INDIANAPOLIS – Although he crashed with just nine laps left in the race, Linus Lundqvist had an impressive NTT IndyCar Series debut in last Sunday’s Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, running in the top seven.
That has earned the 2022 Indy NXT champion a return to the No. 60 SiriusXM/AutoNation Honda in Saturday’s Gallagher Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the road course.
Once again, injured driver Simon Pagenaud will sit out this race as he continues to recover from his violent barrel-rolling crash at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 1.
According to Meyer Shank Racing, the Frenchman have a manufacturer brake failure in that incident. He has not been cleared by the IndyCar Medical Team to participate in this weekend’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Lundqvist will make his second IndyCar race start and once again be joined by full-season MSR driver Helio Castroneves in the Brickyard weekend which will see the NTT IndyCar Series run in conjunction with NASCAR. The quick two-day weekend will feature an 85-lap race on Saturday, the second time that the IndyCar Series has run on the IMS road course this year.
“First I want to say a massive thank you to Mike (Shank) and Jim (Meyer) for their trust to put me back in the car again,” Lundqvist said. “The Nashville weekend was great in so many ways. Obviously, a lot of impressions and a lot of new stuff for me going on that weekend and I was pretty disappointed with the way that it ended.
“It was my mistake and I enjoyed it up until that point. I think it also left me and the team wanting more, which I am grateful for another opportunity at Indy. I know it is going to be tough again, but now I have a whole race weekend under my belt. Hopefully we can string some good results together and find some good speed, but I feel like it is going to be a super weekend.
Lundqvist is coming off a big IndyCar debut weekend in Nashville, which saw the 2022 Indy NXT by Firestone Champion advance into the Firestone Fast 12 in Qualifying and go on to post the fastest lap of the race on Sunday. Unfortunately, contact with the wall ended his race early, but Lundqvist will be looking for redemption this weekend.
The Swedish racer has four starts on the IMS road course in Indy NXT competition, starting on the pole in three out of the four races. He has two wins on his resume, both of which he started on the pole.
Castroneves returns to the site of his 2021 Indianapolis 500 victory, but this time on the road course layout. Castroneves will be making his 13th race start on the IMS road course this weekend. The IndyCar favorite has collected two podium finishes on the road course, finishing third in 2014 and 2nd in 2017.
“The IMS road course is a place that has been very good for MSR, so I am looking forward to getting back to one of my favorite places,” Castroneves said. “I think we learned a lot from the last race there in May, so that should help us this weekend. I’m ready to go.”