Racing can be cruel, and no IndyCar driver has experienced the cruelty of the sport more than Marcus Armstrong in the last month. On Sunday, Armstrong seemingly had his first IndyCar victory in hand, leading the Grand Prix at Road America by multiple seconds over Christian Lundgaard and David Malukas.
But on Lap 52 of the 55-lap race, the Honda engine on Armstrong’s No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing car began sputtering as if the car was out of fuel, although it wasn’t. Armstrong’s car immediately lost the supreme pace that it had all day and all weekend, as he surrendered the lead to Lundgaard — who won the race — before coming to a complete stop on Lap 53.
In just a couple of minutes, Armstrong went from staring down a win to not finishing the race and placing 24th.
“I don’t know,” Armstrong told Fox after the race ended. “We have to speak to Honda, see what the issue was, but there was no indication that there was something wrong.”
“It’s tough,” MSR owner Mike Shank told IndyStar. “I feel really bad for Marcus, but sometimes this happens.”
In his fourth season, Armstrong is arguably having his best year in IndyCar, although he doesn’t have a win or even a podium finish to show for it. The 25-year-old led going into the last lap of the Indianapolis 500 in May before being passed by Malukas and teammate Felix Rosenqvist — who won the race — en route to a fifth-place finish.
Armstrong is currently 11th in IndyCar’s championship with 203 points. If the Indy 500 and Grand Prix at Road America had gone his way and led to wins, he’d have 269 points, good for fifth in the standings.
The margins in racing are slim, and the New Zealand driver has had two races turn on him in an instant in the past month alone.
“We had the quickest car today and I think we had the quickest car all weekend,” Armstrong said in a team news release. “My engineers did everything right, my pit crew as well. I’m just gutted really.”
Armstrong’s in his second year with MSR, with his one-year contract extension expiring at the end of the season. With Rosenqvist also in a contract year, Armstrong could become the team’s top driver should the Indy 500 champ decide to leave. At the same time, if Armstrong and MSR can’t reach an agreement, he’s also looking to prove himself to teams throughout the paddock.
MSR has performed well since April, but the Indy 500 is the only win to show for it. Rosenqvist led the most laps in Sunday’s race, but an untimely caution due to Christian Rasmussen’s hybrid failure kept him out of contention for a win.
“It was unfortunate, also for Marcus, that his car blew up,” Rosenqvist, who finished eighth, told IndyStar. “So, I feel like the team deserved a win today. We’ve just been quick all weekend.”
Armstrong is clearly talented, and MSR is hitting its stride in the late spring and early summer portion of the season. MSR hadn’t had a driver finish in the top 10 of the championship until last year, when Rosenqvist (sixth) and Armstrong (eighth) did so. Should Armstrong’s fortune swing in the right direction, the team could do so again in 2026 (Rosenqvist is currently sixth again).
But despite all the team’s untapped potential, MSR is at a crossroads that could see it lose both of its skilled drivers next year. More wins and podium finishes would make MSR more desirable, and the team’s first win outside of IMS slipped away Sunday, regardless of whether Honda or MSR is to blame.
After the Indy 500, Armstrong felt like he was in a “no-win situation,” having to lift off the throttle at the mercy of Rosenqvist’s historic last lap. With a chance at redemption four weeks later, Armstrong’s day ended in just as much devastation.
“It’s hard to put into words how disappointed I am for him,” Shank said. “We asked for more. He gave more this weekend, and he had that win. So it wasn’t meant to be, but we’ll keep working.”
Zion Brown is IndyStar’s motorsports reporter. Follow him at @z10nbr0wn. Get IndyStar’s motor sports coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Motor Sports newsletter. Subscribe to the YouTube channel IndyStar TV: IndyCar for a behind-the-scenes look at IndyCar and expert analysis.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Cruel twist at Road America: Armstrong loses certain win to late‑race engine failure
Reporting by Zion Brown, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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By Zion Brown, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
