Written by Archie O’Reilly
Marcus Armstrong will drive for Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) for the 2024 IndyCar season, the team has confirmed.
The 24-year-old New Zealander moved to IndyCar from FIA Formula 2 for the 2023 season, racing for Chip Ganassi Racing across the last two years. But with a three-per-team charter system looming, Ganassi is being forced to cut two of its five cars.
Armstrong will maintain a close working relationship with Ganassi though. New for 2025 will be a technical alliance between MSR and the Chip Ganassi-owned team, with MSR switching away from its relationship with Andretti Global.
Armstrong will bring his “core engineering group” from Ganassi with him to MSR.
“I’m very proud to be joining Meyer Shank Racing in 2025,” Armstrong said. “I had a great feeling when I met both Mike Shank and Jim Meyer, their passion for performance and meticulous work ethic was obvious from our first conversation and I want to thank them both for this opportunity.
“I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone at MSR over the off-season with the goal of hitting the ground running at the first race of the season in St Pete.
“This year I got closer to where I want to be performance wise, including oval racing for the first time and I’m looking forward to continuing to push up the order with MSR. We want to be at the front, fighting for wins and I believe we have the recipe to do it.”
Armstrong, who won four times and finished 13th in the F2 standings in each of his three seasons, was the 2023 IndyCar rookie of the year, despite running only the road and street course races. In his first complete season in 2024, he has rounded out the year 14th in the standings.
Armstrong picked up his first podium on the streets of Detroit in June, finishing third as teammate, compatriot and childhood hero Scott Dixon stood on the top step. He ended the season with eight top-10 finishes - three coming on ovals despite his inexperience - and four top fives.
“We’re very excited to welcome Marcus onboard,” team co-owner Mike Shank saif. “He’s really shown a lot of growth and consistency in his first two years in INDYCAR, which is really difficult to do.
“This series is probably one of the most competitive series out there and he has proven himself to be a real contender. We are going to do everything we can to give him the car and the tools to produce results next year.”
Armstrong will pilot the No.66 Honda initially driven by Tom Blomqvist in 2024 before David Malukas replaced the rookie due to performance worries. Malukas vacated the seat to join AJ Foyt Racing.
Inside his 11-race stint with the team upon his return from the wrist injury that saw him dropped before racing for Arrow McLaren, Malukas qualified inside the top three on three occasions, leading at both World Wide Technology Raceway and Nashville Superspeedway.
MSR has undergone a major upturn in 2024, with Felix Rosenqvist taking a first pole for the team and achieving a podium in the $1 Million Challenge exhibition. The team achieved a total of eight top-10 finishes compared to one in 2023, starting 18 races inside the top 10 compared to two last year.
Armstrong completes MSR’s lineup for 2025 with Rosenqvist having been announced to have signed a multi-year deal earlier this week.
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