Ericsson Feeling Confident Heading to Road America

Photo: Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment

By Dennis Krause

It’s been a while for Marcus Ericsson, but the driver of the No. 28 Andretti Global Honda has his confidence back.

Coming off a season-best second-place finish in the Bommarito Auto Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway, Ericsson heads into this weekend’s NTT INDCAR SERIES XPEL Grand Prix at Elkhart Lake’s Road America with his confidence restored.

While there have been times since joining the Andretti team when things haven’t gone as well as he’d hoped, Ericsson admits his runner-up finish at St. Louis was bittersweet.

“It's definitely bittersweet after leading that many laps, having a great car underneath me. We drove all the way to the front, was feeling really good up front.

“We're here to win. It's been a while for me. Yeah, I thought I had it at times there when we had track position. I felt like no one could really overtake me.

“That one pit sequence Josef (Newgarden) got around us. We had a couple of go's at him after that, but he was a bit too strong up front.

“This whole year feels like we've really been making big progress, I've been making big progress. Finally I'm feeling confident in the car on all types of tracks, road courses, street courses, superspeedways, and now short ovals. That's been a big step for me and the Andretti team this year, so that makes me excited for the rest of the year.”

But…

“It's tough to lead 115 laps and miss out,” Ericsson added.

Since joining Andretti in 2024, the 35-year-old Swede hasn’t lived up to his expectations, or those of others. Just how important was his performance at WWTR for Ericsson?

“Very important. I think this year has been a big turnaround. We've had two DNF's out of our control, Long Beach and Indy GP, when we should have been in the top 10, top six in those two races. I feel like every track we've been to we've been strong. Done a lot of work this winter. I have a new group of people on my car. They've really worked hard to try to get the car a bit more to my liking.

“We have a new damper guy, a fellow Swede, who has worked really hard to get that package more to my liking,” said the 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner. “That has been paying off. I feel like I have been driving at my best for sure in my Andretti time this year. It's starting to pay off, as well.

“I think Indy 500 we were putting ourselves in a position to fight for that as well until the end with the different strategies.

“Again, we come to this short oval, which has been tough for me with Andretti cars. Suddenly we're fighting with the best guys on these type of tracks.

“It's important. It shows again that hard work pays off. Yeah, it makes me excited for the rest of the year.”

Ericsson, who has four career series wins, makes no secret of the fact he worked hard during the off-season, especially on the mental side, to improve after the disappointment of last year.

“Yeah, I've talked about that a lot throughout the years, the mental side of things. I think it's still underestimated the importance of mental training and mental strength, and it's something I've worked with throughout my career. When you have a tough season like I had last year, it's really even more important to focus on those things and really build yourself up and have a strong mental approach to things. That's where I can learn a lot from last year, how I sort of got into a bit of a negative spiral after the month of May and I couldn't really break out of that and that affected my results and my performances throughout the last part of the year.

“I've been analyzing that,” Ericsson continued, “learning from that, and have tools now to use how to not get there. It's an interesting thing, and I think it's still a lot you can learn from the mental side. Everyone is different there, as well. I'm lucky I have a very good coach in Sweden, Stieg, that I work with, and we've had some really cool stuff that we've done that I think is going to really pay off this year.

“I felt like I lost confidence last year with everything going against me or just not performing at a high level. Getting some distance from the season, I could look back and watch back the races and see I just didn't drive with confidence. I didn't drive like I know I should drive and can drive. So that's been a big thing for me, to build up my confidence.

“I worked a lot on that over the winter, and you do that by also working hard on every aspect, working hard with the team. Tried different cars over the winter to challenge myself, but also worked really hard with the group around me in Andretti.

“It's a lot of things. It's not one thing. The field these days in INDYCAR is so extremely competitive, so you need to have everything working, and you as a driver make a big difference, so you need to be confident and drive confident. I feel like I've done that. I'm really happy with that.”

Having the support of Dan Towriss, CEO, TWG Motorsports, has also been important.

“It means a ton,” Ericsson explained. “Dan has been, I feel like, my biggest supporter since I've been at the team, and he's really been backing me. Last year things didn't go my way, and it looked really bad during the end. There was no doubt from him, speaking to me, he had full confidence in me, and he knows what I can do behind the wheel. I think performances like that show that.

“So you just need to do it on a consistent basis, get the car in the window so I can do it on a consistent basis, and we're working hard to do that. I think we've made really great strides there. It means a lot to have that support.”

That support will be important for Ericsson going forward, in this, a contract year. While he’s performed well in the past in contract years, Ericsson knows racing is a results-oriented business.

“Yeah, I mean, that's the way it works. You can do as much talking as you want outside the track, but it's the results that matters. I need to focus on that, I need to be on the level I've shown I can be at and running up front, winning races and fighting with the best. That's my mindset this year.

“Always throughout my career I've performed my best when it's high pressure. I have a good feeling about it. Just got to show on track what I can do.”

Dennis Krause has spent decades covering all forms of motorsports, including over 40 Indianapolis 500s, with stints at WIBA Radio, PIT PASS - Radio’s Premier Motorsports Magazine and Motorsports Minute.

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