Chip Ganassi Racing rookie Linus Lundqvist achieved a significant milestone at Saturday night’s NTT IndyCar Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR), matching his career-best result of third place. Lundqvist attributed his strong performance to the opportunity for a reset during the break between the previous race in Toronto and the event at WWTR.
“Unbelievably happy,” Lundqvist said after the race. He reflected on a season marked by highs and lows, noting that the summer break allowed him and the team to reflect and learn from the challenges faced earlier in the year. “The summer break was actually good, I think, for everybody on the team to kind of take a little bit of time to reflect — especially on my side — on the lessons that I’ve had to learn,” Lundqvist explained.
Before the break, Lundqvist had been racing non-stop since late April, with little time to process and apply the lessons learned. The hectic schedule, especially the busy month of May, left little room for reflection. “It was all preparation for the next weekend,” he added. The pause in the schedule provided a much-needed opportunity for Lundqvist to reset, and the results showed as he returned to the track with renewed momentum.
While the break was beneficial, Lundqvist also credited his strong finish to a strategic advantage during the race. As the event was red-flagged with 10 laps to go due to a crash involving Will Power and Alexander Rossi, Lundqvist found himself in fifth place. However, unlike the cars ahead of him, he had just switched to a new set of Firestone tires, giving him a significant advantage.
“I knew we had a pretty big tire advantage going forward,” Lundqvist said, noting that his competitors, including teammate Alex Palou and Andretti Global’s Colton Herta, were on much older tires. This advantage allowed him to make crucial moves in the final laps, overtaking both Palou and Herta to secure a podium finish.
This third-place finish matches Lundqvist’s previous best result, which he achieved earlier in the season at Barber. However, the achievement comes at a time of uncertainty for Chip Ganassi Racing, as the team faces potential downsizing from five entries to three due to IndyCar’s proposed charter system, which would limit teams to a maximum of three cars.
Despite the looming uncertainty, Lundqvist remains focused on finishing the season strong and demonstrating his potential. “My focus right now is just to finish the year strong and try to show what we learned from the beginning of the year,” Lundqvist stated. He expressed confidence in his and the team’s ability to compete at the highest level, aiming to build on his recent success as he looks forward to next season.
As the season progresses, Lundqvist hopes to continue proving his worth and securing his place in the competitive world of IndyCar racing.
Photo from Linus Lundqvist Instagram
