hours of Daytona winner Dixon will assist Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun in the Endurance Cup rounds.

MSR IndyCar driver Rosenqvist completes the #60 Acura ARX-06 GTP lineup solely for Daytona next January.

Meanwhile the #93 Acura will feature triple IndyCar champion and reigning back-to-back champion Alex Palou in the endurance races.

This includes Daytona alongside Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly.

“I’m super excited about the opportunity to join Acura MSR and HRC for the IMSA endurance races next year,” said Palou.

“It will be pretty cool to work with some of the drivers that I know very well and to see what we can do at the Rolex in January.

“I have to thank Mike [Shank] and HRC for this opportunity and I’m ready to get going in Daytona.”

Rosenqvist, who drove the 2024 edition with United Autosports, added: “It’s a dream come true for me to race at the Rolex and in the top category.

“It’s a very natural fit as I’m racing for the same team and manufacturer as my ‘daytime job,’ and I know all my teammates really well.

“It’s a big project and I’m doing my best to be as prepared as possible.

“I’m looking forward to getting going in January.”

Talent and experience on Meyer Shank’s return

Six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon concluded: “I’m really looking forward to running the Rolex this [upcoming] year.

“I have almost joined Meyer Shank Racing and Mike a couple times in the past, but it didn’t work out.

“I’m really excited to join Acura MSR and their partnership with HRC makes it easier, there are a lot of familiar faces and people that I have worked with over the years.

“That’s also true on the Meyer Shank side as well with a lot of people who I have worked with earlier in my career.

“A lot of familiar faces on the driver side too with Felix [Rosenqvist], Tom [Blomqvist], Colin [Braun] and obviously I was teammates last year with Renger, so I’m really looking forward to that side of it.

“Goal number one is just to win and hopefully we can do that out of the gate at Daytona.

“It’s a fun race and I love doing the endurance races.

“I’m just really excited to get going and from what I’ve seen so far it’s quite the outfit and excited with what Acura has done.”

Meyer Shank Racing are preparing for their IMSA return after missing the 2024 season.

They won the 2023 running of Petit Le Mans after controversially winning the season-opener.

Their driver line-up incorporates experience and talent with all drivers having competed in the most recent running of Daytona.

Dixon and Palou drove in Chip Ganassi Cadillac machinery as Blomqvist drove in Action Express Racing’s Cadillac.

With two Acuras at their disposal, Meyer Shank are set for their IMSA comeback at the Daytona season-opener.

READ MORE: Wayne Taylor Racing confirms Cadillac machinery for IMSA 2025

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Meyer Shank Racing has signed Marcus Armstrong to partner Felix Rosenqvist for the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series campaign.

Armstrong joins Meyer Shank after two seasons with Chip Ganassi Racing.

The New Zealander earned Rookie of the Year honours in 2023, contesting a Road Course only schedule and finishing 20th in the Drivers’ standings.

In 2024, a full-season schedule saw Armstrong score four top-five finishes and one podium result.

Chip Ganassi Racing is downsizing from a five-car to a three-car entry in 2025 and Armstrong has quickly found a new home with Meyer Shank Racing.

“I’m very proud to be joining Meyer Shank Racing in 2025,” said Armstrong.

“I had a great feeling when I met both Mike Shank and Jim Meyer, their passion for performance and meticulous work ethic was obvious from our first conversation and I want to thank them both for this opportunity.

“I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone at MSR over the off-season with the goal of hitting the ground running at the first race of the season in St Pete.

“This year I got closer to where I want to be performance-wise, including oval racing for the first time and I’m looking forward to continuing to push up the order with MSR.

“We want to be at the front, fighting for wins and I believe we have the recipe to do it.”

Meyer Shank had multiple driver changes before Armstrong signing

Meyer Shank started the 2024 campaign with rookie Tom Blomqvist at the wheel, who lost his drive after a disastrous opening-lap crash at the Indy 500.

Helio Castroneves stepped in for Blomqvist on an interim basis until David Malukas completed the 2024 campaign in the No.66 entry.

