This weekend at Barber Motorsports Park, Felix Rosenqvist will start his 100th NTT IndyCar Series event, but he is still learning the ropes with every event he contests.
In the midst of his seventh year in IndyCar, the cool and collected Swedish driver is having one of the best starts he has ever had to a season.
A trio of top 10 results, not to mention a pair of second row qualifying efforts, has placed Rosenqvist fourth in the points standings and ahead of the likes of Scott Dixon and Pato O’Ward.
Even with his experience allowing him to have good pace week in week out, he still feels like he is having to adapt to new challenges every single week.
“Time just seems to fly by,” said Rosenqvist before his 100th event. “I didn’t think at the time I’d get this old. Seven years. But it’s cool.
“It’s a special series in that way. I’ve done some other series for a long time. This one just seems to keep you on your toes all the time. You just keep learning and keep digging. In a way you always feel like a rookie because it’s kind of hard to just rely on your experience.
I think [Indianapolis Motor Speedway] is one of the places you do [rely on experience]. For other tracks, you just have to go clean sheet into every weekend and adapt. There’s always a different tire, different this and that.”
Feeling better than ever at 100
Rosenqvist has had a bit of an up-and-down career since joining IndyCar in 2019. He started off racing for Chip Ganassi Racing, earning a couple podiums in his first season and a win in his second.
But a switch to Arrow McLaren saw him effectively serving as the team’s third driver, and he never really fell into a rhythm during the three years he was with the team.
Last year, Rosenqvist moved to Meyer Shank Racing and the change has been remarkable. He and the team immediately hit it off, working well together from day one.
As he pushes into veteran territory this weekend, the 33-year-old is hoping he can continue his upward trajectory up to and including the next 100 races.
“It feels a bit unreal, to be honest. It kind of brings you back a little bit to when you were a kid, you were dreaming about driving in IndyCar. Even my first years in IndyCar, obviously nothing you take for granted, racing in one of the top leagues of the world.
“Now, yeah, it’s been like a fast forward. 100 is a big number. That’s a lot of hours in the car. No, it’s cool. It’s cool. As I say, it’s nothing that I take for granted.
“I think it’s literally the coolest job in the world you can have. It’s also nice that I feel actually better than ever in the series, as well. I probably had my best start in a year that I had.”
