In the nine points-paying IndyCar races this season, Marcus Armstrong has finished just two of them higher than where he started.

It’s an ugly stat for last year’s Rookie of the Year, who languishes in 15th for the all-conquering Chip Ganassi Racing team.

Armstrong only competed part-time in the IndyCar Series in 2023, omitting oval races from his program. This year marks his first season as a full-timer.

At the Indianapolis GP he rose from eighth to fifth and in a chaotic Detroit GP just a few weeks later he climbed from 20th to third for his first IndyCar podium.

His season has otherwise been defined by going backwards – and he’s not afraid to admit that.

“Coming back to the circuit a second time around is a lot easier obviously, but if I was honest, I don’t think it’s been a great year for me so far,” said Armstrong speaking with James Hinchcliffe for IndyCar.

“We were talking about it yesterday, I’ve only finished ahead of where I qualified twice. I’m not happy about that. Detroit was a podium but I feel like we are quicker than what we’ve shown.

“Sundays haven’t always gone to plan. Sometimes we’ve qualified quite high so the expectation has been quite high and something has gone wrong.”

Armstrong is third best of the Chip Ganassi Racing drivers, albeit a distant third behind points leader Alex Palou and Scott Dixon who sits fourth on the ladder.

Dixon is renowned for his ability to maximise points on days where a win might not be possible. That, said Armstrong, is something he’s hoping he can learn from.

“Things like that are what Scott is really good at avoiding,” said the 23-year-old.

“Scott always makes the best of a bad day. I feel like at the moment we need to make a step in quali to get to the very front to be with Alex, for example.

“We’re in that no man’s land where we’re inside the top 12, top 10 but not consistently quick enough to be inside the top.

“I’m working hard to try and find that last little bit to get there.”

“Then in the races, we just need to work hard, be more prepared because we’ve been letting our qualifying position carry us to a certain extent.

“I feel like I can put more prep into those race days. Also, they’ll hate to hear it, but (I need to) ask more questions because there are so many variables in IndyCar and you need to know exactly what you want to do at every moment.”

Armstrong’s season will continue at Iowa Speedway on July 14-15 with Sunday’s race scheduled to start at 10am (AEST) and action on Monday at 2am (AEST).

Marcus Armstrong’s results after race 9 of 17

St Petersburg: Qualifying: 10th / Race: 25th (DNF)
Long Beach: Qualifying: 9th / Race: 12th
Barber: Qualifying: 6th / Race: 9th
Indianapolis GP: Qualifying: 8th / Race: 5th
Indianapolis 500: Qualifying: 16th / Race: 30th (DNF)
Detroit: Qualifying: 20th / Race: 3rd
Road America: Qualifying: 3rd / Race: 26th
Laguna Seca: Qualifying: 11th / Race: 22nd
Mid-Ohio: Qualifying: 5th / Race: 17th