Paddock Buzz: MSR Continues To Soar Higher with Double Top Five

Fox Sports

22-06-2025

INDYCAR
Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian delivered its strongest all-around NTT INDYCAR SERIES performance to date outside of Helio Castroneves' iconic 2021 Indianapolis 500 win with a standout showing Sunday at the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America Presented by AMR.
Felix Rosenqvist charged from 12th to finish second in the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda, tying MSR's best non-Indy 500 result. Teammate Marcus Armstrong climbed from 15th to fifth in the No. 66 Sirius/XM Root Insurance Honda, marking MSR's first-ever double top-five finish.
The result reflects a dramatic step forward for the team, which has already earned 12 top-10 finishes this season, surpassing its previous best of 10 in 2022. A key catalyst?
A bold offseason switch in technical alliances from Andretti Global to Chip Ganassi Racing and the addition of Armstrong to the lineup.
'I feel like we've taken it to the next step,' Rosenqvist said. 'I feel like we're unhappy now if we're not in the Fast 12 or even (Firestone) Fast Six. I think we're just expecting a higher level, and it's come down to I feel like we're pretty quick everywhere, both in qualifying and in a race, and it's just about executing strategy.'
Rosenqvist has six top-10 finishes this season while Armstrong has five, four of which came in the last five races. Castroneves contributed another with a 10th-place finish in the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
'I feel like the team is really strong from an engineering core,' Armstrong said. 'I also feel like I work well with Felix (Rosenqvist). Felix is a strong driver, really good over one lap, like you can learn from him a lot. Looking at his data is great. And also just talking with him, I feel like it's an easy team environment, which is really helpful.'
Dixon Nearly Pulls Off Fuelish Victory
Scott Dixon and Chip Ganassi Racing master strategist Mike Hull nearly pull off another fuel-saving masterpiece in Sunday's 55-lap race.
Starting 25th in the 27-car field, Dixon capitalized on a first-lap caution, diving into the pits after David Malukas went off track.
Six-time series champion Dixon ran a bold, off-sequence strategy, stretching fuel masterfully while still showing strong pace.
The gamble didn't quite pay off. With fumes left in the tank, Dixon was forced to pit his No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda with two laps remaining. That could have been his 21st consecutive season with at least one INDYCAR SERIES win, a record unmatched in the sport.
Dixon handed the lead and win to teammate Alex Palou in his No. 10 SOLO Cup Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
'Pretty wild strategies there just to try and make something happen,' he said. 'The unfortunate part is that the car was super fast. We were just having to save fuel every lap, so that was kind of frustrating. I think we should have been in the top three.'
Dixon ultimately crossed the finish line in ninth, marking his third straight race running an alternate strategy. He finished 11th in the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on June 1 and fourth in the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline on June 15.
He found himself just a few laps short of perfection Sunday in Wisconsin.
'Just one of those years, man,' Dixon said. 'We'll keep knocking on the door. We're just going for some race wins. Pretty much out of the championship, so nothing to lose.'
Siegel Scores Top 10 After Busy Week
After a turbulent week off track, Nolan Siegel delivered a timely performance on it at Road America.
Following a public apology, along with one from his Arrow McLaren team, for salty remarks made on the team radio about Scott McLaughlin and Team Penske during the previous week's race at World Wide Technology Raceway, the 19-year-old responded with a career-boosting drive to a season-best eighth place at Road America.
'This is a nice end to this week,' Siegel said. 'Nice to move on from everything from last week and ended on a high. This has been a much-needed weekend. Ultimately, this is something we can build off of.
'I've had a lot of bad weeks where everyone leaves upset, and it's not a good feeling. It's nice to kind of turn that around.'
The results marks Siegel's third career top 10 and second on a natural road course. The other came with a ninth-place finish May 4 at Barber Motorsports Park. His career best finish remains seventh in 2023 at WWTR.
With momentum finally swinging in his favor and The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the all-new 2026 Passport next on Sunday, July 6, a road-course event that teammate Pato O'Ward won last year, Siegel remains optimistic.
'I've been strong on the road courses this year,' he said. 'Barber, here, Mid-Ohio was a pretty good one for all of us last year. So, we're going to have a strong car, I know that.
'The goal is to just do better every weekend and maybe start a little further up than we did this weekend. I think there's a lot of potential there. I'm excited given how much potential this group seems to have. I think once that starts to come out, the results start to come and just kind of get the ball rolling.'
INDY NXT Race Completed Without Push To Pass
Caio Collet secured his first victory of the season in Sunday's INDY NXT by Firestone race at Road America. He did so without the aid of Push to Pass, the overtaking assist feature that wasn't available to any of the 19 cars in the field due to a technical problem.
INDYCAR is evaluating a car-side processing issue that prevented use of Push to Pass. No competitive advantage was available to any entry as the full field was impacted. Following internal analysis, INDYCAR will work to ensure any necessary remedies are in place before the next race.
Odds and Ends The eventual NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion has finished in the top four in seven of the last eight years at Road America. Josef Newgarden finished second in his 2017 championship-winning season and third in 2019. Dixon was also third in his 2018 title-winning campaign and won Race 1 in 2020. Palou won at Road America in his 2021 and 2023 championship-winning seasons and finished fourth last year. Will Power's 19th-place finish in 2022 is the lone exception. Palou, the points leader, won Sunday. Green Bay Packers Pro Bowl running back Josh Jacobs led the field to the green flag in the passenger seat of the Fastest Seat in Sports two-seater race car. Jacobs met and chatted before the race with Team Penske driver and avid NFL fan McLaughlin, Roger Penske and Penske Corp. executive Bud Denker. The impressive statistics keep piling up for race winner Palou. This was the 50th top-five finish from his 90 career starts, a strike rate of 56 percent. Honda begins the season 9-for-9, with six wins from Palou and three from Kyle Kirkwood's No. 27 Siemens Honda. The manufacturer's unbeaten streak is 10 straight wins, dating to Colton Herta's victory in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda in last year's season finale at Nashville Superspeedway. Kyffin Simpson earned his second top-six finish in the last three races by finishing sixth in the No. 8 Ridgeline Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. He finished fifth in Detroit.
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