Marcus Armstrong returns to the podium for the first time since the Streets of Detroit in 2024, after fighting to P3 at Race 2 on the Iowa Speedway short track.
The Kiwi said that “Everyday is a school day” when it comes to learn from Palou and Dixon. It’s a return to the podium for Marcus Armstrong following a strong showing at the second race of the Iowa Speedway IndyCar double header.
The New Zealand native joins series leader Alex Palou and Scott Dixon on the podium for the Farm to Finish 275.
Having achieved a ninth place finish in Race 1 and a third place podium finish in Race 2, the Kiwi has brought himself a fair haul of points at the end of the Iowa double header.
Learning from others
Chip Ganassi Racing and Meyer Shank have a partnership between teams, which seems to have come in handy for the podium finisher. Palou and Dixon are well established drivers in CGR, and have been crucial in helping the younger driver to find his footing in a new team and on track.
“It’s great to be able to learn from Alex and Scott and Felix as well, We’re all pushing each other forward, which is awesome.“
“There’s always something to learn from Scott. Every day is a school day for me. Mid-Ohio was a proper schooling. Raced him all day, and he ended up finishing like half a minute ahead of me. There’s always something to learn, which is so cool.“
Race 2 at Iowa is Armstrong’s first podium finish since Detroit in 2024, and the MSR drivers seems to have picked up a thing or two from the more well established oval track racers. He expanded more commenting, “I mean, there’s so much to learn. There’s so many nuances. Luckily I’ve got loads of data and video to dive through. Every single event I feel like I’m improving“
Finding his feet at Meyer Shank
“The most important thing for me is the continuity from last year. I’ve kept my race engineer, Angela Ashmore, and that’s a real help because we know each other very well. The majority of the engineering crew is similar, as well.”
The Kiwi said about what has been helping him achieve such consistent Top 10 finishes in recent races. WIth time in the pit lane having been one of the causes of Pato O’Ward’s win over Josef Newgarden in the weekends first feature race, crew compatibility is a major component of victory.
Armstrong went on to further praise the new parts on his team, namely the pit crew which were crucial in helping him gain and maintain track positions.
“The Meyer Shank crew have done an amazing job so far. They were especially good on pit lane today.“
The No.66 driver is in his third season in the NTT IndyCar season, and is finding that the margins are tighter than ever, which he talked about helping him to be the best that he could be on track. “It’s very fine margins with the car and just maximizing what you have underneath you. Yeah, every single day you’ve got to do your absolute best around here.”
He further commented on having off days and how having a driver like Palou, who doesn’t really have off days helps to set a benchmark: “I know it sounds very generic, but you can’t really have a bad day. Alex is a great example. He never really has a bad day, nor does he have a bad lap, I don’t think. That’s the blueprint.“
Marcus Armstrong sits ninth in the series championship with 232 points, 229 points back from defending champion and race winner Alex Palou.
