Helio Castroneves will retire from full-time NTT IndyCar Series racing at the end of the 2023 season and will be replaced by Tom Blomqvist at Meyer Shank Racing, MSR announced Aug. 11.
Castroneves is moving to minority partner status within the team and will be focusing on earning his fifth Indianapolis 500 in 2024 as the team’s third entry.
The 29-year-old Blomqvist made his IndyCar debut at the Toronto Street Course in which he was involved in a multi-car crash in the first turn of the race ending his day pre-maturely with a finish of 25th.
“First, I want to thank Mike, Jim and Liberty for accepting me as part of the ownership group,” Castroneves said in a team release. “Throughout my career, I’ve been very fortunate to surround myself with an amazing group of people and this journey will be my next chapter and I can’t wait for that.
“Don’t get me wrong, I still have a lot of fuel to burn inside in terms of driving and I will do that at the Indy 500 as I continue my pursuit for the drive for five.”
“We are thrilled to bring Tom over to our IndyCar program full-time starting next year, and to be able to keep Helio as a key part of our program moving forward and go for a fifth Indianapolis 500 next year,” owner Mike Shank said. “I feel like all the planets aligned for us to be able to do this, so I’m really grateful for us to be making this next step as a team.
“Helio brings so much to what we do overall as a team, both in terms of our competition package and all of his experience, as well as how he’s able to engage with our partners. So having him transition to this role is really exciting for everyone involved.”
Blomqvist has found success in multiple different disciplines of racing that include IMSA (four career wins), Formula E, Formula 3, and FIA World Endurance Championship where he finished second in the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans and took runner-up in the 2021 WEC points.
“Firstly, I would like to say a huge thank you to Mike and Jim and all the partners – AutoNation, SiriusXM, Arctic Wolf, Clopay and Cleveland-Cliffs – for believing in me and giving me this opportunity,” Blomqvist said. “It’s been a good ride the last two years in IMSA, but I’ve been itching to make the step up to IndyCar and this is an opportunity I’m eager and motivated to make the most of. IndyCar is an incredibly competitive series and I’m under no illusions in how difficult this championship can be, but I am extremely motivated to make the most of this exciting new challenge.”
MSR is still finalizing plans for its second full-season entry in 2024. An announcement on those plans is coming soon, according to the team.
In an IndyCar career stretching back to 2001, Castroneves has 25 wins, including four Indianapolis 500 victories.
In 2023, he has a best finish of 10th so far, coming at Texas Motor Speedway.
Blomqvist made his IndyCar debut at Toronto while filling in for the injured Simon Pagenaud, finishing 25th.
Wyatt Watson has followed NASCAR closely since 2007. He joined Frontstretchas a journalist in February 2023 after serving in the United States Navy for five years as an Electronic Technician Navigation working on submarines. Wyatt writes breaking NASCAR news and contributes to columns such as Friday Faceoff and 2-Headed Monster. Wyatt also contributes to Frontstretch's social media and serves as an at-track reporter, collecting exclusive content for Frontstretch.
Wyatt Watson can be found on Twitter @WyattGametime
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.