Christian Rasmussen pushing to resurrect “tough year” with third-place finish in St. Louis

Christian Rasmussen picked a good time to get his best result of the 2026 season.

Despite being mired back 24th in the IndyCar Series championship standings, the Dane was handed a contract extension by ECR last week. And he justified it by charging from 19th to finish third in a wild race that featured 17 lead changes among six drivers, including Rasmussen, and a track record 268 passes for position at World Wide Technology Raceway on Sunday night.

The result elevated Rasmussen to 22nd in the overall standings, the crucial final spot in the Leaders Circle battle. He’s also five points behind 20th, which is occupied by Dale Coyne Racing’s Romain Grosjean (117-112).

Even with this boost, though, Rasmussen’s thoughts dwelled back to Phoenix Raceway in March, where he collided with Andretti Global’s Will Power while fighting for the race lead with 43 laps remaining.

“We've had a tough year,” said Rasmussen, 25. “Feeling like we kind of had a win robbed from us back in Phoenix. Coming right back to an oval and kind of starting up where we finished off was a good feeling.”

Rasmussen battled wheel-to-wheel with Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden - the eventual race winner - for the top spot shortly after the restart on Lap 212, leading five laps before fading roughly 13 laps later, with Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson, who led a race-high 114 laps, also rolling by.

“Yeah, I mean, like I think we had a third-place car today,” said Rasmussen, the 2024 Indy NXT champion.

“I couldn't hang with those guys there at the end. I was super strong I would say later in the stints, and we didn't really have a lot of deg, but I just didn't have that ultimate pace.

“Whenever we were all on kind of newer-ish tires, I couldn't hang. But again, very happy with a third-place finish here today. I think it's a good way to start building some momentum for the rest of the year.”