Linus Lundqvist is no ordinary rookie.
Racing in his first full season in the NTT IndyCar Series, Lundqvist entered the year as a champion already.
Having won the 2022 Indy NXT title handily, the Swede grew accustomed to competing at the front of the pack.
While his first two races aboard the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda didn’t go as planned with a best result of 13th in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, his confidence didn’t waiver.
Lundqvist’s race on Sunday at Alabama’s Barber Motorsports Park was off strategy. The No. 8 team was on the preferred three-stop strategy along with lead drivers Scott McLaughlin and Will Power, however, it was different.
Having started 19th, Lundqvist took advantage of an early caution flag to pit for the primary Firestone tires. The No. 8 cycled to podium range by the end of each stint, however, there wasn’t a true gauge of where Lundqvist would finish.
With his final pit stop coming with 19 laps to go, Lundqvist was given the green light by his team to push during the closing stages of the race.
He vaulted to third by race’s end, scoring his first IndyCar Series podium.
“Man, it was amazing,” Lundqvist said. “I think for the first time ever I was not on the save fuel strategy. I was not the one being passed, which was nice.
“Obviously we had a bit of everything in that race for us. We started obviously quite far back, in 19th. In the beginning it was just about basically saving fuel as much as we can, see what we can do later in the race.
“The team kept telling me to hit your number, you’ll reap the reward at the end. That definitely happened.”
Amid his charge to the front, Lundqvist was admittedly shocked by his progress during the latter stages of the race.
“When the guys came on the radio said I was third, I couldn’t believe it,” Lundqvist said.
“At the same time I was passing people like (Alex) Palou. ‘They’re usually high up, we can’t be doing too bad.’”
Lundqvist passed teammate and reigning champion Alex Palou with 12 laps to go. He’d hang on from there despite a late-race caution.
“Super happy and super proud of this for the whole 8 crew. It’s amazing.”
The 25-year-old enters his first month of May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway eighth in points and momentum on his side.