Meyer Shank Racing announced on Monday that Tom Blomqvist will compete for the team in the No.60 AutoNation Sirius XM Honda for final two races of the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season.
Speaking about the news, Blomqvist said:
Obviously the circumstances are quite tricky with Simon’s recovery and the whole situation surrounding the 60 car – I know the whole team and myself included are thinking about him as he recovers. I’ve got to thank Jim (Meyer) and Mike (Shank) for getting me in the car and looking ahead now to next season having been confirmed to drive with MSR next year. It’s a good thing to be getting these races under my belt before the season and working in preparation for my full program in 2024. I got a brief test in Toronto under very challenging circumstances – without any real preparation whatsoever.
Now I’ve got a little bit more understanding and knowledge and I’m hoping it’s going to be easier this time. I’m going to have the opportunity to get into the simulator and I know a little bit more of what to expect in terms of the way the weekend runs. I don’t know Portland at all and I know everyone has been racing flat-out in the summer. It’s still going to be an absolutely huge challenge. The series is so, so competitive and I am still new to these cars. I’m not putting any pressure on myself and I’m just going to go out there and do my best. Hopefully I can do Mike and Jim proud and make progress with every session. Hopefully after these next two events I can be happy and put in some strong performances and go into winter break with more knowledge on the series and be able to build on this.”
Blomqvist has signed to race for Meyer Shank Racing in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES full-time in 2024.
Helio Castroneves is looking forward to the race this weekend in Portland as he prepares to wind down his full-time INDYCAR career moving into an ownership role with MSR in 2024.
Portland is a great place and a track that I enjoy very much. I don’t think I have won there, but I was close many times. Hopefully we can go out there and have a better result than we had last year. We’re also excited to have Tom back with us for these last two races. This will be good practice for him to prepare for next year