Following his strongest finish of the 2025 season at Road America, Felix Rosenqvist now sits tied for fourth in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES standings for Meyer Shank Racing. Driving the No. 6 SiriusXM Honda for MSR, Rosenqvist led two of the 55 laps at Road America and earned his fourth career top-10 at the Wisconsin road course.
Charging through the field
Although Road America has historically been a stronghold for Rosenqvist – he earned his maiden INDYCAR win at the circuit and has regularly delivered solid performances there – this year’s race brought its own unique challenges.
After a big mistake in qualifying left him starting back in 12th position despite overall pace this weekend, Rosenqvist had to work methodically through the field. Undeterred, he delivered a composed and aggressive drive to secure a hard-fought second-place finish for MSR by the end of the race.
“Yeah, good memories from here. I had my first win here. As you said, it’s been a couple of good results here in the past. I felt the whole weekend we had good pace and in practice we were rolling well.“
Rosenqvist admitted he regretted qualifying so far down the order, knowing that starting 12th made his charge to the front much more difficult than it needed to be.
“Kind of messed up qualifying. Tried to do the carousel flat and I lost it and I started P12.“
Smart strategy, sharp execution
Despite the setback of starting mid-pack, Rosenqvist and the Meyer Shank Racing team executed a shrewd strategy, combining smart tyre decisions with timely responses to race dynamics to maximize every opportunity on track.
“It wasn’t ideal, but I knew we had good pace in the car. My Meyer Shank Sirius XM Honda was just on rails. There was a lot of strategies going on. We did two black stints in the beginning and we held on pretty good, and especially in the restarts, it seemed like the blacks were pretty good, and they faded a bit when you got up to speed. But we capitalized on all those yellows, and I think that was to our advantage.”
Late-race push secures the podium
In the final stint of the race, Rosenqvist was able to unleash the full potential of his car. With a fresh set of alternate tyres and no need to conserve fuel, he went all-out in pursuit of the leaders. That effort resulted in a second-place finish and a morale-boosting podium.
“Then at the end of the race we didn’t have to save any fuel and we had two new reds, and we were just doing qually laps every lap, and that’s kind of when we ended where we ended. So it was really good, and super proud of all the guys.
“It’s a hot day out there. It was tough for everyone, pit crew, engineering, and computers and all that kind of stuff. Everything is running hot. Happy we made it to the finish.”
A realistic outlook on victory
Though Rosenqvist appeared to be running at full pace in the closing stages while his main rivals were seemingly more focused on conserving fuel, he remained realistic about his chances. Despite rapidly closing in on race leader Alex Palou, he recognized that a late overtake unlikely. Still, he was satisfied with the effort and proud of the result.
“It was kind of déjà-vu from my first win here with Pato. I could see the red car, not the yellow, the Alex car was just getting bigger and bigger, and he was on blacks at the end. So I don’t think he had a massive fuel target, but the blacks were worse, but I was just a little too far away, and I think he probably had something in the bag, knowing Alex; he’s normally pretty quick.
“But he did, like always, a really good race, and I think he didn’t really have a perfect race, either. He was kind of in the midfield a couple of times. I think everyone were, though. There was three strategies going on, and at some point everyone had to kind of eat it. But yeah, good race.”
Road America: A driver’s favourite
Rosenqvist was vocal in his praise of Road America, highlighting how the track has continued to evolve in the two years since its repave. He considers it one of the premier circuits on the INDYCAR calendar, not just for its layout, but for the quality of racing it consistently delivers.
“Yeah, it’s a great place to have a podium. I think this is one of the absolute highlights of the year. It races really well, and I think after the repave when the track is baked in for two years and kind of got a bit more gray –”
He credited the quality of the racing surface and the multiple viable strategies as key elements in creating one of the most exciting races of the season. In particular, he noted how the tyres and surface combined to produce close and dynamic competition.
“It’s really good. You can do the high line. It doesn’t accumulate a lot of marbles, and the racing was just really good out there. It was cool, as well, the fuel save seemed to be pretty effective. You could still do good pace with the fuel save; it wasn’t like the people who saved falling off the cliff.
“A lot of different strategies, really good racing. Both tires were kind of decent. I think the reds were definitely better, but the blacks were weirdly really good on the restarts, which made it kind of interesting. So yeah, really good race. I think it was a fun one to watch, as well.”
Beyond the technical and strategic aspects of the race, Rosenqvist also highlighted the crowd and overall event atmosphere as part of what makes Road America a special stop on the calendar.
“But yeah, really good interaction always here. It’s always a hit, man. It’s one of the really cool races, and to do well here is super special.”
Execution across the board
Rosenqvist emphasized that while raw speed is critical, it was the full team execution – strategy, pit work, and adaptability – that helped secure a podium finish.
“Yeah, it’s all in the details, and then I think we had really good pace all year, especially in the races. Today the car was just on fire in the race. It was so good. Qualifying has been pretty good, as well. Not as good as last year maybe, but enough to do good results and to be consistently in the top 10 in qualifying.
“It just comes down to execution, strategy, pit stops. I think today we probably had the best strategy in the field. The pit stops were really good, and it’s really — that’s pretty much it. You need to do restarts, in laps, out laps, pit stops, strategy. That’s kind of the low-hanging fruit. Like everyone is quick out there. If everyone is in the same situation on fuel and tires it’s hard to make the difference.
“But yeah, the team has just been on fire. I really feel like they deserve this result. It’s been kind of an unlucky couple of races for us. We haven’t really been able to string it together.
“Really happy for Mike and Jim and everyone in the team fighting out there in the heat today. It’s a good one.”
While he observed one on-track incident, Rosenqvist maintained a composed approach throughout the race. He experienced very little drama and noted that his own race was surprisingly clean.
“There was one, I don’t remember who it was, but someone went off in front of me. But my race was actually pretty calm […]”.
Tactics that turned the tide
Tyre strategy once again proved pivotal, and Rosenqvist credited both Meyer Shank Racing’s prediction and Firestone’s tyre quality for enhancing the racing.
“Yeah, I think we kind of nailed a prediction on the tire. We thought it was going to be a red race, and as I said, both of them were good enough for a stint. I think the red was just a bit quicker, and you could also save a bit of fuel on the red without really losing the pace. With the black you kind of had to push it a bit more.
“As I said, I don’t know what Firestone has done, but I think the fact that we don’t have a lot of marbles really helps the racing. You can go off line on the straight and there’s not a bunch of crap out there. You can just run wherever and have a really good braking off line anywhere, and that’s super cool.
“I think that’s what really makes the racing good. Whenever you have one of those races where it’s just a bunch of marbles, you can’t really do anything because you’re sacrificing your whole race when you go out there. Really good job done by Firestone for this race. I think they nailed it.”
Momentum heading into the second half of the season
Rosenqvist’s performance at Road America not only marked a season-best finish but also served as a reminder of his capabilities when car, team, and execution align. With momentum on his side, both he and Meyer Shank Racing are now firmly in the championship conversation as the 2025 campaign continues.