With Malukas joining AJ Foyt Racing in 2025, Meyer Shank Racing had a seat to fill and co-owner Mike Shank commented on his new acquisition.

“We’re very excited to welcome Marcus onboard,” said Shank.

“He’s really shown a lot of growth and consistency in his first two years in INDYCAR, which is really difficult to do. This series is probably one of the most competitive series out there and he has proven himself to be a real contender.

“We are going to do everything we can to give him the car and the tools to produce results next year.”

READ MORE: Rosenqvist sad to lose ‘impressive’ team-mate Malukas to Foyt in 2025

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Meyer Shank Racing announced on Monday that the team has extended Felix Rosenqvist’s already lengthy IndyCar contract well into the future.

Rosenqvist began driving for the team at the start of the 2024 season, moving over from a three year stint with Arrow McLaren to drive for MSR.

The Swede’s contract was originally announced as two seasons in length, which already gave him a home through the conclusion of 2025.

This week’s announcement extends the 32-year-old’s contract out even further, showing how much confidence the team has in his driving abilities after their first year together.

“Thrilled to commit my future to Meyer Shank Racing,” Rosenqvist posted on social media. “Let’s create some big moments, next year and beyond!”

Rosenqvist completed his sixth IndyCar season this past weekend, and had the best start to the season of his career with his new MSR team.

He started off the season strong with a second place qualifying effort in St. Pete, and followed that up with a pole on the streets of Long Beach.

He also earned two top five finishes in the first three races of the season, but then failed to earn another throughout the rest of the season despite qualifying near the front multiple other times.

Rosenqvist will now be staying with MSR for at least the next couple seasons, giving him a lengthy period of stability to build on.

The driver of the team’s second car has not yet been announced, but it is known that he will have a new team-mate as David Malukas is set to move to AJ Foyt Racing next year.

The post Meyer Shank Racing extends Rosenqvist’s contract long into the future appeared first on Motorsport Week.

The NTT IndyCar Series took to the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida for the first practice session of the new year, and it was Felix Rosenqvist who put in the fastest time of the session.

Rosenqvist is driving for Meyer Shank Racing this season, and wasted no time showing the rest of the field that he is comfortable in his new ride.

The Swede lapped the 1.8-mile course in 1 minute, 0.339 seconds in the final minutes of practice, and was nearly half of a second clear of the competition.

Pato O’Ward was the second fastest driver of the day, putting in his fast time with just 18 laps turned on the course.

Marcus Armstrong was third, just fractionally slower than O’Ward. Will Power and Rinus VeeKay rounded out the top five positions, making for five different teams in the first five positions.

Overall, times were a little faster than last year’s opening practice session, despite multiple changes affecting the performance of the cars.

Lighter gearbox and chassis components have lowered the weight by 25 pounds over last season, but Firestone has brought a harder tire this year.

The tire compound change forced drivers to make more adjustments than the lost weight, with many noting that it now takes three to four laps to get them up to temperature, even when using the softer alternate tire.

A new practice format was trialed, which involved splitting the field into two groups and alternating which times they were allowed to turn laps.

There was an opening 20 minute stint that worked as normal, but then the two groups took turns for 10 minutes at a time through the remainder of the session.

The change allowed drivers to have a better chance of finding clear track in order to run fast laps, and also helped to bring cars past the fans more consistently throughout.

Typically drivers will spend nearly half the session on pit road anyway making adjustments, so splitting the field more evenly across the session appears to have little downsides.

Although there were no damaging wrecks, there were a few red flags due to drivers sliding long into the runoff areas.

Some were able to get their car spun around, but others, such as Chip Ganassi Racing rookie Kyffin Simpson, needed assistance from the track crew to get going again.

Drivers and teams will spend the evening poring over data from today’s running, then will be back on track Saturday morning at 9:30 AM Eastern Time for the second practice of the weekend.

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The #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura team claimed the overall victory and Whelen Engineering AXR were crowned IMSA 2023 GTP champions after an eventful 26th edition of Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.

The final two hours of racing encapsulated an exciting and incident-filled thriller for the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season finale.

