INDIANAPOLIS — After making an impressive NTT INDYCAR SERIES debut with Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) last weekend at the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix in Nashville, Linus Lundqvist will return behind the wheel of the No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda for Saturday’s Gallagher Grand Prix (2:00pm ET, USA Network, SiriusXM Ch. 160).
While Simon Pagenaud continues to make gains in his recovery following an accident at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course last month, which saw the Frenchman have a manufacturer brake failure, he has not been cleared by the INDYCAR Medical Team to participate in this weekend’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Lunqvist 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 and Jim 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.”
Lunqvist 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.
Time To Start To Worry About Pagenaud?
This will mark the sixth race that Simon Pagenaud has missed. While I didn’t honestly expect him back until Nashville anyways, now that he’s into August and still dealing with these effects, I’m starting to grow concerned.
I get missing Mid-Ohio as a precaution and if you couldn’t go in Toronto, skipping the doubleheader in Iowa made sense as well.
Iowa is a dizzying experience in and of itself with a bullring type venue. With 2 races in 2 days in the warm conditions that they were going to be facing, that’s asking a lot to come back there from a likely head injury that he’s suffering from right now.
So for Pagenaud who was feeling the effects of that crash, racing at Iowa made little to no sense. It bought him another couple of weeks to get to Nashville. But to miss Nashville and now Indy with the same feelings that he can’t seem to shake, I am concerned.
This seems like a Kurt Busch issue from last year which I hope isn’t the case. However, Pagenaud is making the right move and taking the right precautions to not come back before he’s 100% ready. He has a beautiful family that he has to think of too and I know while it’s got to be killing him not to be in the car, he’s doing the right thing.
I mean if he wanted to race, let’s be honest, he could. He could lie about symptoms and do just enough to pass the baseline tests and hop in. But he’s being smart here and not doing so. He’s being honest and that’s the right thing to do. I commend him for that.
“I’m ready,” Pagenaud said on July 1 after his frightening crash. “I can get back in now. It’s not a problem. It’s going to be the doctor’s decision. It was a pretty big hit. We’ll see what they say. There’s a protocol to follow. Again, that’s to keep the drivers safe.
“We’ll see what they say. Very unfortunate day for us. But I got some TV time, I guess.”
These types of injuries have delayed reactions at times and it seems to be the case for Pagenaud.
His health is the main focus here and I just hope he can get back to feeling like himself again sooner rather than later. He’s taking the right steps.
Conor Daly
I wonder how much of the fact that Conor Daly is running the Xfinity Series race played a role into bringing Linus Lundqvist back. I mean this is one of Daly’s better tracks no matter oval or road course. He was strong and fast here on the 2.439-mile layout. However, with him in the Xfinity Series race, was he never a thought and if he wasn’t, would he have been the better candidate?
Nothing against Lundqvist because I do think he did a fine job in Nashville, but there’s a bigger picture here too.
Leaders Circle
Which leads me to this. The 60 car is still outside the leaders circle threshold right now. However, it’s by only three points. I got to think Daly could have done enough on Saturday to put this car on the plus side which is pivotal for the direction that this team could go in 2024.
Future Of This Car
Speaking of which, MSR has a Friday morning announcement which most have speculated will share some details of the 2024 plans.
Race Review Online 