Meyer Shank Racing has announced today that they will be expanding their campaign in the NTT IndyCar Series for 2019 with British racing driver Jack Harvey. The team, which competed in six races on a part-time schedule with Harvey in 2018, will expand to ten races for the upcoming season.
Harvey and Meyer Shank Racing will once again take part in the biggest race of the season, the Indianapolis 500, as they did last season. In addition to this, the team will take part in nine races on road courses or street circuits.
Last year, Harvey and the team competed in six races of the seventeen-round calendar. Sadly for Harvey, he would fail to break into the top ten in any of those races on account of various incidents of bad luck. He came close to causing a major upset at the 2018 Indianapolis 500 by being a part of the leading trio on a fuel mileage gamble in the final ten laps, but sadly a late stop for fuel would relegate him to only sixteenth-place.
After today’s announcement of his and the team’s expanded campaign for 2019, Jack thanked his team and sponsors for giving him the opportunity to continue competing in IndyCar. He would go on to say that he was hoping for “some better results” compared to last year.
“We are extremely excited to be extending our program,” said Harvey, “That has always been the goal for 2019 and it is amazing to achieve that and continue to grow what we are doing. I have to thank Michael (Shank), he has put in an immense amount of work and of course thanks to Jim Meyer for his continued support. Without either of those guys, in their own way, I wouldn’t have received the opportunity.
“We also wouldn’t be able to do any of this without our partners, AutoNation and SiriusXM. We are incredibly lucky to have two companies that believe in us and the vision of the team.
“Now it’s our turn to get out on track and do more races and hopefully get some better results. I believe in the team and in myself to do what we have to do. We are just thrilled to confirm this expanded schedule so we can deliver results for everyone.”
Harvey will be on the grid for the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and will then make the trip with the rest of the series to Circuit of the Americas later in March for the second race of 2019. Jack will remain on the grid for the Grand Prix of Alabama and the Grand Prix of Long Beach in April, before making the trip to Indianapolis for the month of May; taking part in both the Grand Prix of Indianapolis as well as the 500 at the end of the month.
Meyer Shank Racing will sit out the following races at the Duel in Detroit and at Texas Motor Speedway. They will return to the track for Road America before taking another two race return before racing again at Mid-Ohio.
Once the final two oval races of 2019 have been completed at Gateway Motorsports Park and Pocono Raceway, MSR and Jack Harvey will be back on the grid for the last two races of the season at Portland International Raceway and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
The expansion from six to ten races is a great step in the right direction for the team, who competed as an independent entry for the first time last year, having previously worked hand-in-hand with Andretti Autosport in 2017.
Mike Shank, who also fields a team in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, stated today that he is “excited” with the progress made by his team’s IndyCar programme so far and he would later go on to confirm that neither IMSA or IndyCar entries will be hampered by each other over the year.
“I am really excited to see the way this program has grown over the past season,” said Shank, the team’s co-owner alongside SiriusXM’s CEO Jim Meyer.
“Starting off with only six races is not easy, but Jack (Harvey) did a great job and really hung in there. With 10 races, Jack will have much more seat time and it will help us all around. I’m also excited to have both AutoNation and SiriusXM back on board with us. They have been such great partners to work with and there is only more to be excited about next year.”
“We are going to have a busy year between IMSA and IndyCar,” Shank continued, “But I know my guys and they work around the clock to get the job done. The schedule that we have chosen allows us to do both series without any interference, so we can give ourselves the best chances possible to get results.”
It was also confirmed today that Meyer Shank Racing will continue to be involved in a technical alliance with Arrow Schmidt Peterson. Sam Schmidt stated today that the partnership had been “mutually beneficial” in 2018 and that he “excited to see it continue and grow” in 2019.
The 2019 NTT IndyCar Series will kick-off with the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday, March 10.