Marcus Armstrong locked up the 2023 IndyCar Rookie of the Year award in Laguna Seca this weekend, earning bragging rights that he can carry with him as he continues his career.
The 23-year-old beat out Agustin Canapino in the standings by earning 34 more points over the course of the season, with the battle coming down to the final race of the year.
Armstrong’s achievement is particularly impressive considering he only contested the season’s road and street courses, meaning he had five fewer races in which he was earning points.
Despite the handicap, he still was able to outperform the other newcomers, with his previous experience in Formula 2 helping him to walk away from the season as the most productive rookie.
“It was nice to finally talk about what I have in store for the future with Chip Ganassi Racing,” said the typically soft-spoken Armstrong. “As well, to win the Rookie of the Year championship, I’m extremely pleased to finally lock that down.
“Obviously we didn’t do five races, so it was going to be a tough ask, for sure. But nevertheless, I think we finished every race. We were consistent. We had some good results.
“Sometimes I think we could have done a lot better. Yeah, we were consistent and fast enough to win it without the ovals.
“I feel like [Formula 2] was a good learning class for an IndyCar season. There is obviously nuances to IndyCar, like this car is very intense, the steering kickback is a lot, for whatever reason.
“The racing is pretty ruthless. There’s still some learning to be done.”
Armstrong was regularly the highest-finishing rookie throughout the season, and earned an incredible five top 10 finishes in the 12 races he contested.
He also earned himself a nice contract extension with Chip Ganassi Racing, which is arguably the most competitive team on the current IndyCar grid.
Starting in 2024, the Kiwi will be running a full season schedule, including racing on ovals for the first time in his career.
He will get his first chance to sample the banking at Texas Motor Speedway next week as he prepares for a new challenge next season.
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