Indianapolis, Ind. (20 May 2018) – Having secured a coveted spot on the 2018 Indianapolis starting grid following Saturday’s “Bump Day” qualifying, Meyer Shank Racing is prepared to make its second Indianapolis 500 start with driver Jack Harvey in the No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda Indycar.
Harvey posted a four lap average qualifying speed of 225.254-mph to place him 31st for next weekend’s race.
After solidifying his qualifying set up on Saturday’s “Bump Day” where Harvey set the 27th quickest speed of 225.720-mph, the team was feeling optimistic about the continued progress heading into official Pole Day qualifying. Going out seventh in the order as the track temperatures climbed with bright and sunny skies, Harvey posted a four lap average of 225.254-mph.
“I don’t have any big issues with the track it just comes down to not having a ton of qualifying speed this weekend,” said Harvey of his qualifying run. “We are in the race and yesterday proved anything can happen. Obviously, the important thing is making it in and we did. We were hoping for a much better session than that (today) but I think we have a good car for the race, so I’m looking forward to next week and battling the field.”
The 2018 Verizon IndyCar season marks the second Indianapolis 500 start for Meyer Shank Racing, which saw its 2017 campaign end early when Harvey was caught up in another driver’s accident.
Mike Shank is confident in the race pace of the No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda and is looking forward to his team’s second outing in the huge event.
“We brought everything that we learned from last year,” said Shank. “ Yesterday (Bump Day) was very stressful but we are in the show and I am happy about that. Now we are really working on our race. We have been very happy with the AutoNation / SiriusXM car in pack running and being able to stack up and pass people. Everything up to qualifying is one thing. We switch gears tomorrow to race mode which is a whole different program. I think you will see the whole cue of cars mix it up then.”
The Verizon IndyCar field will see two more days of practice – Monday 5/21 and Friday 5/25 – ahead of the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500 which will go green at 12:20 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 27th with live race coverage beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET on ABC.