Meyer Shank turns strong qualifying into near-win at Road America

Meyer Shank Racing turned a strong qualifying day into a near-win at Road America, with Marcus Armstrong and Felix Rosenqvist locking out the second row before Rosenqvist led Sunday’s XPEL Grand Prix and lost the victory to an engine failure with three laps remaining. Rosenqvist’s No. 60 Honda was running at the front when the failure ended the team’s bid for its first victory outside the Indianapolis 500, and Christian Lundgaard went on to inherit the win.

Armstrong qualified third in the No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda, while Rosenqvist was fourth, giving the team a second-row lockout on a grid headed by pole sitter Alex Palou and second-place qualifier David Malukas. Armstrong said the car had pace all weekend and the team executed well in qualifying. He had dealt with a flu-like illness earlier in the weekend but said he felt much better before the 55-lap race.

The qualifying results capped a strong weekend for Armstrong, who led Friday practice, finished second in Saturday morning practice and remained in search of his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory in his 56th career start. Rosenqvist also had shown front-running speed before qualifying, but a mechanical issue tied to a broken part from a previous crash left him 20th in the morning session before he recovered to take fourth. Both Meyer Shank Racing cars spent much of the race near the front before the late engine failure ended the team’s chance at the win.