2026 has been a great year for Pataskala-based Meyer Shank racing.
The team is home to the current Indianapolis 500 Champion, as well as four Top-5 finishes and nine Top-10 finishes in NTT IndyCar Series.
This weekend, the IndyCar Series drivers take over the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course near Lexington for the Honda 200.
Stu Osborne: There's a story that you mortgaged your home to start your racing company. Are you pleased with the return on investment so far?
Michael Shank: That is a true story many years ago now, but yes, of course we are. My wife and I are like a lot of other Midwest kids when they first get started and don't have a whole lot, but you know, we found a way to make it happen and it's really been a blessing for us.
Stu Osborne: There have been several races since Felix Rosenqvist won at Indy 500. Are you guys still riding that high or is it you took your time to celebrate and you've moved on?
Michael Shank: The Indy 500 is like the gift that never stops giving. We were lucky enough to win it in 2021 with Helio Castroneves. And then within five years later, we've now won it again, which is just with Felix Rosenqvist. And it's just such a wonderful thing. The answer is I think about it every day. I look at on YouTube probably every week just to relive it. And me growing up in Gahanna, Ohio, You know, very Midwest, very indoor cars and racing is the absolute ultimate uh, thing that can happen in my life with regards to work.
Stu Osborne: I do have to ask about Rosenqvist, it's been known that he's leaving the team at the end of the season. What is your plan to replace the Indy 500 winner?
Michael Shank: Well, we're working on that as we speak. So that's not something we asked for, by the way, but that's the way it's worked out and we're not running from that. Got our head down. We're looking at at least a dozen capable people to replace them. And we'll announce that in due course here, but we're working on that every single day.
Stu Osborne: You are a Central Ohio native as you mentioned, what would a win at Mid-Ohio mean to you and your team aside from the high that is the Indy 500?
Michael Shank: We've won a lot of races throughout, you know, the Indy car and the sports car world, but we have not won professionally at Mid-Ohio. I've won a ton of races there, me driving myself, but, professionally we've not won there, so it is the next thing that we have to get done.
So it's the highest priority this weekend to get one or both of our guys at a position to win. It starts with practice and qualifying. We got to qualify in the top five or six to really have a good shot at it. And that'll be our focus.
I'm excited to have our family and friends come out to this race. It's a big race for us. We're going do a meet and greet on Thursday, in one of the bars in Lexington for a lot of folks that care about what we do in racing here. And we hope everyone will support us and we're gonna to do everything we can to get to the victory lane.