Filipe Albuquerque asserted promising pace in his #10 Acura ARX-06, and made an eager pass on Jack Aitken’s #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R.

In the LMP2 lead, the #52 PR1 Mathiasen Oreca 07 was spun around by Alex Quinn at the chicane after he made contact at the chicane with the #10 Acura, and thus Aitken returned the favour after leaving the chicane underneath the bridge, almost beaching it within the gravel trap but managed to continue.

Harry Tincknell in the #59 Proton Competition Porsche spun after leaving the pit on cold tyres, making brief contact with the wall.

Driver changes were galore into the most crucial period of the 10-hour Petit Le Mans event.

In the #01 Cadillac, Renger van der Zande replaced Sebastien Bourdais in the driver’s seat, as Pipo Derani got into the #31 Cadillac from Aitken.

A 10th caution was deployed after the #66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3, which won in GTD last year, stopped at the side of the track with Katherine Legge at the wheel.

A tense GTD Pro fight developed, featuring the #79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG of Daniel Juncadella fending off Kevin Estre in the #9 Pfaff Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3.R.

The same could be said for LMP2, as the #04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR of Ben Hanley made a charge past Josh Pierson on the restart for second and commenced a chase on Indy NXT Christian Rasmussen in the leading #52.

In GTP, things became dramatic and the brief duel for the title ended in anticlimactic scenes.

Albuquerque chased Derani for second place in the dark, as the #31 found himself held up by traffic for second place between the two GTPs.

Their fight was short-lived after the Portuguese driver closed up on Derani into Turn 1, attempted a move on the outside line, and the #10 Acura was edged off the circuit and into the barrier.

As the caution was deployed, it was certain that the #10 Wayne Taylor-run Acura, which had not secured any race wins this year, were ruled out as champions after they started on pole position. No further action was taken on their incident.

Having not pitted, first to fourth in GTP did not pit during the caution, as van der Zande led over the #60 of Colin Braun, whose Acura was ahead of Tincknell’s #59 Porsche.

Despite this abrupt drama, the GTP and LMP2 title were still up for the taking in the final 30 minutes of green flag racing as the #01 found their closest title contenders out.

Colin Braun had a great restart in his #60 Acura and took the lead from van der Zande on the inside line at Turn 1.

The GTP title fight narrative still ran tightly-contested now on the #25 BMW Team RLL, and the #7 Penske Porsche Motorsport cars.

Although this changed simply with Derani’s comeback pursuit, passing both BMWs as the title fight became on the #7 Porsche and two Cadillacs – one run by Chip Ganassi and the other Whelen Engineering.

The GTD Pro battle from earlier continued as the #9 chased down the tail of the #79 Mercedes-AMG.

Matt Campbell in the #7 asserted pace setting the best laps of the race in the car, although van der Zande’s lap times were into the 1:10s.

A spin for the #18 Era Motorsport Oreca with Rasmussen took place having ran second in LMP2, with rear damage, as the 12th Full Course Yellow was deployed.

This set up an exciting and crucial five minute sprint to the finish, as van der Zande had a strong restart although the #60 Acura managed to retain the lead with its pace.

The #16 Wright Motorsport caught on fire immediately after with contact at the rear-right with the #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, subsequently deploying a joint-IMSA record 13th caution period.

The race finished under caution with the Action Express (Wehrlen Engineering) Cadillac #31’s sixth position enough for the GTP Championship win and the Endurance Cup title for Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken.

At the front, Meyer Shank Racing‘s #60 crew of Colin Braun, Tom Blomqvist and Helio Castroneves took the win with 397 laps completed for their Acura ARX-06.

Second place went to the #01 Cadillac crew of Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon.

Third went to the #59 Proton Competition Porsche crew of Harry Tincknell, Neel Jani and Gianmaria Bruni, having scored their first IMSA podium in their first endurance round.

Meanwhile in LMP2, the #04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR crew of George Kurtz, Ben Hanley and Nolan Siegel took the class-win and the Endurance Cup title, ahead of John Falb, Guido van der Garde, and Josh Pierson in the #35 TDS Racing entry.

