Mixed feelings for Rosenqvist after missing Long Beach win

Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist says his slip from first to second in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach was “a little bit frustrating,” but he’s also proud of his and the team’s bounceback from early-season woes.

Pole winner Rosenqvist led 51 laps and was nursing a 2.5-second lead over Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou when debris on the racing line caused a caution. That packed the field up just before the majority of drivers made their second and final stop. Palou’s No. 10 crew members got their driver out just before the erstwhile leader, and with both drivers on primary tires, Palou pulled away over the final stint.

After taking the eighth podium finish of his career, Rosenqvist – who has one victory to his name, scored in the entry now occupied by Palou – tried to look at the big picture for Meyer Shank Racing, who won the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship race here on Saturday.

“It's definitely a mix,” said the Swedish ace who also started from pole in Long Beach in 2024. “I think all in all, we’ve got to be happy as a weekend for us at Meyer Shank Racing. We had a win yesterday with Nick [Yelloly, along with Renger van der Zande] in IMSA. We had a pole there as well, then a pole here and a P2. We just fell short of a grand slam. If you kind of take that perspective, it's been a very, very good weekend.

“Obviously you want to win when you have the opportunity. I'm proud of today. I think everything we were working on kind of paid off today. I've been in this position many times before, being on pole or at the front, then something kind of fell short.

“I feel like today we just had really, really solid pace. Actually incredible pace on the reds, not as good as Alex on the blacks. I just kind of struggled a little bit on that last stint. It was going to be hard to pass him anyways.

“That last pit cycle was kind of the defining moment. I don't even think we had that bad of a stop. We had to come around the No. 14 [Santino Ferrucci]. I don't know if Alex had an open [pit] in. Details like that matter. It didn't seem like a super slow stop, but he probably nailed it or his crew.

“Yeah, that happens. End of the day I'll gladly take a P2 today.”

One of the reasons for Rosenqvist maintaining a positive outlook is that this runner-up finish ends a desultory series of results to this point in 2026. In the first four races, he didn’t finish higher than 12th.

“Going into the weekend, we were just trying to do something a little bit different, try to reload a little bit and get the confidence back," he said. "I think it's important mentally, mainly for me, but everyone on the crew, to reset, show what we got, kind of remind us why we're here.

“I’m really proud of the guys. They've been improving so much in the pits this winter. I think going into this weekend at least we were sitting P6, P7 in pit lane this year. I'm pretty sure we moved up a little bit this weekend. Incredible job. Very rare you can find gains like that.

“It's really allowed us now when we have a weekend with pace to really fight for it. Big thanks to the whole Meyer Shank group. Just keep plugging away.”