Acura MSR Takes Hard-Fought Podium Finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Late caution spoils fuel-saving strategy in Battle on the Bricks

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (21 September 2025) – Acura Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian (“Acura MSR”) took a hard-fought podium finish in Sunday’s TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The No. 60 Acura MSR of Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun saw its fuel-saving strategy go for naught when an incident with 8:30 remaining led to a two-lap sprint to the finish, with Blomqvist coming home third after starting ninth.

The No. 93 Acura MSR of Nick Yelloly, Renger van der Zande and Kakunoshin “Kaku” Ohta finished fifth, putting the team’s two full-season drivers second in the Michelin Endurance Cup championship entering the finale, 195 points in arrears.

Acura MSR bounced back from a challenging qualifying session, with Yelloly starting fifth while Blomqvist started from tenth. Yelloly was up to second by the end of the opening lap, with the team running in the top four for much of the event.

The team’s superior fuel mileage came to the fore during the second hour, when both starting drivers took turns in the lead during the first round of green flag pit stops. At halfway, both Acuras scored bonus points for the Michelin Endurance Cup, with Ohta second in the No. 93 and Braun third in the No. 60 – with both of the team cars running in podium position for much of the second half of the race.

Both cars looked to benefit from their fuel and energy save in the final two hours. Blomqvist pitted from the lead just before a yellow was released with 1:18 remaining, coming out in third. van der Zande pitted two laps later, falling to eighth, but was ready to race the distance. Both cars were in the top five as time was running out – with more energy than their competitors – but the late cation period allowed their rivals to finish without pitting during the hectic two-lap sprint to the checkered flag.

Yelloly and van der Zande currently sit second in the provisional IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Championship while Braun and Blomqvist sit third the IMEC standings. The results at IMS also closed the gap in the manufacturer championship, with Acura just seven points behind Porsche with one round to go.

The IMSA campaign comes to a close with the 10-hour Motul Petit LeMans, set for Saturday Oct. 11 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

Meyer Shank Racing Team Quotes:

Tom Blomqvist: “Obviously solid result for the guys especially after starting last. It’s a shame we couldn’t win the race. We had a bit of luck fall our way today. Int the end our luck wasn’t going to keep going. There was a yellow at the end that saved the two cars ahead – it added a bit of an energy buffer. I had to settle for third. Very happy, it’s still a great result and good for the manufacturer’s championship.”

Colin Braun: “In the end it was a great result. The guys did a great job on the strategy today. They nailed it two times to catapult us up the field. Great job by everyone at Acura MSR and HRC. I think we closed the gap on the manufacturer championship also. Really happy with the P3 result and we’ll take this to Petit and close out the season on a high note.”

Renger van der Zande: “I think we can be happy. The mission was to stay in front of the Porsche and close the gap in the manufacturer championship, which we did. It’s never nice to sacrifice a good result in the race when you could have gotten more out of it. I think we nailed it at the end with the fuel save and strategy. Nick at the start was amazing, Kaku was amazing as well. And I was able to get some positions back too. We have a lot to improve on. Now we go to Petit Le Mans and are ready for a good battle.”

Nick Yelloly: “P5, so we finished where we started. I actually had a lot of fun out there. The start was a lot of fun, we went from fifth to second and we felt like we were having a very good race. A little bittersweet as we were running at the front of the field for the majority of the race but the main thing is that we closed the manufacturer championship down to, from my understanding, seven points. And the 60 car got another podium; another great result for the team and HRC. Onwards to Road Atlanta where I feel like if we work together as we have been, we should be in a good position.”

Kakunoshin Ohta: “Our main target for this race was to finish in front of the Porsches as a team to help us in the manufacturer championship. We had a chance to win the race and the last full course yellow really hurt us, which was similar to the position we were in at Watkins Glen. But this is IMSA and sometimes we win and sometimes we don’t. Our execution in the race was almost perfect and I felt like my driving was much better than it was at Watkins Glen. I made some overtakes and my pace was OK. Our team did a great job with the car and Nick and Renger did a great job in the race, so I am happy with that.”