Indianapolis pole brings redemption after Blomqvist's previous struggles

Note: This article was originally published prior to IMSA announcing the No. 60 MSR Acura failed post-qualifying bodywork inspection and was moved to the rear of the GTP field.

Tom Blomqvist got a slice of much-needed Brickyard redemption on Saturday, almost a year and a half from the moment that his IndyCar career came to a sudden and unceremonious end.

He took the pole for Sunday's TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, putting himself and co-driver Colin Braun in a good starting position – and giving Acura Meyer Shank Racing its fourth consecutive IMSA GTP pole position, dating back to Detroit.

Better luck than Blomqvist had at the 2024 Indianapolis 500, for sure. Needing a strong outing, he instead triggered a multi-car crash on the first corner of the first lap, ending his race and ultimately, his tenure as a Meyer Shank Racing IndyCar Series driver when he was pulled from the No. 66 Dallara IR18-Honda just days later, never to return.

“I mean, last time I was here was not the most enjoyable day,” said Blomqvist, who followed his Indy 500 disaster with a retirement from last year’s Battle on the Bricks (with Whelen Cadillac) just four months later. “I have a lot of confidence in these cars. They work for me, I’m able to extract the most out of them. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get to that point in IndyCar, but nonetheless, I’m super happy, and I have no real regrets at all. 

“Nice to be able to still get the job done, but that lack of confidence was gone. I enjoy these cars, I enjoy this team, and it’s always fun.

Blomqvist continued: “It feels a little different because it’s such a different event. It's not like I've come back here and I’ve got a new IndyCar career; that’d obviously be a completely different ball game.

“It’s special; it is a pretty incredible place. I obviously didn’t spend a lot of time here in the past year, so it is nice to be back and then put it on pole.”

The real challenge comes Sunday during the six-hour race itself, where conditions could be cooler, the rain could be a factor, and consider that the Acura ARX-06 hadn’t been terribly strong the last two years at Indianapolis.

But thanks in part to coming in with a different setup approach to what the ARX-06 had in the past two years (2023 with MSR,  2024 with Wayne Taylor Racing), the blue and white No. 60 car was fast from the moment it rolled out on Friday, which bodes well for the race.

“We’ve made good gains for that (No. 60) car – just further understanding and pushing it more to its limits, trying to get a better understanding of what it really needs to go fast, and then being able to adapt it a little bit to other tracks," Blomqvist said.

“I think that’s learning from some of the things that didn’t really work for us in the past. It’s of a work in progress, really. Having an extra car, you’ve gotta speed up your learning process, especially when it’s under one roof there.

“We hit the ground running this weekend; car was great from the start, and then I was just able to really perform in qualifying. It wasn’t a super-clean session. I kind of felt like I was on a bad spot on track, but nonetheless, I managed to eke that lap out, and it was enough.”