Castroneves, a four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, will pilot the Honda-powered No. 66 entry for this weekend’s Detroit Grand Prix and the following race at Road America on June 9th.
The decision, according to an MSR press release, was mutual between both the team and Blomqvist for him to “step aside” for the two events. Blomqvist suffered an opening lap crash – where he went below the white line in Turn 1, hit the curbing and spun, triggering a multi-car crash – in last weekend’s 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500.
Blomqvist, who won back-to-back Rolex 24 Hour at Daytonas and the 2022 IMSA title, will continue to be part of MSR.
MSR co-owner Mike Shank expressed the difficulty of temporarily pulling Blomqvist out of the Indy car ride.
“Making this decision was by far the hardest one we have had to make,” said Shank.
“Tom is 100% still a part of the MSR family and will remain a part of the team for the rest of the season. The decision was not made lightly and after much discussion with Tom, and with back-to-back races coming up, we have decided to have Helio drive in Detroit and at Road America.”
Blomqvist currently has a best finish of 15th (St. Petersburg) in eight career points-paying races.
“It is fair to say that the last couple of days have been some of the hardest in my career,” Blomqvist said.
“Everyone who knows me knows how much I love being a part of the MSR family and together we have enjoyed some amazing successes and victories. I am looking forward to remaining part of the MSR family and contributing to the MSR vision as we chase down further successes in the future.”
The green flag waves for the Detroit Grand Prix at 12:45pm ET on Sunday, June 2. Coverage for the race begins on USA Network starting at Noon ET.