No test, no problem for “confident” Armstrong & MSR in Road America IndyCar practice
- Archie O’Reilly
- 39 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Marcus Armstrong flew out of the blocks to top IndyCar’s opening practice session at Road America on Friday, despite not participating in a recent five-team private test at the track.
The New Zealander headed teammate Felix Rosenqvist in a Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) lock of the top two positions, followed by Álex Palou for technical allies Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR), who also did not run at the track earlier this month.
“I don’t think we’re on the back foot. I don’t feel like we missed anything,” said Armstrong, who is battling a cold-like illness at the beginning of this race weekend. “We were fast right out the gate. That’s the main thing. I don’t think we strung together a perfect lap; I thought the following lap was going to be a little spicier. [But] I feel pretty confident around here.
“It’s good to be back on a road course. It reminds me a bit of Spa in Europe - somewhere that I’m very well familiar with. It’s cool. It’s nice and smooth. Seems like the tyre is a bit better this year, too. It’s been fun out there today.”
Armstrong currently sits 10th in the standings after nine races in 2026, two positions beneath where he finished in eighth last season. Indianapolis 500-winning teammate Rosenqvist, who finished sixth in points last year, currently occupies that eighth spot, 25 points ahead.
Last month, Armstrong suffered the gut-wrenching disappointment of finishing fifth after leading the final restart of the Indy 500, which serves as one of two top-five finishes this season. He has recorded five top 10s and a further three 11th-place results in the first half of the year but is not satisfied by failing to maximise certain weekends.
“That’s a tough question,” he said when asked to grade his year. “I don’t know. That’s not for me to say. Maybe a C. Certainly hasn’t been an A. [Need to] win a race. That would be pretty cool. Qualify pole. Lap everyone. Do what Palou does every weekend, that would help.
“Fundamentally, we have a good car. I feel like we’ve had the potential to do some cool things this year. Unfortunately, for one reason or another, it hasn’t always come together. Even from St. Pete, I thought we had a strong car, a good chance for a podium [and finished 11th]. It’s been like that for the majority of the races, really.
“I feel like the car has been extremely strong on road courses this year. On short ovals, we’ve managed to salvage some results, but it hasn’t always been the easiest. Hopefully this weekend we can string it together.”
Leading practice is certainly a good start but margins are tight. Armstrong’s 01:44.2714 fast lap edged out Rosenqvist by a mere 0.0787s, with Palou and Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward also within a tight one-tenth of a second on the longest track on the calendar at 4.014 miles.
Scott Dixon also featured in the top 10 for CGR in seventh, with their lowest-placed car Kyffin Simpson in 11th - a cause for encouragement for all in the camp, MSR included.
“It’s always nice to be good in practice, but [it can be] a worry when you’re quick in practice,” Armstrong said. “I don’t know… sometimes the red [softer alternate tyres] don’t work one day, then they do the next. Sometimes it can be the opposite.
“But I feel happy that Felix is up there, too. Also Álex. I suppose all the Ganassi cars were quick today. I think we have a good, strong package this weekend.”
By contrast to CGR, fellow big-hitters Team Penske had David Malukas in a best of 11th, with Josef Newgarden - after reported surgery on an injured foot - 14th and Scott McLaughlin a lowly 19th. Penske also did not take the recent test opportunity.
Andretti Global did run in the June 9th test as they search to continue to improve their road-course form, though their best-placed car in practice was Marcus Ericsson in ninth, followed by second-place championship driver Kyle Kirkwood only 15th and Will Power 17th.
Arrow McLaren’s test paid greater dividends, with Nolan Siegel following O’Ward in the order to complete the practice top five, albeit with last month’s Grand Prix of Indianapolis winner - also runner-up at Barber in March - Christian Lundgaard in 13th.
Siegel was second in the test, trailing only Santino Ferrucci, whose AJ Foyt Racing team were also fast-starting on Friday, with rookie driver Caio Collet an impressive sixth and Ferrucci himself 10th on the practice time sheets.
“Test days are usually super helpful, especially close to a weekend because you get somewhat similar weather to what you’re going to get,” O’Ward said. “That’s always a very good opportunity to extend your weekend and make it that much better.
“Had a very good first run today, then everything else from there kind of went downhill. Need to figure out where we went wrong. We didn’t really change much, apart from tyres. That seemed to be pretty unhappy for us. I feel like it was very hit or miss for people [on tyres]. Some people were much faster on the [harder alternate] black. I was one of those.”
Mick Schumacher was another rookie to catch the eye in practice in eighth, capitalising on Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing taking up the chance to test at Road America after the World Wide Technology Raceway round. Teammates Louis Foster and Graham Rahal seemingly have a little more ground to find from 20th and 22nd in practice.
Ed Carpenter Racing were the final team to test but similarly factored low on Friday’s time sheets - in only 16th and 18th with Christian Rasmussen and Alexander Rossi.
Having not tested, four of the final five positions in practice were populated by Dale Coyne Racing (DCR) and Juncos Hollinger Racing (JHR). Rookie Dennis Hauger was 21st for DCR, with his teammate Romain Grosjean 24th. Rinus VeeKay led JHR’s pair in 23rd, as Sting Ray Robb placed last after crashing at the final corner inside the final half-hour.
IndyCar next returns to the track for Practice 2 at 10:00 CT (16:00 BST) on Saturday, ahead of an early-afternoon qualifying session at 13:00 CT (19:00 BST).
