Have Harvey and RLL formed IndyCar’s next winning match-up?

By:

David Malsher-Lopez

Oct 17, 2021, 12:43 PM

Despite appearing to have an IndyCar job for life with Meyer Shank Racing, Jack Harvey’s departure and move to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing sparked plenty of debate. However, Harvey's and RLL's combined strengths could prove to be a winning combination - if they get the balance right

Subscribe to PLUS Sign in

Of the many silly-season driver/team changes that started brewing around springtime earlier this year – or even before that in the case of the split between Ryan Hunter-Reay and Andretti Autosport – Jack Harvey’s departure from Meyer Shank Racing was not foreseen. Not even by team owners Michael Shank and Jim Meyer.

It was unexpected, perhaps largely because Harvey seemed to have a job for life there. His gratitude to Shank and Meyer for having winched him out of a post-Indy Lights no-man’s-land to become a part-time IndyCar driver in 2018 and ’19, then a full-timer from 2020, was palpable in his every interview. And in reciprocation, the team owners’ affection and respect for the 28-year-old from Lincolnshire for making the most of the part-time deal – a way trickier proposition in this era of extremely limited testing – knew no bounds.