The #52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsport crew took their fifth LMP2 Team Championship after finishing third.

The #30 Jr Three Racing took LMP3 victory ahead of the #13 AWA crew, and the final WeatherTech LMP3 championship-winning #74 Riley Ligier JS P320.

GTD Pro (and the Endurance Cup title) was won by the #79 WeatherTech Racing crew of Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon and Maro Engel, who finished ahead of the #9 Pfaff Motorsports drivers of Klaus Bachler, Patrick Pilet and Kevin Estre.

Third place was taken by the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3, by Alessandro Pier Guidi, Daniel Serra and Davide Rigon.

After having started the race, the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 took the GTD Pro title at the race start.

Finally in GTD, the #78 Forte Racing Lamborghini took the win in the hands of Misha Goikhberg, Loris Spinelli, and Patrick Liddy.

In second place was the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 of Patrick Gallagher, Robby Foley and Michael Dinan, as third was claimed by the #77 Wright Motorsports Porsche of Alan Brynjolfsson, Trent Hindman, and Max Root.

The GTD Endurance Cup champions were the #32 Team Korthoff Mercedes-AMG crew, as the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech season marked its conclusion.

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Meyer Shank Racing has announced their departure from IMSA, after 19 consecutive years of competing in the IMSA-based sportscar championship, with intentions to focus on their Indycar programme from 2024.

The team who currently run the #60 Acura ARX-06 GTP in this year’s WeatherTech Championship, are set to mark this month’s Petit Le Mans as their final race.

At the Battle of the Bricks, which took place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, they surpassed their 350th start in North American sportscar racing.

With an Acura NSX GT3 and their DPi car, they claimed titles in 2019, 2020 and 2022, and won this year’s Daytona 24 Hours despite the team being caught artificially inflating the tyre pressure data submitted to IMSA, and thus took on reduced winning points.

“Making the decision to take a year away from IMSA was not an easy one by any means,” said co-owner Mike Shank.

“Our guys live and breathe this team, and have committed most of their lives to working on these cars and traveling to races – and many of them have been with us for nearly 20 years.

“For Jim [Meyer] and I, our main focus was getting our guys set and making sure they were all going to be OK, which we were able to do. 

“There are a lot of projects that we have going at the shop, and of course some of the guys will be helping with our growing Indycar program.

“The third Indianapolis 500 entry for Helio [Castroneves] is a very big deal and I’m glad to have the right people in place to help us be as ready as possible for him to go get that fifth one. And then when we need to prepare for the IMSA program, we’ll still have this great group together and ready to go. 

“I have so many people to thank who have had such an impact on me and how this team has grown – Jim France has been a supporter of us since we joined the series in 2004 and he’s someone that I cannot thank enough.

“Jon Ikeda, David Salters and everyone at Honda, HPD, and Acura, gave MSR a shot and trusted us to run this program for the last few years and we have accomplished some pretty awesome things since running together.

“All of my crew and drivers who have been with us – and we have a pretty large list – I can’t thank them enough.

“Most of these guys have changed my life since I started this team in Grand-Am.

“Like I said, we are not going anywhere, we’ll be gone for now, but definitely not forever.

“Taking next year to step back and focus on our Indycar program will be important for us as a team.”

Their first win was in 2006, at the ‘Discount Tire Sunchaser 100k’ in the hands of Ozz Negri and Mark Patterson.

MSR claims their departure will not be permanent, and that they will return at some point in the future.

They currently sit fifth in the standings, having won Petit Le Mans last year with Tom Blomqvist, Olly Jarvis and Castroneves.

For Acura and HRC US, their IMSA GTP class representation will reduce to one team for 2024, consisting solely of two Acuras run by the Wayne Taylor Racing outfit.

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Linus Lundqvist is making his long-awaited IndyCar Series debut this weekend around the streets of Nashville, filling in for Simon Pagenaud, who has not yet been cleared to race after his crash at Mid-Ohio.

The 2022 Indy NXT champion has been searching for a ride in the top level series ever since he won the title in September, but a combination of factors have meant that he has been sitting in the paddock as opposed to behind the wheel.

