Meyer Shank Racing will have two new drivers in the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season, adding Felix Rosenqvist to replace Simon Pagenaud as the new teammate for Tom Blomqvist.
The team announced a multiyear deal Tuesday morning with Rosenqvist, who joins after three seasons with Arrow McLaren.
Pagenaud, the 2019 Indy 500 winner and 2016 IndyCar champion who has been out of the No. 60 Dallara-Honda while recovering from a July 1 crash at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, posted on social media that he is leaving MSR.
“I would like to wish MSR all the best and thank Mike Shank, Jim Meyer and the whole team for the valuable experiences I have gathered through the last two years,” Pagenaud, who will miss the final nine IndyCar races of 2023, posted. “I wish we could have achieved more together over the last two seasons and win races, but we could not make it happen.
“For now my goal is to fully focus on myself and recuperating. It is a slow process, and I will continue to work with the doctors and do what is necessary to get my health back to 100%.”
— Simon Pagenaud (@simonpagenaud) September 5, 2023
If Pagenaud, a past Rolex 24 at Daytona winner, elects to return to sports cars full time, staying with MSR could be an option, though it’s unclear if the team will remain in IMSA next year.
Team co-owner Mike Shank told RACER that if Pagenaud, 39, “isn’t done with racing by any means but unfortunately MSR has to keep going.”
Rosenqvist, 31, finished a season-best second last Sunday at Portland International Raceway, his second podium of the season and first since Detroit in early June. The Swedish driver has one career victory at Road America in 2020, his last season with Chip Ganassi Racing.
“I’m super excited to start the next chapter of my IndyCar career together with MSR,” Rosenqvist, who will be entering his sixth full season in IndyCar, said in a release. “This will be a great opportunity for myself and MSR to elevate and get to the next level together. I’m also pretty excited to get to work with my old friend Tom (Blomqvist) again. I’m ready to start working together and getting the next season started.”
Blomqvist, who is starting the last two IndyCar races this season in place of Pagenaud, is a two-time Rolex 24 at Daytona for MSR and part of the championship entry in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship last season in the premier prototype category. Helio Castroneves, who is stepping back from full-time driving for a management role with MSR, will be in a third car for the Indy 500.
“We’re very excited to have our 2024 IndyCar plans finalized and to welcome Felix (Rosenqvist) to the team,” said Mike Shank. “Felix has been someone that has been on our radar for quite some time now and everything lined up this year to work something out with him. It’s no secret that we’ve had a difficult season, with some things out of our control and some things in our control.
“I think we are all looking forward to resetting completely, starting over and getting to work. I think Tom and Felix will work great together and really feed off of each other. We will also have Helio with us at every race to provide his feedback and advice which will be an added bonus, so I think we’re in for a solid year ahead.”
Rosenqvist becomes the latest IndyCar driver to confirm his plans for 2024 in the past few weeks. With two-time champion Alex Palou returning to Chip Ganassi Racing and Marcus Ericsson moving from Ganassi to Andretti Autosport, next year’s grid virtually could be filled entering Sunday’s season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
🚨 2024 ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨
— Felix Rosenqvist (@FRosenqvist) September 5, 2023
Super excited to announce that I will join @MeyerShankRac for the 2024 @IndyCar season and onwards!
The timing is right for this move and it’s a great opportunity for both myself and MSR to elevate our level and grow stronger together. Let’s bring it… pic.twitter.com/tiQNkyQH6c
