'Awesome' Jack Harvey drives to fourth spot at IndyCar's Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg

Jack Harvey capitalised on his strong pace with a remarkable drive to fourth place in Sunday’s 100-lap Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg.

The result is the second top-five finish for Meyer Shank Racing and the No 60 AutoNatio/SiriusXM Honda.

"I think that was a solid day,” said Harvey.

“Obviously when you start on the front row, you want a podium. But overall the (vehicle) was working really well.

"It would have been awesome to be on the podium in AutoNation’s home race, but it’s been a really great start to the year, and that's what we didn't have last year.

"I’m really happy with everyone at Meyer Shank Racing. They have been working their butts off to have these results.

"We’ve been close to a pole, and to a podium today. But if we keep working at it, those things will come.”

Closing out practice in the top three and qualifying on the front row for the second time in his career was the recipe for a strong podium finish for Harvey in Florida.

Taking the green flag on Firestone alternate tires, Harvey slotted into second position and didn’t look back for the first 30 laps.

He kept the pressure on the leading cars ahead despite scorching track temperatures and rapidly degrading tires.

After a lap 34 pit stop for a set of primary tires and a front wing adjustment, Harvey was once again on the hunt towards the podium contending cars.

The second half of the race saw him take aggressive action through on two restarts to hold fourth.

The Brit from Bassingham ultimately crossed the finish line fourth in the order, marking for his second best IndyCar finish - behind his third place result at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in 2019.

“Jack did an awesome job today,” said Mike Shank.

“We lost a bit of pace towards the end of our stint on reds but we knew that Jack was really strong on blacks which is why we decided to finish the race that way.

"These are the types of results that we need to be getting this year and to start off the season this way is great for morale heading into the rest of the season.

Meyer Shank Racing will continue a three-week streak of IndyCar races with the double-header race weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.