Lundqvist’s chance to show his talent in the big leagues has come this weekend with Meyer Shank Racing, and he is aiming to make the most of the opportunity around the tricky street course.

MotorsportWeek.com asked the 24-year-old if his performance this weekend will be a factor in his prospects for finding a full time ride next season, and he was quick to confirm how much is at stake.

“Oh yeah, 100 percent,” said Lundqvist. “Every time you get on track, even if it’s just a private test, I know the other teams are looking and talking between themselves.

“To be put on display like this is definitely an opportunity to improve my chances. Or make them worse, let’s put it that way.

“I am aware there’s some pressure to perform this weekend, but I would also tell myself that it is the most difficult thing you’ll do. ‘Just take it easy, be smart.’

“I’m fairly comfortable that I know I’m fast, but it’s just going to be about putting together a good weekend and a solid weekend.

“[Throughout the year] I was talking to all the teams up and down the pit lane, trying to have some opportunities. Nothing was confirmed, or nothing at least that I knew of, were in the talks about doing it. When this happened, I was very excited.”

Lundqvist won his Indy NXT title in September of last year, and it has been nearly 11 full months since he has competed in a race weekend.

He has been a part of a couple IndyCar tests since then to help get acclimated to the more powerful cars, including one at Sebring that he revealed prepared him as well as possible for his debut on the streets of Nashville, given that there is no opportunity to test on a temporary course.

But Lundqvist is having to prepare mentally for competition again, and he admitted that it feels like he has been out of the car for even longer than the reality of his nearly year-long break.

“[It feels like it’s been] even longer than 10-11 months, I’ll tell you that” continued Lundqvist. “It’s been a very, very long season, and a lot of sleepless nights.

“It’s been something that we’ve been working very, very hard and very long for. Very happy that it finally got done. I’m making my debut, and hopefully it’s more than one race and we can string together a couple more at the end of the year.

“Still the focus is to be on the grid full time in ’24. Hopefully we can do a good job this weekend, and maybe my chances will improve.”

At this time, Lundqvist does not have any further confirmed races after this weekend’s Music City Grand Prix.

He is sure to be a part of the silly season talks, however, as many different teams have unconfirmed lineups for their 2024 seasons.

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Linus Lundqvist will make his IndyCar driving debut this weekend at the Music City Grand Prix, driving the #60 entry for Meyer Shank Racing.

The 24-year-old will get his first opportunity in the premiere series on account of Simon Pagenaud continuing recovery efforts from his high speed tumble through the gravel at the beginning of July.

Lundqvist is the 2022 Indy NXT champion, but has had trouble securing a spot in IndyCar so far this year. He has been in the paddock acting in an advisory role while he continued to search for a ride.

This opportunity will place him behind the wheel of an IndyCar during a race weekend for the first time, and will do so on one of the most treacherous tracks on the calendar.

“This is a moment I’ve been dreaming of literally since the start of my career,” said Lundqvist in the announcement.

“I could not be more excited about the prospect of finally making my NTT IndyCar Seris debut; I am extremely grateful to Meyer Shank Racing for this opportunity.

“This will be an incredible experience, but also the toughest challenge of my life. Sitting on the sidelines all year, it would be a massive task to join any championship towards the end of the season – let alone the NTT IndyCar Series on the streets of Nashville.

“There’s been very little time to prepare, but I feel like the sheer excitement of this moment will make up for some of that. Of course, working alongside Helio [Castroneves] – one of the true legends of this sport – will also be a huge asset.

“Last but not least, I would like to wish Simon Pagenaud a continued speedy recovery. While fully aware of everything I have to learn this weekend, I will do my very best to make him and everyone else on the team proud in Music City.”

Lundqvist has completed two IndyCar tests this year, making runs at Texas Motor Speedway and Sebring.

The Sebring outing in particular will have given the young driver a taste of the kind of track he can expect this weekend around the bumpy streets of Nashville.

The first time Lundqvist will be on track will be Friday afternoon for the first practice session around the 2.17-mile course, which runs next to the Titans football stadium and over the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge.

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