LEXINGOTN, OH – Felix Rosenqvist said it heading into this weekend – Mid-Ohio is a special course for him. While he’s never raced on the 2.258-mile road course prior to this weekend, it’s a track that he’s tested at for Chip Ganassi Racing a couple of times. A test a few years ago though is what eventually landed him the ride that he’s in now.

See, Rosenqvist tested Scott Dixon’s car at Mid-Ohio in 2016. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get a deal done for him to drive for Ganassi in 2017. The Sweden native would go to Formula E instead. The team stuck with Tony Kanaan for one more season before going to Ed Jones last year.

But, with a ho-hum year in the No. 10 Honda, CGR looked back to Roseqnvist instead of Jones as a replacement for 2019. They remembered that test a few years ago. Well, the rookie driver has impressed so far this year. So much so, he returned to the track three years later and nearly won his first career Indy Car race.

Rosenqvist, had a career day in Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 in leading 15 laps and coming home runner-up. But, the runner-up finish doesn’t tell the whole story. Rosenqvist, narrowly lost to Dixon, the same driver that he tested that car for back in 2016. He finished second by just 0.0934-seconds, the closest finish ever at Mid-Ohio and third closest road course finish ever in the NTT IndyCar Series.

“Yeah, it’s always been a place I liked,” Rosenqvist said of his first career Indy Car podium on Sunday in Mid-Ohio. “I never actually raced here, but there’s always been a good flow for me at this track. Maybe it reminds me a bit more of the European tracks, kind of flowing, pretty smooth. It’s not as bumpy as most of the tracks we have here.

“It just keeps bringing me good memories here at Mid-Ohio. It’s an awesome place, and I also want to thank all the fans for coming out. Like it’s one of the races you really think about fans when you’re in the car because you can see them everywhere. Yeah, it’s cool that everyone comes out to this race every year.”

The second place finish though, almost didn’t happen. See, he and Dixon battled hard on the final lap, so much so they made contact in the key hole while battling for the lead.

“If it was someone else, obviously you would have gone a bit harder,” Rosenqvist said of his final lap battle with Dixon. “But being Scott (Dixon), you know he’s going to fight you fair. I mean, I know a couple other drivers in this championship who I wouldn’t go even as hard as I did with Scott because there would just be an accident. I think he’s always on the right level of aggression and safety at the same time. And I really enjoy, every time I fight against him, it’s actually impressive how clever he is, not only when it comes to his speed but also the way he races, and when you race side by side, he rarely takes the wrong decision, and you could see that today.

“He was on four tires, low fuel, and he still came out in front. I’m sure we would have got him with another lap, but the race is what it is. The lapped cars is what it is, and he won the race, so credit to him, and maybe next time we get him.”

Rosenqvist, said that despite being runner-up, is was a great learning experience for him to battle his teammate in Dixon for Chip Ganassi Racing’s first 1-2 finish since 2015.

“I mean, he never gives up, and I think that goes with what Ryan (Hunter-Reay) was saying,” Rosenqvist said of learning for Dixon there at the end. “When you’re on a three-stopper, for example, you have to push every lap. You just have to — every tenth counts, and how close the series is right now, you can’t afford to just play it safe at any time. Even with the lapped cars, I used probably 60 seconds of Push-to-Pass just to get through lapped cars. Yeah, it’s just tough all the time, and sometimes you feel you’re wasting tires, wasting Push-to-Pass to get through the field, but in the end it’s actually worth it because whenever you pass someone you just take off. Like your lap time is one second quicker. It’s a tough form of racing.”

Rosenqvist, already had as many top 10’s this season than Jones had all of last year. His fourth top five result is double what Jones had in this very car last year and one shy of what Jones and Kanaan combined to score in the last two years combined. The team has given Rosenqvist the confidence that he will be back in 2019. Now, it’s time to finish this year strong.