Rosenqvist Wants to Do It Again at Road America

Photo Credit: Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment

Everyone remembers their first time.

Felix Rosenqvist certainly hasn’t forgotten his. Named NTT INDYCAR SERIES Rookie of the Year in 2019, Rosenqvist came to Elkhart Lake’s Road America driving for Chip Ganassi Racing for a double-header weekend in July 2020 not exactly feeling his best.

“I remember I was sick or something,” Rosenqvist recalled. “It was actually the double weekend. I was sick. Wasn't feeling that well. The first day I actually had an engine failure, another one. So I finished last. Day two started eighth or something. Just had a rocket ship. Pretty much was third through the first stint. Had a really good battle with Pato (O’Ward), my buddy, towards the end of the race.

“Yeah, got my first win. It was pretty cool. Even if it was during COVID, Wisconsin had pretty open rules at the time.

“Actually quite a lot of fans. They couldn't really get close to you. Still signed some autographs and stuff, which I really appreciated. When you get your first win, you kind of want to celebrate it with the fans and everyone. It was like a hybrid COVID race.

Rosenqvist admits he always looks forward to returning to Road America.

“It's definitely one of the highlights of the year. Beautiful track. Good memories from there. I mean, good and bad, like every track when you do it for long enough.

“No, I love Road America. It's always, like, perfect weather there, as well. Looks pretty good at the forecast. Ready to see if we can double up there.”

Photo Credit: Paul Hurley/Penske Entertainment

Despite scoring his first win, Rosenqvist finished 11th in the final series standings in 2020 and would move to the Arrow McLaren SP team for the next three seasons. His luck there proved to be no better with only a handful of poles and podiums to show for his efforts.

Then last fall, Meyer Shank Racing announced Rosenqvist would be driving the team’s No. 60 Auto Nation SiriusXM Honda in a multi-year deal beginning this season. So far, Rosenqvist has led an uptick in performance for Meyer Shank Racing, giving the team its first pole at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Reflecting on his short time at MSR, Rosenqvist is pleased with how things are going, maybe even better than expected.

“Yes, I think for sure it's kind of hard to set expectations when you change teams. You're definitely careful doing that.

“But it was clear pretty early on that we had pace pretty much on all kinds of tracks, including Indy with the oval, which is hugely exciting.

“I'd say the exciting thing is also we're getting better every weekend. Even if we didn't really have the pace in Detroit, which I think was a bit of an outlier, I feel like we do a really good job at getting better if we're struggling a little bit with the pace. The pit stops have been a lot better through the year, as well. I think we were one of the strongest in pit lane in Detroit.

“Even from a qualifying perspective, points perspective, we're good. But behind the scenes, there's a lot of exciting stuff going on, as well.”

Photo Credit: Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment

However, the same cannot be said about the No. 66 Auto Nation Arctic Wolf Honda sister car. Rookie Tom Blomqvist was making the switch from sports cars to IndyCar. The team had fallen out of INDYCAR’s Winner’s Circle program following his first lap crash in the Indianapolis 500. The decision was made to replace the under-performing Blomqvist with Hello Castroneves, a four-time Indy 500 winner, driver coach and minority partner of the team’s ownership group, for Detroit and Road America.

“I'm not really involved,” Rosenqvist offered. “Mike (Shank) and Jim (Meyer) make all the calls. Obviously they're the ones who run the team.

“It's unfortunate when you have that going on. It's not the ideal scenario. I feel like everyone has taken it pretty well. Helio is going to run this race. I honestly don't know what's going to happen after that.

“I'm sure they have a good plan in pace. I'm a good buddy with Tom. Obviously, I'm bummed to lose him as a teammate. It's business, and he's still part of the team. The future is for sure going to be bright for all of us. We'll see where it goes from after Road America.”

Having Castroneves already on board has made the situation easier on the team, according to Rosenqvist.

“Yeah, it was fortunate in the situation where we needed a driver, that he was just kind of plug-and-play obviously right off month of May.

“I have to give it to Helio, man. He's pushing 50 years here soon. He had no issues with his fitness. Obviously he got taken out in the race, which was unfortunate. He lost a bunch of laps. But he did a really solid job. I think he did everything everyone expected him to.

“It's pretty cool to see that he's never truly given up on himself as a driver or his career. He's still working out hard, super committed.

“Yeah, I thought he did a great job.”

Photo Credit: Karl Zemlin/Penske Entertainment

But not having a consistent teammate, week in, week out can be tough for a team trying to make its way up the standings.

“It's not ideal. It's a situation that we're trying to improve and solve.

“We have our partnership with Andretti Global, which is useful and helpful for us every weekend. That partnership still lives obviously. You can see they're not direct teammates, but we have a lot of information to trade.

“I'd say we're pretty protected against what's happening right now. It would be tough if we were, like, just basically one car, having drivers jump in and out would be very tough in that scenario. We're lucky we can just continue on as normal, at least on the 60 car.

“I think for the team the plan obviously is long-term to have something that works well and you can build on. I think that's the next step for Meyer Shank Racing.”

Sunday’s XPEL Grand Prix of Road America marks the end of a five-weekend stretch for the INDYCAR SERIES that included several stressful weekends, both physically and mentally, at Indy.

“Yeah, it’s a long stint, for sure. This is a team sport. Even if the driver does the most physical and maybe mentally demanding job on race day, we actually have the opportunity to recover pretty well. I've been home here in Indy for two days now, going to the gym, eating well, resting, sleeping well.

“Actually everyone that works on the pit crew, engineers, the minute we finish the race in Detroit, they're already working on Road America, preparing the car setup, the gears. The mechanics have to rebuild the car, take it apart, maybe a new engine that has to go in.

“The amount of infrastructure and logistics behind the scenes, they work their asses off every week. Especially when you have a stint like this, also ending with a test at Milwaukee next week (Tuesday and Wednesday), I think they'll be pretty happy when it's done.

“I think it's all about managing. You have to kind of see it as an endurance race itself. It's like a mini championship. These five weeks are going to be tough. You just have to try to get through and not make mistakes.

“Mistakes come when you're pushed to your limits mentally and physically. That's when you can get sloppy. Everyone on my car, Meyer Shank Racing, have done a super good job. Very motivated, not complaining.

“I know it's been tough on them. I really hope we can do something good for them in Road America.”

Photo Credit: Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment

With its combination of long straights, big braking zones and fast, sweeping corners, Road America offers drivers just about everything they look for in track. While many drivers love the challenge of the sweeping Carousel and Canada Corner portion of the 4.048-mile circuit, Rosenqvist is of a different mind.

“I think the first section is cool. That's kind of where all the action happens. You go into one, then down to five. I wouldn't say it's the most fun part, but it's a lot of battling, epic battles we've seen historically that I've been part of myself.

“Someone comes out of the pits, it's elbow style. It's always a good race there. I think that's the main thing with Road America. Always exciting race, good show.

“The last years have actually been probably one of the best races on the calendar.”

While he’ll never forget his first win, a followup victory this weekend would likely be just as memorable for Rosenqvist, especially given the circumstances of his first one.

“Obviously I want to do that again. I think my second one will be better, as well. I’m really looking forward to have another go at it.”

The XPEL Grand Prix of Road America will get the green flag at 2:30 p.m. (CDT) Sunday.

*** It was announced Friday morning that David Malukas would drive the No. 66 Auto Nation Arctic Wolf Honda for the remainder of the season beginning at Laguna Seca. Malukas will also take part in the INDYCAR open test at the Milwaukee Mile next Tuesday and Wednesday.