Meyer Shank Racing announced on Monday that Tom Blomqvist will finish the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series season racing the No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda substituting for Simon Pagenaud at Portland International Raceway on September 3rd, and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on September 10th.
“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,” said Blomqvist. “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 was recently announced as the new full-time driver for Meyer Shank Racing in 2024 after a stellar career in sports cars. The 29-year-old from Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, made his IndyCar debut earlier this year at Toronto qualifying 20th, but was taken out on the first lap of the race and finished in 25th place.
In addition, he won the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the DPi class with MSR and is a two-time winner in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Meyer Shank Racing has had Blomqvist, along with Conor Daly, and Linus Lundqvist drive the No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda as Simon Pagenaud continues to recover from his July 1st accident at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
The NTT IndyCar Series visits Portland International Raceway this weekend at 3 pm on NBC. Subscribe to Fubo to watch all of the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series season. Purchase tickets for all IndyCar races today on StubHub and Viagogo.
