By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
For the second time of his racing career, Jack Harvey will compete in the world’s biggest race, the Indianapolis 500. And after crashing out of the event in 2017, Harvey is aiming higher in just his third Verizon IndyCar Series start of 2018.
This weekend, the 25-year-old Englishman will qualify for the 102nd running of the 500 in his No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda. The team is Meyer Shank Racing, a coming-together between co-owners Michael Shank and Jim Meyer. The entry also has a technical partnership with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
And for Harvey, who last competed in the series at Long Beach in April, he is aware of the position the new team partnership is under entering the competitive weekend.
“Because this aero kit is still so new, we’re working on data gathering, really,” Harvey told Kickin’ The Tires. “Some of that will be trusting all the information we have at our disposal.”
In Tuesday’s opening practice session of the Month of May on the oval, Harvey turned the 2.5-mile circuit in 221.500 mph, good enough for 28th on the board. Better yet, Harvey ran 107 laps, more than any driver on the day. Harvey and team hope such extended on-track time leads to a better understanding of the new car for qualifying.
“By Friday, I’m hoping we’ll have a better idea of where we’ll be,” Harvey said of qualifying. “We’re going to go out and give it our best regardless and hope to be comparable to our teammates or even better. It’ll be interesting to see where exactly that plays out.”
The relationship of driver and team hasn’t had much time to gain momentum this year, running only twice at St. Petersburg and Long Beach. With only two races under their belt, there’s added work necessary to “get into a rhythm” for the 500-mile race.
“We only have the two races compared to everyone else,” he said. “Sometimes, it’s hard because it’s not easy to fall straight into a rhythm. Ultimately, you have to go out every week and [even then] it’s still hard to build a consistent platform. That extends to me, the team, the guys at the pit stops. If we were doing more races, I think more of those things will be a little more seamless.
“That being said, we’re still in a better situation as a team. We all know each other, we’ve worked together for a few races this year. Coming into Indy, we’re excited and one of the reasons is because every week so far has gotten better and better.”
Team chemistry has been building inside the team, and that’ll come in handy at Indianapolis, said Harvey.
“The thing about the 500 is that every small thing makes a big difference,” he said. “What will be very interesting is how many small things can we do really well. There will be seven or eight stops in the race, any one of them could make or break your race.
“Team chemistry has to be second-nature by the time the race comes in.”
One more critical combo to nail down before the green flag May 27 is the one of driver and track. Harvey has an Indy 500 behind him from a year ago, however, also ran here in the Indy Lights Series twice. One of which ended in Victory Lane, winning the race and topping a 1-2-3-4 sweep for SPM in 2015.
“It’s just that little bit of confidence it gives you,” he said of the past win. “I know how to be fast here because I’ve won here. I’ve got that experience of winning.”
Outside the confidence boost, it’s the seat time that generally leads to more comfortability on the track.
“The more you do it, the better you’re going to get at doing it,” he said. “I just know what to expect more this year. Last year, even though I was a rookie, I felt like a rookie and didn’t know what to do. Our 500 last year was getting better all the time. Unfortunately, I hit some debris from an accident ahead of me. I think we had a pretty good race brewing out.”
The Indy 500 debut in 2017 was also his series debut in IndyCar. Since then, Harvey has run four more races, giving him a better understanding of the series’ competition.
“The stakes are higher as we all know they are at Indy,” he said. “It was a new team, new car, new series… it was a lot to learn and take in.”
And he did so with family watching. That will happen again this year, with many family members traveling from the U.K. to see him compete.
“They’ll probably be three or four, my mom and dad will be here,” he said. “One of my cousins, a couple pals. It’s going to be a nice little posse here from the U.K. coming here supporting me.”
With this added perspective, Harvey shares the popular hope of bringing home the Borg-Warner trophy the Sunday after next.
“I’ve been finishing these weekends with better results and more potential, which is perfect for us,” he said. “We’ll be hoping to put our best foot forward and have the best result possible. The 500 is so many things put together. Nobody else really does a parade, nobody else does the pre-race like the 500 does. Sponsors don’t get behind as many races like they do Indy.
“I live in Indy, I live the way of the community. The people really embrace the 500 and there’s an IndyCar fever here in Indianapolis. It’s awesome to see and great to be a part of it. I know how special it is to be in the 500 and how lucky we are. Being here competing is my favorite thing.”
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