INDIANAPOLIS — Michael Shank Racing announced Friday that the team will unite with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports to field Jack Harvey in six Verizon IndyCar Series races during the upcoming season.

The news broke during a press conference at the annual Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show in Indianapolis.

Shank’s team will have Honda power, as well as a technical partnership with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.

Harvey will be on track next year at several premier venues on the IndyCar schedule, including the season-opener at St. Petersburg in March, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the 102nd Indianapolis 500 and the finale at Sonoma Raceway.

“I’m absolutely thrilled for this to come together and for everything to be moving forward,” said Harvey. “I had a very positive experience racing for Mike Shank in the Indianapolis 500, and it was great to build on that with SPM in the last two races of the year. Now to be racing for Mike and to also have the support of SPM for this program, it is the best of both worlds for me.”

“I want to do as well as we possibly can for AutoNation and SiriusXM, and I cannot wait for St. Pete to get here.”

Harvey, who drove for Shank in partnership with Andretti Autosport at the 101st Indianapolis 500 in May and returned to SPM for the final two races of 2017, will compete with sponsorship from returning partners SiriusXM and AutoNation.

“Jack is a talented, dynamic young driver,” said Marc Cannon, AutoNation’s Chief Marketing Officer and EVP. “AutoNation is excited to partner with Jack, SiriusXM and the Michael Shank Racing team.”

“Jack Harvey and Michael Shank Racing are a great team and we are pleased to support them as they expand their IndyCar race schedule,” added Jim Meyer, Chief Executive Officer for SiriusXM.  “We were proud to sponsor them in last year’s Indy 500, and we look forward to having SiriusXM represented on the car for several races this coming year, starting with the IndyCar season-opener in St. Petersburg.”

Shank will also have support from Curb Records, CAP and Associates, Rocky Fork Company and Roberts Service Group as his team grows its involvement in American open wheel racing after a successful debut at Indianapolis this year.

He also confirmed that the program he is putting into place is meant to be one that will continue for several years to come.

“I’m so happy to have everything come together and to be able to make this announcement. There was a ton of work that went into just getting to this point, and of course it is just the start,” said Shank. “This is a very big deal — for me and my wife Mary Beth, as well as for my race team. We are really excited to have Jack (Harvey) back with us, and very focused on making the most of this multi-year program.”

“It is a big undertaking, but I’ve been working on this non-stop, every day for months to have everything in place for us to be able to go out and build a competitive program.”

Friday’s announcement keeps Harvey in the SPM fold, after the Briton scored six wins and was runner-up in the Indy Lights championship during both the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

“Ric [Peterson], myself and everyone at SPM are really excited for this partnership with Mike Shank, his team and, of course, Jack Harvey … who we’re so pleased to welcome back into the organization,” said Sam Schmidt. “We’re really looking forward to working with AutoNation and SiriusXM again as well. We continue to look for ways to strengthen our team and improve our core operations, and we think this multi-year partnership will do just that.”

“Mike’s history in motorsport speaks for itself, and we’re pleased he has decided to expand his IndyCar program and involve us in that endeavor.”

About the Writer

Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network, as well as a periodic contributor to SPEED SPORT Magazine.

Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.

The 23-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.

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