INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Month of May just got more memorable for Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist.
He and his wife Emille welcomed their first child, baby girl Stella, into the world on May 4th
“I feel like what everyone had told me and warned me for, everything has probably been easier,” Rosenqvist said. “It’s just a memory that you will take with you forever. I have 500s that I’ve probably completely put behind me for different reasons, but this one will definitely stay with me forever.”
“I couldn’t imagine having a baby around May. I just couldn’t, so props to him,” Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin said with a smile. “We’re trying to time it out a little bit better than that.”
Rosenqvist is no stranger to the Indy 500. In fact, this will his eighth time in his career running the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, but he says getting into his car is going to feel a lot different now that he’s a first time dad.
“Everything else kind of pales in comparison for sure,” Rosenqvist said. “Even when I was there for the birth, it’s just triggering emotions that you don’t know he had, and it’s just unbelievable, to be honest. It definitely gives you perspective in life.”
“You actually kind of go quicker because you’re no longer single track focused on your profession. Your world is opened up overnight,” ECR’s Alexander Rossi said. “So he loved it and is loving it, and was like the thing that surprised me the most was like how strong you feel on no sleep.”
Rosenqvist joins the exclusive group of dads driving in the Indy 500.
“It’s weird. There’s like this club that you can only access once you have a child, right? You talk about things you haven’t talked to these guys about before, like diapers and whatnot. But it’s cool. Everyone’s been very supportive,” Rosenqvist said.
“I said, ‘Look, the first nine months, forget about it. You don’t even exist. But after that, my man, you’re going to fall in love. You’re just going to think like that’s it. This is the only woman in my life,’” said Helio Castroneves, Rosenqvist’s teammate and team owner. “It is the best feeling in the world. And we were exchanging a little bit of feelings. It’s difficult to describe. It’s not like when you win a race. It’s very indescribable feeling, but it’s the best feeling.”
And would be even better if he won his first Indy 500 this year.
