Meyer Shank Racing

Lore & Background

Michael Shank, co-owner of MSR, was originally a car owner for Sam Hornish Jr. He started racing in 1989, winning SCCA Ohio Valley Region's Novice Driver of the Year. He debuted his racing career in the mid-1990s, winning the 1996 Player's/Toyota Atlantic C2 championship. Shank raced in his one and only Indy Racing League in 1997 with Nienhouse Motorsports. By 1999 Shank had won the Formula Atlantic series Rookie of the Year title. Shank has since been twice named Formula Atlantic Team Owner of the Year. The team purchased a 2012 Dallara IndyCar with the goal of adding a full-time IndyCar program in 2012 while continuing its Grand-Am programs. The original intention for the IndyCar program was to run under the name 'MSR Indy', with A. J. Allmendinger and Brian Bailey as co-owners. The program was intended to use Lotus engines and field Jay Howard for the 2012 Indianapolis 500; however, despite having full sponsorship from Jim Beam, the failure to secure a competitive engine lease kept it from doing so. MSR announced that it had sold its Dallara chassis to Sam Schmidt Motorsports in February 2013 and declared its intention to collaborate with another team on a 2013 Indianapolis 500 entry. No such program was finalized in time for the race. For the 2017 Indianapolis 500, the team partnered with Andretti Autosport for an entry driven by Jack Harvey. In the 2018 IndyCar Series, in a partnership with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, the team entered Jack Harvey in 6 events, including the 2018 Indianapolis 500, and in 2019 in 10 races, obtaining the first podium, the 3rd place in the IndyCar Grand Prix. On October 2, 2020, it was announced that Liberty Media's Formula One Group was making a minority equity investment in the team. On May 30, 2021, Hélio Castroneves won the 2021 Indy 500 with the team. This marked Castroneves' 4th Indy 500 victory (tied for most all time), and the team's first career victory in the IndyCar Series. Hélio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud competed for Meyer Shank in 2022 and will continue racing with the team for the 2023 season. On May 24, 2026, Felix Rosenqvist won the 2026 Indianapolis 500, marking the second win for Meyer Shank. In 2023, Helio Castroneves became a minority stake owner of Meyer Shank Racing. Castroneves continues to focus on selected IndyCar and endurance racing appearances with the team while balancing his ownership res

In Their Own Story

The pit lane at Indianapolis hums at 6:47 a.m., the kind of low mechanical drone that means the world hasn't yet woken up to the noise. Michael Shank walks the length of the garage, not in a suit but in the same faded team shirt he wore three years ago, running a thumb along the carbon fiber of the #22's sidepod. He stops, tilts his head, listens. The crew chief is already there, coffee in hand, talking through a checklist. Shank nods once. He doesn't need to say more. Behind them, the grandstands are empty, the sky that pale pre-dawn blue that only exists in the first week of May, and somewhere down the track a single engine fires up for a compression check, the sound rolling across the infield like a distant thunderclap. This is the team's world: not the spectacle, but the quiet before it. The hands-on the car. The family name on the nose cone. The belief, held in the garage like a small flame, that today might be the day it all clicks.

Reader's Guide

The team's history includes success in the Atlantic Championship, Grand-Am Rolex Series, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and IndyCar Series. Key milestones include winning the 2012 Rolex 24 at Daytona, the 2021 Indianapolis 500 with Hélio Castroneves, and the 2026 Indianapolis 500 with Felix Rosenqvist. The team also won the 2022 Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona (though the latter win was penalized for tire pressure manipulation). MSR did not return to IMSA for 2024 but is returning in 2025 in the GTP category with two Acura LMDh cars.

Did You Know?

• Michael Shank won the 1996 Player's/Toyota Atlantic C2 championship.
• The team's first IndyCar victory was the 2021 Indianapolis 500 with Hélio Castroneves.
• Felix Rosenqvist won the 2026 Indianapolis 500 for MSR.
• In 2023, Helio Castroneves became a minority stake owner of the team.